At the beginning of
this year I saw the miniseries; until present, I can say I saw it five times
and I'm planning to see it again, soon. So, what got me so fascinated with it?
Of course, Jane Austen's beautiful story and sense of humor, but also Colin
Firth's interpretation of Mr. Darcy. I can safely say Jane Austen herself
wouldn't have picked a better actor to play this role. It's like Colin Firth
was made for the role and the role was written for him. Of course, you imagine,
I have this huge crush on him. "You're too old for a crush!" you'll
say and maybe you're right, seeing how I recently turned 30, but who cares? The man is gorgeous
and he is a great actor. I know almost every line, every expression in his
eyes, every turning in his voice. But, to be honest, I know almost every line
in the movie by heart (after seeing it five times!).
So, this is a beautiful love story, who's main characters
(played by Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle) are obviously attracted to each
other, but they can't see past his pride and her prejudice. The story evolves as
their feeling progresses from
indifference, curiosity, attraction,
denial, torment, passionate love, repentance, deep and steady love. The tension
between them keeps us hooked and at times it is so intense, you can almost feel
the electricity in the air. That is a result of Jane Austen's genius and deep
understanding of human characters, and I think it is also the result of her own
romantic fantasy that never happened for her.
Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet meet at an assembly, where
he is forced to go by his enthusiastic friend, Mr. Bingley. Darcy makes no
effort into hiding his contempt for the public there and, when he is invited by
Bingley to dance with Elizabeth, he refuses, giving us his first impression on
her "she is not handsome enough to tempt me". Elizabeth feels very
offended, as she should, and from then on she creates an image of him, partly
correct, but, in the end, very exaggerated. She sees him as this proud,
insensitive man (which he is), but also as a villain who steals Wickham's
rights and destroys her sister's dream's of marring Mr. Bingley. Except for
"his dealings" with Wickham, everything else is true. But Elizabeth,
blinded by his offence, can't see that all his defects come from his inability
of acting natural in society; he is a timid and knows that he can't act like
one, representing one of the most important families in England. He is used to
being worshiped by everyone around him (Bingley's sister, who aspires of
marring him and overwhelms him with her attention), so he has to act with
pride. Of course, his pride takes over his life and Elizabeth never misses a
chance to show him that. For Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth is like a breath of fresh
air. Her wit, her sense of humor, her spontaneity and her natural behavior
around him (him being used to women trying to trap him, to please him in any
way and thus, denying anything that's true about them) fascinate him. She gives
no consideration to social boundaries, something very unusual for a woman of
her condition and that throws him off his feet. He fights his feelings, knowing
that a marriage beneath his own social condition would be disastrous for him. But
love conquers all, doesn't it? And how does Elizabeth receives his passionate
declarations? Pointing out, again, how much she despises him for his pride and
insensitivity. Hurt, he shows her she is no better, because she allowed herself
to be too self confident in her way of judging people and she made some
mistakes in what concerns him. The best part about this story is that both of
them, being so intelligent and very much attracted to one another (although
Elizabeth doesn't allow herself to think about at this point) really think
about the harsh words the other one said and acknowledge the truth behind them.
They both think about their foolish behavior and feel ashamed; they are strong
enough to concede they were wrong and to try to fix it.
My favorite scene is them meeting at his estate in
Derbyshire, his fabulous house, Pemberly. There, Elizabeth finds a new Mr.
Darcy: modest, sociable, pleasant and in love. He has done everything to please
her, but also, he recognized he had to change. His eyes are not of a proud,
unpleasant man, but of a lover who begs for his sweetheart's mercy; they are
sad, but one can see he hasn't lost hope. She is pleasantly surprised with him
and she can't resist being in his company. They share a secret (Mr. Darcy's
sister attempt to elope with Mr. Wickham) and that brings them together. But
another sister's elopement tears them apart, Lydia's (Elizabeth's sister).
Elizabeth loses hope of ever seeing Mr. Darcy again and she discovers that she
loves him. Mr. Darcy's wish to marry Elizabeth seems even more impossible to
fulfill, because the Bennet family is doomed to eternal disgrace; all the
Bennet girls are sentenced to die old maids. But Jane Austen did promise her
characters will have what they want, so Elizabeth and Mr Darcy find their way
to each other and her sister marries Mr. Bingley. I was a bit disappointed that
after such a long journey into each
other's arms, they only share a innocent kiss at the end. I read that someone
tried to introduce her thirteen years old daughter to Jane Austen's book
through this series and the girl had the same reaction "is that
all?!". I also feel I should like to know how Elizabeth makes it into the
good society, how she is received there.
Besides the love story, Pride and Prejudice is also a
very funny story with lots of comic characters and situations. If I only bring
up the Bennet couple you will see my point. She is so innocent in her
ignorance, one really can't stop falling in love with the character. But Mrs.
Bennet is one genuine English lady of that period who's only ideal in life is
to have her daughters married well; and with the weird status of a woman back
then who could blame her? On the other hand, Mr. Bennet seems to be completely
detached from the reality and can only find pleasure in reading and meditating.
He shows no interest in Mrs. Bennet concerns and efforts, thus a constant
tension between the two of them throughout the novel.
Mr Collins and his annoying veneration for Lady Cathrine
de Bourgh is another source of good humor. Jane Austen waists no effort into
showing her readers how much she despises those who spend their lives sucking
up to rich people. Mr. Collins is a fanatic supporter of all that's rich and
high class and doesn't have an opinion on his own, which is not approved by
Lady de Bourgh. Elizabeth Bennet, one of
Jane Austen's favorite character, makes fun of him and refuses his marriage
proposal.
"Pride and prejudice" is a story that tells us
life is really more than one would presume; values such as honesty,
intelligence, common sense, compassion are worth more than any fortune and
anyone who mistakes money for love will be doomed to a life of unhappiness. Of
course, love without humor can be pretty boring, so we should remember to enjoy
a laugh every now and then.
P.S. This is for my FB friends. :)
