Translating 19th Century Literature into Tweets and Vlogs
Lights! Camera! Colin Firth!
There has been a television or film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice in every decade since the 1930s, usually with multiple adaptations in each decade. Each of these films or miniseries, like the aforementioned novel adaptations, take the bones of the beloved novel and remake them into a visual masterpiece.
Pride and Prejudice (1940) starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier
In 1940, the cost of the set is obviously a factor in its omission, but so is the need to paint a positive picture of the British for Americans on the verge of joining forces in the War. Censoring any mention of Elizabeth’s potential materialism (‘to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!’) re-creates her unequivocally as an idealist rather than realist, bent on love rather than money. The film rewrites the novel to expose the hypocrisy of the British class system, democratizing Darcy in his gradual conversion by Elizabeth to accepting a more equal society. The film focuses on the breakdown of class barriers, and the consumerism and advancement of the middle classes.
- Deborah Cartmell, Pride & Prejudice and the Adaptation Genre
Pride & Prejudice (1995) starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth
Colin Firth is one of if not the most popular Mr. Darcy out there in the adaptation world, and certainly as far as Pride & Prejudice miniseries go.Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant
Colin Firth as the Darcy figure only six years later. Hollywood got a taste and wanted more.Bride & Prejudice (2005) starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Martin Henderson
The Bollywood musical film is a surprisingly refreshing take on the story. Lalita is our Elizabeth, an Indian girl who wants love, not an arranged marriage.Pride & Prejudice (2005) starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen
"Surprisingly another ‘straight’ mainstream film does not come along for 65 years, perhaps due to the dominance and popularity of television adaptations," many of which were done by the BBC (Cartmell). This is probably the most-loved film adaptation and my personal favorite.
