TAKE YOUR AUNT’S ADVICE

By Andrea Guachalla

We spend hours and hours in front of the TV, especially when we are young enough to not have urgent responsibilities as opposed to when we grow older. Whether it is because our attention got completely caught up in a TV series, or because we like to watch movies, documentaries, etc. At some point in our lives, we all find ourselves spending a lot of time in front of a screen, and it’s up to us to decide whether those hours were wasted or ultimately worthwhile. 

I must admit that I have definitely wasted much time in my youth watching pointless movies, or TV series that didn’t offer me any lasting message that would actually give me a different perspective on life, or would leave an emotional print behind, or would at least teach me something. Most of those films were forgotten even before I turned off the TV.

However, I’m happy to say that one of the films in which I invested a lot of time – not only watching it but also reading up on it, discovering the artists behind the production, reading the novel on which it was based, and listening to the soundtrack – actually bore good fruit over time. 

You’re wondering which movie it is?

I’m talking about Pride and Prejudice! A romantic film starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen that was released in 2005.

This production was based on a book with the same title written by Jane Austen, a renowned English novelist born in the late 18th century. Although Jane wrote the book in 1797, it was not published until 1812, five years before her death. Sadly, while she was still alive the book received no recognition whatsoever, even though she had gained acknowledgement for another book she published in 1811 (Sense and Sensibility). It was only decades later when Pride and Prejudice was re-released that she gained recognition for it.

Pride and Prejudice, which was originally titled “First Impressions,” is a romantic novel of manners written in the Regency era (1811-1820), featuring a free indirect speech style, which means that the narrative does not include the actual dialogues between the characters, but it’s rather a description of the events taking place, conversations being held and the feelings evolving.

As it is, the book does not offer many details about places or physical features of the characters and the writing style can be somewhat frustrating for readers who prefer normal indirect speech or direct speech; it certainly presented a challenge for the writers who adapted the book to a script for cinematographic productions.

The plot revolves around the life of a middle-class family consisting of Mr. Bennet (the father), Ms. Bennet (the mother) and five daughters named Jane, Elizabeth (Lizzie), Mary, Catherine (Kitty) and Lydia. The narrative portrays their provincial life in the countryside of Great Britain, and their interaction with two families of a higher hierarchy, the Bingley’s and the Darcy’s families.

The book shows how womanhood and motherhood were perceived at the time. It also reveals the complexities of society while simultaneously developing a love story between the most intelligent, humorous and tenacious member of the Bennet family, Lizzie, who never received a formal education, and Mr. Darcy, a proud and unfriendly rich man who owns the whole estate of Pemberley in Derbyshire.

The importance of Jane’s work and the attractiveness of the plot is made evident by the number of adaptations made based on the novel, and the number of novels written inspired by it. The first widely acclaimed adaptation to screen was done in 1940, with the very Aldous Huxley as the screenwriter along with two other collaborators, being followed by nine different adaptations to films and TV series, the most recent of which is also the most acclaimed: the adaptation written by Deborah Moggach, a renowned English writer. 

In an effort to faithfully capture the essence of the novel in a script, she spent two years writing the script adaptation (yes, two years!), and she wrote not only one draft but many of them. By the time Joe Wright joined the project as the director of the soon-to-be film, she was working on her 3rd draft.

After starting to work with Joe she ended up writing seven different drafts (yes, my friend, a total of ten drafts!). The reason for this was that the drafts went from following the narrative of the novel as closely as possible to be more flexible at Joe’s request.

“…so beautifully shaped as a story – the ultimate romance about two people who think they hate each other but who are really passionately in love. I felt, ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

Deborah Moggach

Some major changes were that many characters that appear in the novel were left out as a means of focusing on Lizzie and Darcy. Also, the Bennet family is portrayed as a happy family having overlapping conversations over breakfast, whereas in the book the family is rather dysfunctional.

The personalities of the sisters are also somewhat different than how Jane portrayed them: Joe introduced the idea of Lydia and Kitty behaving like tweens. And finally, the locations of some of the scenes were completely changed for them to be more suitable to the dramatic-romantic feeling that the film aimed for.

For instance, (spoiler alert) in the book, the first time Darcy proposes to Lizzie they are in a parsonage, whereas in the film he does it outside a building with neoclassical architecture; and the second time, his proposal occurs near Lizzie’s home as the sun dawns, whereas in the book they are walking down a country lane in the middle of the day. 

All those changes are both loved and hated depending on the person’s reverence for Jane Austen as a writer. But ultimately, it is important to keep in mind that both Deborah and Joe put a lot of effort into writing the script without repeating what had already been seen in other adaptations, and they aimed to capture the story beautifully. 

In the light of the costume design, the choice of locations for the filming process, the music scored by Dario Marianelli and graciously interpreted by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, I have my first lesson learned after the countless hours I spent reading the book, watching the film, and listening to the soundtrack:

A love story is more than just a love story. It is about understanding each character, seen or unseen, from a different perspective even in real life.

And now, before I go to the second lesson learned, I will ask you a question.

Do you ever feel like the message a film aims to send is so strong that it actually changes your life in any dimension?

Many times when we watch movies it is only for the sake of being entertained. But there is something mysterious and beautiful about realizing that the people playing the characters are real people and that whatever the characters’ dialogue is, it was once real in someone’s mind, and now it is real for you as the spectator.

In the first half of Pride and Prejudice (the film), it becomes clear that Mr. Darcy has very limited social skills and refrains as much as he can from speaking to people that are not acquainted with him, which makes him seem proud and arrogant. Later on, there is a scene where Lizzie finds herself having dinner with Mr. Darcy, a couple of friends of hers, and the proudest of the women among all the characters: Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who happens to be Darcy’s aunt.

During the dinner she repeatedly insults Lizzie, bringing up the fact that she is socially inferior and demands to know which skills she has, to which Lizzie responds that she plays the piano. Leading to the next scene, where Lizzie is forced to play the piano for the whole party. 

While she struggles to play the right notes, Lady de Bourgh is having a conversation with Darcy and the rest of the party about how well Darcy’s sister plays the piano, and Lady de Bourgh quickly turns to Lizzie’s friend, Charlotte, and strongly and demandingly advises her to practice the piano in her music room whenever she has the chance.

She insists that “no excellency can be acquired without constant practice.”

It takes some seconds for Darcy to approach the area where Lizzie is performing, and when she stops they have a conversation. Lizzie quickly brings up the fact that he is very unsociable and inconsiderate. 

“I… do not have the talent of conversing easily with people I have never met before” responds Darcy in defense.

“Perhaps you should take your aunt’s advice and practice?” says Lizzie without hesitation.

Now it’s time for you to tell me if it’s weird that these two phrases changed my life (in a way).

I don’t know about you, my friend, but I’m the kind of person that makes excuses for everything that seems challenging. And usually, my well thought excuses start like this:

“I do not have the talent of… Playing the piano.”

“I do not have the talent of… Conversing with children.”

“I do not have the talent of… Cooking a proper meal.” 

“I do not have the talent of… Being patient.”

“I do not have the talent of… Keeping in touch with my friends while I’m locked down at home due to a virus that is trying to creep in through my window.”

And I can go on all day. It’s so easy!

However, all of these nonsensical excuses have one single answer and it’s the same Mr. Darcy got even if it was inspired by his despicable aunt:

“You should take your aunt’s advice and PRACTICE.”

Even now, whenever I get myself in an awkward situation or a challenging one, my inner self comforts me with a: “take your aunt’s advice and practice,” and the whole scene with Lady de Bourgh, Darcy and Lizzie come immediately to my mind making me wonder whether it’s absurd or funny that I remember all of this before shyly introducing myself to someone new. 

All I know it’s that it brings me joy and helps me relax, and I’m somewhat glad that that is the second lesson I learned from Pride and Prejudice.

Now let me address you. If excuses like mine come often out of your mouth, let’s pretend for a minute that you have an aunt named Lady Catherine de Bourgh and I will give one single advice: 

Take your aunt’s advice and PRACTICE,

PRACTICE,

PRACTICE.