As of late, I've really been getting back into period dramas. I can mostly blame Pinterest for this for showing pictures from scenes of 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'North & South'. I'll admit, I was more interested in the recreation of Austen's work rather than Gaskell's. In fact, I was only led to 'North & South' because I recognised Richard Armitage, who I know from the BBC version of Robin Hood. It's always interesting to see if a character has been type-cast, and I have to say I was happy that he managed to get the girl for once!
Last academic year, I was studying 'The Great Gatsby' and, for my coursework, I had to compare it against a partner text from a given list. One of the texts on this list was 'Pride & Prejudice'. Now, normally I wouldn't go for a book. I definitely had it labelled as a soppy, old book that I felt confident I would dislike, as the only other classic book I had read had not engrossed me as more modern texts of different genres. I am so glad I ignored my own prejudice - if you'll pardon the slight pun - and bought the book because my how it has turned out to be a favourite. It took me a little while to get used to the language (and to be able to find some level of tolerance for Mrs B) but within a few hours I was shipping Jane and Charles, and temporarily hating on Darcy as much as Lizzie. Since reading the book, I have seen the 2005 film (which I strongly recommend watching, especially with the British ending because the extra bit at the end of the American version, I feel, is out of character), watching 'The Lizzie Bennet Diaries' (a must-see YouTube series), Lost in Austen (again, this is well worth a watch), and the BBC series starring Colin Firth (if you like him, then go for it! Not my personal cup of tea though). For those of you familiar with the film, I also strongly recommend searching for 'Darcy's inner struggles' on Pinterest because the results are absolutely hilarious.
It is actually through following various Austen boards on Pinterests and through searches regarding 'Pride & Prejudice' that I came across the other dramas. First up was Sense and Sensibility, which had been sitting on my Netflix watch list for a few weeks. It has not by any means replaced 'Pride & Prejudice' as my favourite Austen work (well... at this point I only know the two!) but it was certainly enjoyable. It is clearly by the same author as 'Pride & Prejudice' from the way in which the encounter between Colonel Brandon and Marianne ended up with her distancing herself and falling for the more sociable, younger and out-going Willoughby, and later finding their way back to each other after finding out that Willoughby had done something despicable. Whilst it may have been predictable, the characters were different and the settings new. I'm definitely going to get a copy of the novel to see whether it is very different in writing.
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Alongside images from 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Pride & Prejudice' were pictures from 'North & South' and my goodness is it sad in parts! I think the best description of it came from a blog which said something along the lines of it being similar to a Jane Austen work in terms of romance but without the wit, and like Charles Dickens in its trials but without the broad humour - whilst I am not very familiar with Dickens, from what I know of his novels I agree entirely with assessment this person made. From the outset I knew that Mr Thornton and Miss Hale would end up together, and I could kind of guess which characters were bound to come a cropper given that they were already ill, but there was one that I did not expect until he said that he felt much younger. Even then it was rather sudden. I think I will need to read the book to gain a better understanding of the characters and the contexts etc, but if you are looking for a tall, dark and handsome gent then it's well worth the watch.
The next period drama on my list is 'Daniel Deronda'. I'll let you know what I think of it once I have finished watching it! In the meantime, everything I've mentioned above I'll link below so that you can find it. Sense and Sensibility and North & South are currently on Netflix (UK), as well as the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice if you wanted to watch them on there.
Until next time...
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