Revisiting Pride & Prejudice

I just finished watching the "Pride and Prejudice" mini-series by BBC… and I think both this and the movie have been nothing short of extraordinary. I mean, I’ve always loved the story. But I guess putting book to script has constantly been a challenge which few have stood up to. Movie adaptations have invariably been criticized for not being as good as the book itself, but I think both productions have turned out to be exceedingly astonishing.

Of course, ten days or so away from Valentines’ Day means that it is just about the worst possible time to be watching a movie that waxes at length about love, and the pursuit of it. But I guess one thing about growing up in time is that you start focusing on different themes that the book addresses. It used to be that I fixated on the romantic and lofty ideals that Lizzie expounded on, and the reward that awaited her who held out against all hope for true love, and who ended up being richly rewarded for her resolve.

Or perhaps its because the mini-series had the time to develop the plot a lot more finely than the movie did, that my attention was called to something else other than the general theme of relationships. Because I couldn’t help but take note of how one of the most endearing traits of the two sisters, Jane and Lizzie, were their ability to place their family above their own happiness. Everyone else from Lydia to Kitty and even Mrs Bennett sought their own personal happiness at the expense of their family’s, and so even though they were never reproached for their conduct save Lydia, there was hardly anything there worthy of note abt their behavior as well. In fact, the series did a very good job of balancing the different characters, while at the same time making it obvious that the only two persons who displayed any form of maturity at all was Jane and Lizzie.

This mini-series actually does a lot more credit to Jane than the movie did, showing how her kindness of nature was one of the greatest strengths that Lizzie depended upon, and which was what enabled them to support each other as they assumed responsibility to hold the family in place when everyone else lacked the same consideration. Austen was someone who felt very strongly abt the repression of women in her era, and how they were so often at the complete mercy of a good match to secure their own futures. Yet she also very clearly set down what she thought were traits that a sensible woman ought to have, that entailed a legitimate attempt to fight for their futures.

Possibly it is the male chauvinist in me who read too much into this, but I couldn’t help but detect the faint note of reproach that Austen had for the silly ways in which the girls did everything possible to scrap for their own wishes, even Charlotte’s, who admitted that she married for stability and security. It would appear that for Austen, the selflessness of Jane and Lizzie was what set them apart from everyone else, even as they too harbored hopes of finding a partner. They had the maturity to see that the family was tied to anything they did, and so displayed a greater responsibility than even Mr Bennett.

With so much more now that I had to do in the family since my sister is married, this has been a year for me to learn more abt what entails the responsibilities of being a member of the family. I confess I have been overwhelmingly pampered all 26 years of my life so far, without too much involvement in even the household responsibilities, which would constitute the least of what I ought to be contributing to the family. Learning to set aside my personal moods to give my parents the attention that my sis used to is already proving to be a real challenge. I used to close the door to my room and wallow in my own moodiness and broodiness, but now whatever may be going through my head and my heart, I need to set it aside and be there for my parents, at lunch or dinner, engaging them in conversation and getting them to do things to occupy their time.

It also means taking up my bandwidth I used to devote to caring for friends, since I now need to take a much greater active interest in the daily activities of my parents. They will need reminders of their appointments, they will need help to make arrangements, and in the event that they have a pretty free week I need to conjure up activities for them to occupy themselves with. It means less time to catch up with people, and less time to do things for them. One of the silver linings is that it also means I don’t have as much time as I used to have, to indulge in my obsessions with my Fiona, but forces me to engage my time in a much more constructive manner.

But there you go. Family has suddenly become very much something in my life. Ironic that it took me all of 27 years to get here, and to remember that I actually DO owe them my first priority, loyalty and obligation. Hehz… her self-sacrificing nature has suddenly been a much more attractive trait of Lizzie than her romantic ideals. Imagine that! Perhaps I’m growing up and losing my foolish romantic ideals. Perhaps I’m maturing a little more to appreciate more to virtue than what I used to think.

Or perhaps I’ll wake up tomorrow to find out that I’ve once again reverted back to the same silliness and foolishness that I’ve always had. After all, some of my friends can’t seem to stop harping on V-Day. Its gonna be my third year going without a date. So the more they harp on it, the more it actually does get to me. And yes, it sucks.

Ah well. I guess there’s always room for hope that Fiona would actually call me and ask me out for dinner.

Tee hee.

I’m reading “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath, and am absolutely charmed by it. Yes, Paul gave it to me almost 2 yrs ago and its taken me until now to read it. But it is a fascinating read, also a feminist novel, but very well narrated. Depressing book, nonetheless. Which only serves to even further aggravate my recent disposition. Perhaps I do sound a little more glum recently. Diana even called me to check in on me tonight. Hehz…

I’m fine, I guess. I’ll survive. Well all cope differently. I do so by letting it out somewhere. Once I get it out, I feel better. This blog was meant to be such a place, so even though it seems to have entered the public domain despite it starting out as quite the opposite, I shall not give it up as such. It still remains the place I go to when I need to feel better. So if I always sound moody and depressed, and always repeat the same things here, that’s because that’s what this blog was meant to be in the first place. So dun be worried for me, guys, when it seems I’m always having blue days according to these blog entries. The title “Just Once In a BLUE Moon” was meant to be a pun.

Cool eh?

Grins.

Bet no one got that.