Miss Elizabeth
Blog Author & Club Manager
Once upon a time, when I was twelve, I stumbled (quite literally) over a box of abandoned VHS tapes in a Salvation Army store. That cream box with the swirled writing on it happened to be Pride and Prejudice '95 (or The Real Version, as we call it). The contents of this box, however, would not be enjoyed for another year, because my mother insisted that I read the book first. I tried-- truly I did-- but my twelve-year-old mind was much more interested Anne of Green Gables. The only time I had come across Jane Austen was as an obscure reference to old novels. I lumped her together with Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters: "authors that I might like when I was older."
Then, at age thirteen, I got the chicken pox. As I was housebound for some time, my dear Mama took pity on me and let me watch those tapes. Ten minutes in, I was a goner, and have been ever since. For the next two years, I lived and breathed Jane Austen, reading and re-reading her six novels (which I checked out of the library on a rotation), watching every adaptation I could find (and buying every BBC Jane Austen adaptation I could when Video Adventure closed down), and essentially bemoaning the fact that I had been born in the wrong century. I mean...the fashions, the mannerisms, the chance to read the first editions in their proper environment. *happy sigh*
In other words, I was obsessed. And one night when I was sixteen, I stumbled (again) across something that would once again change my life: the P&P95 Forever Club. It was the first blog I ever followed, and the one that catapulted me into the blogging world. That very night, I started my own blog, Modern Miss Bennet, and have kept it to this day. In 2019, Melody and Amy announced that they were looking for a new author, so I applied, never dreaming that they would consider me-- and by some miracle, they did.
I suppose I love P&P95 because it brought Jane Austen to life for me. Jane Austen's characters, previously shadowy beings behind a screen, stepped out in full color as living, breathing people. And it was funny, not stuffy or boring as popular opinion had tried to convince me. It does the book justice-- and how many times can you say that about an adaptation?
Melody, a.k.a. "Miss Marianne"Once upon a time, when I was fourteen, my older sister asked me if I'd ever seen Sense and Sensibility, and when I replied that I had not, she was slightly shocked and determined to rectify the situation as soon as possible. So before I knew it I was in her living room being introduced to the Dashwoods; little did I know it would change my life forever. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but really it isn't. I knew as soon as it was over that I wanted more, and somehow or other I knew that the author of Sense and Sensibility had also written Pride and Prejudice, and I remembered seeing that title on an old VHS in our TV cabinet. So I dug it out and watched it forthwith.
Sadly, however, it was not the real version. It was actually the old black-and-white version from 1940. I liked it well enough, but never did quite catch what was going on (partly due to the less-than-ideal quality), and knew pretty well that the old B&W movies sort of take a lot of liberties with literature. So I put a hold on a different copy from the library. Fortunately this time I got lucky, and it was The Real Version.
I was captivated. Before I quite knew what was going on, I had jumped with both feet into The World of Jane Austen, voraciously learning everything I could, thrilling in it all, and I have remained there to become what you see me today: a devoted "Janeite." In 2011 I created a blog called Regency Delight, and wrote on it faithfully for a year or two, gradually fading away... I still do post on it occasionally, when I feel inspired, and I'd be glad if you popped over and followed me.
Now, however, I am married to my own Mr. Darcy-Knightley-Tilney, and the two of us are buried in an avalanche of college, work, and newlywed life. He is pursuing a pre-dental Bachelor of Science in math with a minor in music (nerrrrrd), while I am pursuing a BA in English Literature (shocking, right?) and a minor in theatre. Having long ago given up on trying to keep this Club growing, but too sad to see it die, Amy and I decided to take on a new Primary Author for the blog, and we are thrilled to see it dusted off.
May 2019
Amy, a.k.a. "Miss Dashwood"Administrator II
Once upon a time, when I was fourteen, I had run out of books to read. This was a recurring phenomenon that happened approximately every three weeks, and my mother was, I think, getting rather tired of hearing me bewail my lack of good novels. My grandfather had given me a gift card to Borders for my birthday, so she took me there one afternoon and told me that I was quite old enough to begin reading Jane Austen if I so chose... and, well, I did so choose. I knew almost nothing about that excellent woman at the time, except that she was a very famous author who had written a great many (or so I thought) romantic novels in some prehistoric time known as the Regency Era, which took place somewhere between the time periods of Felicity Merriman and Josefina Montoya, to the best of my limited knowledge.
But since I was quite willing to try a new classic, I purchased a copy of P&P with my gift card and took it home to read-- and I was hooked from the first page. I'd braced myself for a long, hard read, full of difficult words and little wit. And was I ever surprised. I was laughing--out loud, mind you--by the time Mr. Bennet had done affirming his longstanding friendship with his wife's poor nerves, and at the end of the book I closed it with heartfelt regret. The only thing that soothed my disappointment at seeing the story end was the knowledge that there was a movie to go with it, a movie my parents had seen and loved a few years before.
My mother and I split the watching of P&P over two evenings, and I wanted the movie to go on and never end. It was the longest film I'd ever seen in my life, the most "grown-up" I'd seen to date, the first period drama I'd watched besides my beloved Anne of Green Gables, and it marked the beginning of a fondness and fanship that I trust will continue 'til the end of my days.
Oh, and I managed to get over my initial displeasure with Colin Firth's appearance ("THAT'S Mr. Darcy??? He doesn't look anything like I imagined!") quite quickly, though I still maintain he's not precisely on par with the Book Mr. Darcy. *ducks rotten tomatoes*
In the ten years or so since that fateful first viewing (fateful in a good way!) it's remained firmly at the top of my Favorite Movie List. I've seen a few other adaptations, good and bad, but the 1995 miniseries is called the best for a reason. It brings the book to life so beautifully; the characters seem to live and breathe, the story flows effortlessly, and the dialogue retains Jane Austen's original sparkling wit. Just writing this is making me want to watch it again!
June 2019
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