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anghraineAn anon said:
Your mention of how P&P adaptations tend to lean toward making Elizabeth an introvert makes me curious. What do you think of the various adaptations' portrayals of Elizabeth? I remember you've said your favorite is Elizabeth Garvie in the 1980 BBC version, but what are your opinions on Jennifer Ehle, Kiera Knightley, Greer Garson and others? And what do you think tends to be most "off" about screen portrayals of Elizabeth compared to Austen's version?
I replied:
Hmm. At this point, it’s been a pretty long while since I watched any of them (thanks, grad school), but my overall impressions:
Greer Garson’s Elizabeth is so rooted in the conventions of 30s/40s film that she’s kind of hard to judge. I do think Elizabeth’s youth is really important, and even setting aside her actual age, her assurance seems a very different kind than Elizabeth’s to me. She did strike me as genuinely light-hearted and lively, which you don’t always get. But I’d say that she’s one of the least ‘off’ aspects of that adaptation.
Elizabeth Garvie:be still my heart. I really think that Garvie captures Elizabeth’s mix of youthful (over-)confidence, sweetness (“there was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to affront anybody”), intelligence, and … hm, a light-heartedness lying over a fundamentally serious character. She even fits the description! <3
Jennifer Ehle: *deep breath* also difficult to judge, but for different reasons—I dislike the adaptation she’s in so much that I’m not sure I’m a fair judge. Going back to the early days when I did like it more than not, I remember that she didn’t bother me in the way that CF always did. I think her satisfaction with herself is ultimately played as a partial flaw on par with Darcy’s pride, which I do appreciate (she’s certainly not always seen that way); they’re very balanced. But like with Garson (if less so), though, I don’t really get the impression of a very young woman making her first real mistakes—she registers as quite mature to me, which is not how I see Elizabeth at all, and which complicates her flaws. I guess I’d say that hers is mostly a valid take on Elizabeth, though not mine, but one I personally find rather grating.
Keira Knightley: she’s so Keira Knightley that it’s hard to say, you know? But I don’t feel like she has so much of the weight of ~~~Elizabeth Bennet~~~ on her (as it’s a pretty loose adaptation) and she’s able to just be in a way that I don’t often see. She feels very natural to me. And I like that she’s allowed to be a bit silly and overdramatic at points (Elizabeth can be!). But I think the 2005 leans on the ‘feisty independent young woman!’ far too much. IMO all the adaptations tend to overplay that and underplay how intensely pro-social Elizabeth’s values are and how much that affects both her virtues and mistakes, but … the 2005 most of all. Also, the adaptation is just so different that I tend to think of most of it as P&P-adjacent more than a version of P&P itself (i.e., great movie, iffy adaptation).
Lizzie in LBD was pretty far off, imo. I think they overplayed the feisty!! side, as with the 2005, and underplayed Elizabeth’s light-heartedness and easy charm. And while I do think it’s important that Elizabeth be portrayed as flawed in her own right, it felt to me like we were being constantly beaten over the head with it. I didn’t get the feeling that she’s an essentially cheerful person in stressful situations the way I do with canon Elizabeth, and to some extent or another with the other adaptations. So, eh.
As for the thing that strikes me as most “off” … yeah, as I mentioned above, I think that one of the most important aspects of Elizabeth’s character—alongside her light-heartedness, youth, assurance, sweetness, sangfroid, self-satisfaction, assertiveness—is the extent to which her values are rooted in social norms much more than rejection of them. She does reject some, but where she most approves and most disapproves of people frequently comes down to prioritizing conventions around manners and courtesy as the outward manifestations of inner character. She’s not completely wrong, but not completely right, either.
There are ways in which Elizabeth is unconventional, to be sure, but she is deeply conventional in others and it leads to her greatest mistakes. And I think adaptations are so intent on how daring!! and independent!!! she is that they skate right over that and how much it pervades her relationship with Darcy and overall character arc.
Your mention of how P&P adaptations tend to lean toward making Elizabeth an introvert makes me curious. What do you think of the various adaptations' portrayals of Elizabeth? I remember you've said your favorite is Elizabeth Garvie in the 1980 BBC version, but what are your opinions on Jennifer Ehle, Kiera Knightley, Greer Garson and others? And what do you think tends to be most "off" about screen portrayals of Elizabeth compared to Austen's version?
I replied:
Hmm. At this point, it’s been a pretty long while since I watched any of them (thanks, grad school), but my overall impressions:
Greer Garson’s Elizabeth is so rooted in the conventions of 30s/40s film that she’s kind of hard to judge. I do think Elizabeth’s youth is really important, and even setting aside her actual age, her assurance seems a very different kind than Elizabeth’s to me. She did strike me as genuinely light-hearted and lively, which you don’t always get. But I’d say that she’s one of the least ‘off’ aspects of that adaptation.
Elizabeth Garvie:
Jennifer Ehle: *deep breath* also difficult to judge, but for different reasons—I dislike the adaptation she’s in so much that I’m not sure I’m a fair judge. Going back to the early days when I did like it more than not, I remember that she didn’t bother me in the way that CF always did. I think her satisfaction with herself is ultimately played as a partial flaw on par with Darcy’s pride, which I do appreciate (she’s certainly not always seen that way); they’re very balanced. But like with Garson (if less so), though, I don’t really get the impression of a very young woman making her first real mistakes—she registers as quite mature to me, which is not how I see Elizabeth at all, and which complicates her flaws. I guess I’d say that hers is mostly a valid take on Elizabeth, though not mine, but one I personally find rather grating.
Keira Knightley: she’s so Keira Knightley that it’s hard to say, you know? But I don’t feel like she has so much of the weight of ~~~Elizabeth Bennet~~~ on her (as it’s a pretty loose adaptation) and she’s able to just be in a way that I don’t often see. She feels very natural to me. And I like that she’s allowed to be a bit silly and overdramatic at points (Elizabeth can be!). But I think the 2005 leans on the ‘feisty independent young woman!’ far too much. IMO all the adaptations tend to overplay that and underplay how intensely pro-social Elizabeth’s values are and how much that affects both her virtues and mistakes, but … the 2005 most of all. Also, the adaptation is just so different that I tend to think of most of it as P&P-adjacent more than a version of P&P itself (i.e., great movie, iffy adaptation).
Lizzie in LBD was pretty far off, imo. I think they overplayed the feisty!! side, as with the 2005, and underplayed Elizabeth’s light-heartedness and easy charm. And while I do think it’s important that Elizabeth be portrayed as flawed in her own right, it felt to me like we were being constantly beaten over the head with it. I didn’t get the feeling that she’s an essentially cheerful person in stressful situations the way I do with canon Elizabeth, and to some extent or another with the other adaptations. So, eh.
As for the thing that strikes me as most “off” … yeah, as I mentioned above, I think that one of the most important aspects of Elizabeth’s character—alongside her light-heartedness, youth, assurance, sweetness, sangfroid, self-satisfaction, assertiveness—is the extent to which her values are rooted in social norms much more than rejection of them. She does reject some, but where she most approves and most disapproves of people frequently comes down to prioritizing conventions around manners and courtesy as the outward manifestations of inner character. She’s not completely wrong, but not completely right, either.
There are ways in which Elizabeth is unconventional, to be sure, but she is deeply conventional in others and it leads to her greatest mistakes. And I think adaptations are so intent on how daring!! and independent!!! she is that they skate right over that and how much it pervades her relationship with Darcy and overall character arc.