Jane Austen, a legendary British novelist who never married, completed the world-famous novel "The First Impression" (later renamed Pride and Prejudice) at the age of 21, while she wrote only 6 novels in her lifetime, but was commented on by later generations:
"For more than a hundred years, there have been several revolutions in taste in England, and the renovation of literary tastes has affected the prestige of almost all writers, but Shakespeare and Jane Austen have endured."
Portrait of Jane Austen (1775–1817)
Jane Austen's masterpiece Pride and Prejudice was once ranked second on the best-seller list of Masterpieces of British Literature, after British author J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Devil's World (later made into the Lord of the Rings series). Because Pride and Prejudice has long been listed as a recommended literary book for students, many readers are not very familiar with the love story of the hero Darcy and the heroine Elizabeth depicted in this book, and the classic phrase "arrogance makes it impossible for others to love me, prejudice makes me unable to love others" is even more timeless.
"Pride and Prejudice" was once remade into multiple versions of movies and TV series. Nowadays, if you search through the major platforms, it is easy to find the American version in 1940 and the French version in 2005. The common point is that both have made different plot changes according to the content of the original book, but because the former was produced in the glory days of Hollywood, the film's treatment is also very much in the style of that era, although the film is still black and white, the costume design in the film is also obviously an era error, but it has also received praise from countless fans, becoming one of the classic versions of "Pride and Prejudice" in people's minds.
Stills from the 1940 film Pride and Prejudice
The French version of 2005 has also captured the hearts of countless audiences with its gorgeous set and beautiful shooting techniques. Especially the shot of the male protagonist Darcy gradually walking toward Elizabeth in the fog at the end of the movie, it is impossible to imagine how many viewers are intoxicated and tearful, touched by this classic love. The movie also scored a high score of 8.7 on Douban and even became the favorite movie of some non-book natives.
Stills from the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice
However, for true novel readers, no matter which version of the film, although it retains the essence of the novel and has its own characteristics, it can never reach the satisfaction of the reader, which is probably the charm of the text. If you have to ask readers of the novel to recommend a version, the most vocal is probably the 1995 BBC version of the TV series Pride and Prejudice. This version has a total of 6 episodes, which is the maximum restoration of the plot of the novel, and the actors' role performances are also very full, and they have received a high score of 9.3 on Douban. And that year, once the BBC version was broadcast, it also set off a wave of countless people chasing "Pride and Prejudice" and even all of Jane Austen's works. Darcy, on the other hand, became the standard male god image that thousands of young girls fantasized about when they first opened their love.
Stills from the 1995 BBC tv series Pride and Prejudice
All of Jane Austen's writings revolve around love and marriage. "Pride and Prejudice" reflects the human condition of that era, each character shows the author's most thorough understanding of human nature, and every sentence is the author's carefully crafted language.
Some people say that Jane Austen is the originator of all romance novels. Reading her books will give you the courage to chase love, but you will not lose yourself because of love. She herself wrote that "sometimes love is like a shy flower, it takes time to bloom", and ignorant girls know how to accept and appreciate the twists and turns of love. She also wrote that "nothing can destroy your soul, including poverty.") In all of her work, there is a deep understanding of love and marriage.
But if you think that by reading Pride and Prejudice you understand Jane Austen's view of love, you can imagine that the author's own happy life is indeed very wrong. Jane tasted love in her early 20s, but had to give up for practical reasons, and there were rich aristocratic men who proposed to her, but she felt that marriage without love was hell. So, after saying goodbye to a sincere relationship of her own, Jane Austen made a choice: she appealed all her imagination and values of love and marriage to her work and never married in this life.
Therefore, the reader wants to better understand Jane Austen's views on love and marriage, or the reader wants to experience love and life, marriage and reality more fully. You may as well calm down and read all the author's works, otherwise, there will always be bias in understanding.
If you really don't have time, it is also recommended that you watch the other two movies after watching the BBC's "Pride and Prejudice" episode. One is "Becoming Jane Austen" and the other is "Jane Austen's Regrets".
Stills from the movie "Becoming Jane Austen"
Played by Anne Hathaway, "Becoming Jane Austen" tells the story of the heart-pounding love she encountered in the first half of Jane's life. Hathaway, who was only 25 years old at the time, also used her agile and sensitive performance to give Jane Austen the innocence and perseverance of women, which made this female writer more brilliant on the screen. Jane Austen's Regrets, on the other hand, reveals Jane Austen's diaries, letters, and writings in the form of a biopic depicting her life and inner world for the rest of her life.
Stills from Jane Austen's Regrets
"Let other writers write about sin and pain!" (Jane Austen)
May every reader who walks into Jane Austen feel what true marriage and love are.