It is a Truth Universally Acknowledged that Modern Adaptations Can be Good
There is a reason that a story like Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice has lasted so long. There’s something about the way the book was written that was designed to stand the test of time. Romantics everywhere know this story by heart, the story of a girl who falls for the wrong guy and then comes to her senses and sees that the man she hated all along is really the love of her life. Modern adaptations of this story have been done, and have succeeded pretty well; just look at Bridget Jones Diary. But there is one adaptation that has surpassed the rest: “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” web series on Youtube.
This webcast is different from other adaptations because of one major thing: the characters are all the same. Every character that is in the Austin novel is mentioned, or in, the web series. It’s the same plot with the same characters, but they’re upgraded to a modern standard. People who couldn’t understand the novel in high school now will fully understand everything that happens now. Elizabeth/Lizzie (Ashley Clements) decides that she wants to do an online web diary on Youtube about her daily life. Her best friend Charlotte (Julia Cho) helps her cut and edit the episodes and Lizzie often has her sisters Jane (Laura Spencer) and Lydia (Mary Kate Wiles) stop by. Slowly, but surely, the diary entries become less and less about Lizzie’s life and more about Jane’s love life and involvement with Bing Lee (Christopher Sean). The show is fun and playful, but gets at the deeper meaning of love and what it actually is.
This web series draws attention to what true love really is and how it can be like Jane and Bing Lee’s love, something that is complete understanding of the other person and being so wrapped up in that other person that you forget everyone else around you. It also shows that love is complicated, confusing, and not always as clean cut as we want it to be. We learn through this story that love can come when we least expect it, and from a person we seemingly hate. This web series tells the people who watch it that love doesn’t always come from a friend or a person you are immediately attracted to, but can come from somewhere completely unexpected.
Jane’s love life with Bing is pretty much perfect, as often shown throughout the series. Lizzie doesn’t ever comment on how she may be jealous of her sister. She only ever thinks that her sister is deserving of the love she receives, and is thrilled that Bing happens to be a guy that understands and cares for Jane. Even though there are some bumps along the road to true love, Lizzie never doubts it for a second. Lizzie spends a lot of time using different ways to express the love of her sister and Bing, but that’s nothing unexpected because she does the same in the novel. She also uses her sister and closest friend Charlotte to dress up and do “costume theater” to reenact scenes that have happened off camera. When things do happen on camera, they happen so candidly that it feels like we are in the same room with the characters. The relationships between them are so tangible even though they are characters on a screen.
One of the most common themes throughout the entire series is the fact that the three Bennet sister’s mother is trying desperately to get her daughters married. It’s funny and cute, especially because Lizzie will have scenes between her mother and father acted out by herself and Charlotte or her sisters. Even though none of the sisters take the threats of their mother seriously, (especially Lizzie who often refers to Mrs. Bennet’s plans as convoluted and insane) they still realize that they are single, and they are getting older. This doesn’t cause the three girls to go out husband hunting, but it does make them realize that their mother’s odd plans may have some validity. Throughout this love story there is a darker and more serious problem. Lizzie knows that her family is in danger of losing the house. It causes her to wonder that maybe her mother’s scheming is a way to distract herself from the terrifying truth that they may end up in a horrible situation soon.
Even with this threat looming over the family’s head, the web series shows how something like love and the pursuit of love can be a happy distraction and a wonderful cause. There is no denying that if these girls didn’t have love, or romance, or the longing for some excitement, then they would go crazy worrying about their family. Love is one of the things that keeps Lizzie from selling out and taking a corporate job. Arguably, it’s not romantic love, but the love for creating happy web shows and entertaining people that keeps her away from Ricky Collins and his job offer. This web show may focus on romantics in life, but it also gets across the message that there is nothing wrong with loving yourself and being proud of who you are.
Lizzie Bennet knows exactly who she is and who she wants to be. However, her interpretation of the events she records in her diary is biased because she is extremely opinionated. More often than not, one of her sisters or Charlotte will contradict what she is saying for something that is nicer or a more reasonable retelling of what might have happened. Because of this, she isn’t a reliable narrator, but does her best to get her ideals and her world in general across to the audience. This makes this particular adaptation so wonderful because it shows you just how human and biased she is. She isn’t shy when it comes to her personal life, and she thinks that several of the things that happens to her and her sisters are hilarious and worth retelling for the audience’s enjoyment. When it comes to her own love life, she is unusually reluctant to talk about her infatuation with George Wickham, but loves talking about how much she loathes William Darcy and will have the more reliable characters tell us how he really is a condescending and arrogant person.
If you know Pride and Prejudice you know that this belief changes somewhere toward the end of the book. It’s the same in the web series. She grows accustomed to Darcy and his cold personality, and eventually starts to love him. It’s interesting to see in this format because the audience can slowly see how she changes while talking about Darcy. It’s so easy to see her growing love because we have these bi-weekly updates on Lizzie. This makes feel less sudden than the build up in some movies or even like the book, but it is clear that her appreciation for him grows and develops the same way any person’s would if they were in love. It is something beautiful to watch because it gives the audience hope that there is a person out there for all of us, no matter how simple and mundane our lives seem.
The “Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is something so much more than a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It shows the subtle growth of love and caring between two people who were at odds throughout the entire series. It is something that takes a loved novel and develops it into something people who don’t enjoy reading 1800s literature can easily and readily enjoy. Just because it is in small segments doesn’t make it any less powerful or passion-filled than the novel. This way the audience gets to watch and enjoy the characters as they interact with one another in a way that is so candid, it feels like you’re there in the room with them. This web series will break your heart, but then, like all well crafted romances, it will put the pieces back together with a happy ending.
This webcast is different from other adaptations because of one major thing: the characters are all the same. Every character that is in the Austin novel is mentioned, or in, the web series. It’s the same plot with the same characters, but they’re upgraded to a modern standard. People who couldn’t understand the novel in high school now will fully understand everything that happens now. Elizabeth/Lizzie (Ashley Clements) decides that she wants to do an online web diary on Youtube about her daily life. Her best friend Charlotte (Julia Cho) helps her cut and edit the episodes and Lizzie often has her sisters Jane (Laura Spencer) and Lydia (Mary Kate Wiles) stop by. Slowly, but surely, the diary entries become less and less about Lizzie’s life and more about Jane’s love life and involvement with Bing Lee (Christopher Sean). The show is fun and playful, but gets at the deeper meaning of love and what it actually is.
This web series draws attention to what true love really is and how it can be like Jane and Bing Lee’s love, something that is complete understanding of the other person and being so wrapped up in that other person that you forget everyone else around you. It also shows that love is complicated, confusing, and not always as clean cut as we want it to be. We learn through this story that love can come when we least expect it, and from a person we seemingly hate. This web series tells the people who watch it that love doesn’t always come from a friend or a person you are immediately attracted to, but can come from somewhere completely unexpected.
Jane’s love life with Bing is pretty much perfect, as often shown throughout the series. Lizzie doesn’t ever comment on how she may be jealous of her sister. She only ever thinks that her sister is deserving of the love she receives, and is thrilled that Bing happens to be a guy that understands and cares for Jane. Even though there are some bumps along the road to true love, Lizzie never doubts it for a second. Lizzie spends a lot of time using different ways to express the love of her sister and Bing, but that’s nothing unexpected because she does the same in the novel. She also uses her sister and closest friend Charlotte to dress up and do “costume theater” to reenact scenes that have happened off camera. When things do happen on camera, they happen so candidly that it feels like we are in the same room with the characters. The relationships between them are so tangible even though they are characters on a screen.
One of the most common themes throughout the entire series is the fact that the three Bennet sister’s mother is trying desperately to get her daughters married. It’s funny and cute, especially because Lizzie will have scenes between her mother and father acted out by herself and Charlotte or her sisters. Even though none of the sisters take the threats of their mother seriously, (especially Lizzie who often refers to Mrs. Bennet’s plans as convoluted and insane) they still realize that they are single, and they are getting older. This doesn’t cause the three girls to go out husband hunting, but it does make them realize that their mother’s odd plans may have some validity. Throughout this love story there is a darker and more serious problem. Lizzie knows that her family is in danger of losing the house. It causes her to wonder that maybe her mother’s scheming is a way to distract herself from the terrifying truth that they may end up in a horrible situation soon.
Even with this threat looming over the family’s head, the web series shows how something like love and the pursuit of love can be a happy distraction and a wonderful cause. There is no denying that if these girls didn’t have love, or romance, or the longing for some excitement, then they would go crazy worrying about their family. Love is one of the things that keeps Lizzie from selling out and taking a corporate job. Arguably, it’s not romantic love, but the love for creating happy web shows and entertaining people that keeps her away from Ricky Collins and his job offer. This web show may focus on romantics in life, but it also gets across the message that there is nothing wrong with loving yourself and being proud of who you are.
Lizzie Bennet knows exactly who she is and who she wants to be. However, her interpretation of the events she records in her diary is biased because she is extremely opinionated. More often than not, one of her sisters or Charlotte will contradict what she is saying for something that is nicer or a more reasonable retelling of what might have happened. Because of this, she isn’t a reliable narrator, but does her best to get her ideals and her world in general across to the audience. This makes this particular adaptation so wonderful because it shows you just how human and biased she is. She isn’t shy when it comes to her personal life, and she thinks that several of the things that happens to her and her sisters are hilarious and worth retelling for the audience’s enjoyment. When it comes to her own love life, she is unusually reluctant to talk about her infatuation with George Wickham, but loves talking about how much she loathes William Darcy and will have the more reliable characters tell us how he really is a condescending and arrogant person.
If you know Pride and Prejudice you know that this belief changes somewhere toward the end of the book. It’s the same in the web series. She grows accustomed to Darcy and his cold personality, and eventually starts to love him. It’s interesting to see in this format because the audience can slowly see how she changes while talking about Darcy. It’s so easy to see her growing love because we have these bi-weekly updates on Lizzie. This makes feel less sudden than the build up in some movies or even like the book, but it is clear that her appreciation for him grows and develops the same way any person’s would if they were in love. It is something beautiful to watch because it gives the audience hope that there is a person out there for all of us, no matter how simple and mundane our lives seem.
The “Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is something so much more than a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. It shows the subtle growth of love and caring between two people who were at odds throughout the entire series. It is something that takes a loved novel and develops it into something people who don’t enjoy reading 1800s literature can easily and readily enjoy. Just because it is in small segments doesn’t make it any less powerful or passion-filled than the novel. This way the audience gets to watch and enjoy the characters as they interact with one another in a way that is so candid, it feels like you’re there in the room with them. This web series will break your heart, but then, like all well crafted romances, it will put the pieces back together with a happy ending.