Pride and Prejudice’: Book Vs Movie Essay

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Introduction:

Jane Austen’s bestselling novel Pride and Prejudice earlier named’ The First Impressions ‘ was written between 1796 and 1797 and was published in 1813. The basic theme is love and marriage with social classes, prejudices, and pride. There are several movies made in this novel, a good comparison can be made with the one filmed in 2005 acting as a sublime condensation of the actual story of the novel.

In the novel Mrs. Bennet, the fussy and inappropriate mother of the five sisters wants her daughters to be happily married. The story begins with the arrival of Mr. Bingely in the Netherfield’s estate, Mrs. Bennet wants her eldest daughter Jane to be wed with him. However, the story revolves around the second daughter Elizabeth who is sharp, and witty, and her relationship with a wealthy taciturn, and superficially cold Mr. Darcy, a friend of Mr. Bingely. The Bennets live reasonably well and Mr. Bingely and Mr. Darcy are wealthy. Jane Austen shows ghettoized social behavior of the people, pride, and prejudice, especially females manipulating their acquaintances and showing aggressiveness towards the ones disliked by them. The whole novel is about Elizabeth’s misunderstandings about Mr. Darcy, his relationships, intentions, actions, and emotions leading to the unjust, biased, harsh judgment of Mr. Darcy of Elizabeth. In the end, Elizabeth regrets her prejudgments and a respectful relationship free of personal pride and prejudice develops between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Novel and the film comparison:

In the process of adapting a novel for the screen a lot of changes must be made by the writer and the director. The film counterpart of the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ has somewhat fatuous differences. The movie director Joe Wright made several changes to the characters selection, dialogues, specific scene selection, and creation to attract the modern audience within two hours and nine minutes movie whereas the actual novel is magnificently written with a detailed description of each character, situation, place, and twist in the story. Elizabeth’s role is played by Keira Knightley and Darcy’s by Mathew Macfayden. From the start till the end, there have been a lot of changes brought in the scenes, situations, and characters in the movie in comparison with the novel. The minimal changes are in the physical attributes of the characters such as in the novel Mr. Collins is mentioned to be tall. Whereas in the film there is no such coherence. In the novel, Jane has never specified clearly where the first scene is taking place rather it is a third-person omniscient narrative whereas in the movie the five sisters overhear their parent’s conversation and actively participate in the scene. The film opens with the song of birds, trees, a stretch of fields, mist dissipating and morning arrives with Elizabeth(Keira Knightley)taking a stroll in the fields. The director fails to begin the movie with the author’s famous satirical and aphoristic opening line not to forget in the first scene Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) is shown reading her novel’ First Impressions’ afterward named Pride and Prejudice. This prelude depreciates the original novel. On the other hand, many supportive characters and important dialogues are missing. For instance, the chapter in which the perspective of Elizabeth changes after receiving Darcy’s love letter is left out in the movie. In the novel, Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth in a church but in the movie, he proposes to her on the misty moors. Many visits of Elizabeth to Pemberley and Rosings Park are inadequately included. the novel ends with a summation of the character’s lives in the coming years whereas in the movie the last scene circumvents the novel’s ending with Mr. Bennet giving his blessings to Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy on their relationship. There are two endings according to the taste of the British and the American viewers, the final deviation from the story.

Conclusion:

The 2005 movie adaptation of the novel has different contrasting perspectives. On one side it is a success if considered as an adaptation of a popular novel. On the other side, the audience can concentrate on the flaws and failures of the movie about it being an unworthy adaptation. The truth is that the predecessor movie versions of the novel also held flaws, particularly about the original story. The only consolation can be found in the fact that movie adaptations of novels cannot be perfect.

Pride And Prejudice (2005 ) Film review:

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ It is a very famous first line of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Pride And Prejudice’. Romance is evident but marriage is a business in Jane Austen’s novels. Jane Austen has such an aesthetic sense of drama and an exquisite sense of humor that is visible in the movie adaptations as well. The 2005 movie adaptation is a lucid version of Jane Austen’s novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’. It is unlike any other previous versions based on the novel. Joe Wright the director has displayed the movie as a ‘socially realistic drama’ while captivating the screen with the display of the comedy of manners. The whole team works naming from the screen player Deborah Moggach, conveying the romantic entanglements. Superb Keira Knightley is acerbic, headstrong, and prejudiced Elizabeth, Mathew Macfadyen an arrogant but at the same time an ethical high-minded landowner as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. The rest of the cast is aces down the line Brenda Blethyn as Mrs.Bennet dithery squawking worrying over her daughters’ marriage and settlement, Tom Sutherland as humble and amusing Mr. Bennet. Dench in the role of a commanding Lady Catherine. There is an increasing sense of ensemble of minor and major characters benefitting further to keep the screen busy and allured. The movie skillfully and artistically portrays the economic and class divisions. Cinematically the drawback is the use of costumes and interior and exterior clothing which doesn’t fit well within the perimeters of the description in the novel. The rich ball scene is rather claustrophobic to the real Austen readers. Overall the film has a romantic gloss and finery which reflects Austen’s social scrutiny with a tantalizing fantasy.

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