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Austens Pride and Prejudice in 2005 Movie Adaptation: Critical Analysis
Introduction
A person undertakes to read and enjoy a work of literature only if he is truly interested in acquainting himself with it. This is not to say that people do not read literary texts due to other motives. In contrast anyone would want to watch a film even if it is an adaptation of a literary text as long as it manages to maintain the interest of its spectator from the beginning till the end. When filmmakers venture into adaptation, they often do so with literary texts which were greatly received by the public in order to ensure that they will have an audience at least in terms of those who have read the book and now wants to watch the film.
The process of adapting a literary work into another medium such as film always has a relatively higher cost involved. Thus, the filmmaker is often interested to reach a wider audience than the book. In order to achieve this motive, the filmmaker often gets a very limited screen time of 90 120 minutes. It is quite obvious then, that not every detail in the source text can be adapted into the film. Thus, the filmmaker has to make a conscious choice of what his focus in the adaptation would be and the aspects of the source text that he will be adapting into the film.
Therefore, by taking the afore mentioned facts into consideration, I have arrived at an intuition which states that film adaptations of canonical literature act as substitute vehicles for bringing literature to a larger public through a shift of emphasis. In order to examine the validity of my intuition, I will be focusing my discussion under two research questions which are based on the selected source text which is Pride and Prejudice the novel by Jane Austen and its 2005 movie adaptation Pride and Prejudice by Joe Wright, both which were widely received by the public. Under the first research question I would be examining whether there is an apparent shift of emphasis in Wrights adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (2005) as opposed to Austens novel. Secondly, I am interested to know how the characterization of Darcy and Elizabeth differ from Austens novel to the Wrights film and how the impact it has on the knowing and unknowing audience.
Methodology
In order to examine how film adaptations act as vehicles for bringing canonical literature into a larger public through a shift of emphasis, I have selected Austens Pride and Prejudice and Wrights 2005 movie adaptation of the same. The reason as to why I selected these two works were due to the high popularity which was gained by both the novel and the film. Austens Pride and Prejudice is a timeless classic that is adored by the old and young alike even till date. Despite the previous adaptations of Pride and Prejudice being in existence, specially the 1995 mini-series which starred Collin Firth as Mr. Darcy, Wrights adaptation of Pride and Prejudice in 2005, scripted by Deborah Moggach and starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen was widely received as a successful adaptation and was nominated for several awards at the 78th Academy Awards as well. Having read the novel several times and watched the BBC mini-series as well as Wrights 2005 movie adaptation, I preferred Wrights film to the latter.
In this paper, I have decided to do a comparative analysis between the adaptation and the source text to identify whether there is a shift of emphasis and whether there is a difference in the characterization of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth in the two works. To make the comparative analysis more effective I will be focusing my attention on a few key scenes that appear in both the adaptation and the source text. The scenes that I have selected are the Meryton assembly scene in which Elizabeth and Darcy make their first acquaintance with each other, the first proposal scene, Elizabeths visit to Pemberley, the second proposal scene and the ending. In order to provide a theoretical foundation to the arguments that I will be making in this paper, I have selected two book chapters as my primary literary texts. They are Chapter 1: Beginning to Theorize Adaptation: What? Who? Why? How? Where? When? and Chapter 4: How? (Audiences) of Linda Hutcheons book A Theory of Adaptation.
Discussion
In adapting any work, the first task of the adapter is to identify the core of the source text and adapt it according to the norm governing his selected medium. According to Hutcheon, adaptations are never simply reproductions that lose the Benjaminian aura. In contrast, adaptations often carry this aura with them which is also what determines the success of an adaptation. Austen who was writing Pride and Prejudice in the 19th century wanted to bring out the rank and class differences between the social elites and the middle-class gentry, the importance of wealth in marriage and the issues faced by young women due to their inability to inherit property owing to the societal norms at the time through her novel. While these issues were highly relevant to Austens contemporary audience and the novel was greatly received by them, the issues that are highlighted in the novel do not hold the same weight in the modern society. Even though Austen was interested in providing her reader with a social commentary, she does so through the point of view of her main protagonist Elizabeth Bennet who is a headstrong and independent young woman. In adapting Pride and Prejudice into film in 2005 Wright decides to give a highly romanticized interpretation to Austens novel. In doing so, the script writer Moggach and Wright makes Elizabeths and Darcys relationship the central focus of the novel. In order to do that, they have to adapt important sub-plots while reducing the role of characters like the Hursts, the Lucases which have been used Austen to comment on the social issues that she wanted to highlight in her novel. This, is not to say that Wright focuses only on romance in his film, but the emphasis is definitely on the romance while all the other issues like class and rank, wealth, marriage are present in the background. This shows that Wright has given his own interpretation to Austens novel in his adaptation while maintaining the aura of the source text. Thus, from the beginning of the film itself it is evident that Wrights emphasis is on the romantic relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy.
In the film, Moggach has compressed three lengthy scenes in the novel namely the Meryton assembly, events at Lucas Lodge and Mrs. Bennet’s ravings into one scene. In the film, the crowded assembly hall at Meryton where Elizabeth and Darcy make their first encounter shows Darcy fixing his gaze on Elizabeth upon entering the hall with the Bingleys. This momentary lapse in Darcy’s generally stoic and aloof behaviour is not something Austen envisioned. This action has been added by the script writer in order to hint the turn of events in the movie to the spectator. Darcy here is portrayed as a man with passion as he repeatedly gazes at Elizabeth. In order to cover up his lapse in control we see Darcy condescendingly commenting that Elizabeth is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me (Wright 00:09:58; Austen 9). Then we see that unlike in the novel where Bingley asks Darcy to dance with Elizabeth, Elizabeth herself walks up to Darcy and asks him Do you dance Mr. Darcy? to which Darcy bluntly replies Not if I can help it. In the same scene we see Darcy attempting to make conversation with Elizabeth as he comments about poetry being food of love. Elizabeth here contradicts him by saying that dancing is the food of love even if ones partner is barely tolerable making it known to Darcy that she heard him. The revolving camera that goes around the hall with Elizabeth finally focuses on Elizabeth walking away from Darcy by blurring the other figures in the shot. Here Elizabeths strong and bold character is emphasized more than the novel while simultaneously establishing Darcys interest in her. Two things are made clear here. The first is that Wright maintains the aura () of Austen’s novel by focusing on Elizabeth and her character development in the novel as it is evident that the audience gets to see everything from her point of view. Secondly, Wright is using gestures and visualization which are unique to the adaptation to establish that romance is the focus of his camera making the shift of emphasis quite clear.
Hutcheon further states that adapters rely on the knowing audience to fill in the gaps when moving from the discursive expansion of telling to the performative time and space limitations of showing (). Whether this is always the case is quite questionable. The scene that I will be focusing on to examine this argument is the first proposal scene which is set in a romantic atmosphere where both Elizabeth and Darcy are seeking shelter after being drenched in the rain in the adaptation. As opposed to the almost bland proposal that Darcy makes in the novel inside the Collins house, this scene displays a passionate Darcy who can no longer fight his feelings towards Elizabeth and blurts them out. Here the proposal scene itself contains half of the contents of Darcys letter which follows her rejection as means of explaining himself on Elizabeths accusations. This heightens the emotional effect of this scene and it ends in an almost kiss. This dynamic scene for sure makes the knowing audience think of how Austen presented the proposal. Nevertheless, a spectator who is watching the film first and is the unknown audience will face no disadvantage as everything he needs to know in terms of the film is captured by Wrights camera. Without any argument this scene portrays the time and space limitations of showing and the compression of the first half the letter into the proposal scene itself is evidence to support that. But Wright does not expect his unknowing audience to fill in the gaps and the knowing as well as the unknowing audience can enjoy Wrights film as an autonomous work.
Moreover, Elizabeths growing self-knowledge after reading Darcys letter is presented quite interestingly by Wright in the film. The contents of the letter are read by Darcy in voiceover as Elizabeth sees Darcy riding away on horseback. Upon knowing the contents in the letter, the actress’ shoulders droop and her trembling voice in which she answers Charlotte when asked if she is alright shows that Elizabeth has realised her error in judgement and gained self-knowledge. The lengthy monologue used by Austen to portray this in the novel has been done away with the delft use of the visual and gestural representations in the film. This proves another point that Hutcheon makes as she states that the visual and gestural representations are rich in complex associations as the complex thought process that goes on in Elizabeth’s mind has been captured masterfully by Wright through a series of camera shots capturing Knightley’s gestures and reactions.
The scene which takes place at Pemberley can be used to prove Hutcheons argument that adaptation for the knowing audience involves a conceptual flipping back and forth between the work we know and the work we are experiencing (). Instead of walking into a picture gallery like in the novel, Wright takes Elizabeth into a sculpture gallery at Pemberley. Upon entering the gallery, we see both Elizabeths and the cameras keen attention to the nude sculptures. This also seems to suggest rising erotic feelings in Elizabeths mind towards Darcy once more highlighting that Wrights emphasis is on the romantic aspect of the plot. Darcys portrait is replaced by a sculpture of his bust and it transfixes Elizabeth onto it that she loses sense of her surroundings. Here Elizabeth experiences stronger emotions and feelings towards Darcy and the audience is made aware of it. Through the walk-and-talk technique used by Wright, the spectators go into every room in the house and follow the actors and actresses. Having recognized the depth of her feelings towards Darcy, Elizabeth as well as the audience are allowed to see Darcy in a new light within the walls of Pemberley. Here, we witness Darcy surprise his sister Georgiana and laugh heartily with her. Georgiana is seen laughing with Darcy and this additional scene contrasts with Austens portrayal of Darcys character as a proud, aloof man who is distant with everyone and maintains strict decorum even when it comes to his dear and near ones including his sister. This scene which is quite different to Austens Pemberley scene in the novel will make the knowing audience engage in a constant comparison between the two works as Hutcheon rightly points out in her book.
The second proposal scene of Wright’s film adopts a completely different approach. The spectator is presented with a scene that is laden with romantic clichés as opposed to how Austen portrays the scene. Darcy and Elizabeth who are both still in their nightgowns are seen approaching each other in the fields at dawn while the sun is just rising. Unlike in the novel, there is nobody else around and Darcy passionately declares his love saying I love, and love, and love you, and never wish to be parted from you from this day on and Elizabeth as opposed to saying just the opposite and looking down shyly is seen taking Darcys hand and kissing it. They stand very close to each other with their foreheads touching and the sun rises between them adding to the romantic feeling in the air. Thus, the mis-en-scene also heightens the romantic quality that Wright wants to portray in his film. The romantic quality is further heightened by the soft piano and string music that plays in the background. This once again shows the direction of Wrights focus in the adaptation quite clearly as well as how characters are portrayed quite differently in the film as opposed to the novel. This sort of open and unrestricted expressions of love would have been considered clandestine and against decorum during Austens time but for the contemporary audience, it is perfectly normal behavior and is what holds their interest. This proves another argument that Hutcheon brings forth where she states that the context in which we experience the adaptation is important in determining the meaning and significance we grant to the adaptation. The ending scene of Wrights movie further supplements this argument as we see Elizabeth and Darcy who are now married discussing what Darcy should call Elizabeth and the scene ends with a passionate kiss shared between the two. This shows how Wright has developed Austens happy ending in a way that holds greater appeal to the modern audience of his film and according to the modern socio-cultural context, this ending is perfectly acceptable and satisfying to the knowing as well as the unknowing modern audience as it resembles a cliché romance movie that they are familiar with.
Conclusion
It is quite clear that Wright has shifted the emphasis of his adaptation to the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth. In doing so, there are apparent changes that the characters of both Darcy and Elizabeth have undergone and these changes have an impact on the knowing audience than the unknowing audience as Hutcheon also points out in the selected book chapters. Thus, by emphasizing and changing certain aspects of the scenes Moggach and Wright reinvent Austens Pride and Prejudice in their 2005 movie adaptation. In doing so, they have kept away from the class and political issues that Austen highlights in her novel and gives emphasis to the development of Elizabeths and Darcys romantic relationship while giving a pleasurable and satisfying experience to their audience. In conclusion, it can be said that film adaptations of canonical literature act as substitute vehicles for bringing literature to a larger public through a shift of emphasis as proven in this paper.
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