Pages

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Jane Austen Book Club book vs movie


Another one of my challenges for the All Jane Austen Challenge
this is number 6 on my list.

Comparing the book to the movie with a slight review.

But wait I am adding a twist. The twist is pointing out who in my social circle is an Austen iconic character.

First off, the book.

It's a retelling of all 6 novels, with a leaning towards Emma. It starts off with heavy Emma overtones, with the loss of a family member. (In Emma we see a wedding and the "loss" of her companion. In JABC it's the dead of a pet) The character of Jocelyn is Emma
The main male character Grigg (there are 4 male counterparts ) is meant to be Mr. Knightly/Mr. Bingley.
The character of Prudie is Anne Elliot.
The character of Sylvia is Fanny Price/Elinor Dashwood
The character of Allegra is Marianne Dashwood/Mary Bennet
The character of Bernadette is a little harder to nail down.

Then we are thrown into Mansfield Park on more then a few levels. Prudie's students are doing a play, and she is asked by one very seductive bad boy to help prepare. He is very much the Henry Crawford character.
Prudie's mother can be compared to Lady Bertram, by the simple issue of her being an exhippy stoner, unaware of reality.

Onto the movie

The scene when Prudie's husband is reading to her in bed, it's one of my favourite scenes from any film I have ever seen. It's so seductive.
The characters of Sylvia and Jocelyn are about a decade younger in the movie then they are in the book, but yet Allegra is around the same age as the book's character.
Most of the back stories have been left out of the film. Which is a shame, as we learn why certain characters do certain things in the book through their back stories.

And who in my social circle are Austen iconic characters?

Well, my sister would be Elizabeth Bennet.
Her friend Y.B. would be Lydia Bennet.
My friend E.K. is Emma.
And I am Miss Bates.

If I ever find a Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy I'll let you know.






2 comments:

  1. Wow, delightful review for both. I just watched the movie and am halfway through the book. I never even thought about the characters and who they relate to in Austen's books! Kudos! I am now more enlightened!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually waited to post this one for over two weeks, had a hard time getting a match on the one character.

    ReplyDelete