1995 Pride and Prejudice Review

When my sister came home for spring break, the first thing we did, obviously, was watch Pride and Prejudice, the 1995 BBC television series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth (the ultimate Mr. Darcy). And so, I decided to go in-depth about my favorite Jane Austen adaptation. 

Warning: SPOILERS! (but this is a classic)

The Bennets (Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters, Jane the eldest, Lizzy, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia the youngest) are delighted when they hear that someone is finally moving into Netherfield, a neighboring manor. That someone is Mr. Bingley, an amiable young man with a fortune of £5,000 a year (from $493,138 to $8,218,446 in modern terms) (link)). Mrs. Bennet happily anticipates his marriage to one of her daughters. When Jane and Bingley meet at the next ball, they hit it off immediately. But Bingley also brought a party of people -- his sisters, Caroline Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, and her husband Mr. Hurst, and of course his friend, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Mr. Darcy is even richer than Mr. Bingley with £10,000 a year (from $986,276 to $16,436,891). Unfortunately, the others in the party aren’t as amiable as Mr. Bingley. 

Mr. Collins, the foolish and tiresome clergyman who will inherit the Bennet’s home after Mr. Bennet’s death, comes to visit, with the purpose of marrying one of the sisters. His benefactor is Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who happens to be Mr. Darcy’s aunt. After being turned down by Lizzy, Mr. Collins successfully proposes to her friend Charlotte Lucas. Around this time, Lizzy meets Mr. Wickham, who reveals that he was friends with Mr. Darcy as a child. Wickham tells Lizzy that Darcy basically denied him a curacy, even though the late Mr. Darcy had promised it to him. This just adds to Lizzy’s already bad perception of Darcy.

Mr. Bingley and his friends leave for London, leaving Jane heartbroken. Lizzy goes to visit Charlotte, where she runs into Mr. Darcy, who is visiting his aunt. She finds out that Mr. Darcy separated Mr. Bingley from Jane to save him from a bad marriage. Mr. Darcy proposes to Lizzy. She rejects him and names Jane’s situation and Mr. Wickham’s woes as her reasons. 

Mr. Darcy gives a letter to Lizzy explaining that Mr. Wickham was actually in the wrong because of various reasons. Lizzy thinks it over and decides to accept Darcy’s version of the story. She returns home but decides not to tell anyone except Jane about Mr. Wickham’s bad character. Lydia gets an invitation from her friend to go to Brighton, and Mr. Bennet allows her to go despite Lizzy’s warnings. Lizzy goes on a vacation with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, which takes them near Pemberley, Mr. Darcy’s estate. They hear that Mr. Darcy isn’t home so they decide to visit, but Darcy shows up unexpectedly. Surprisingly, he acts very friendly. 

A few days later, Darcy visits Lizzy (presumably to propose again) but finds her distressed. Lizzy got a letter from Jane. Lydia eloped with Mr. Wickham. They didn’t get married but instead went to London and are staying together (which was absolutely unacceptable at the time, and would ruin the entire family). Lizzy tells Mr. Darcy. After he leaves, Lizzy is worried that he’ll never speak to her again.

Lizzy goes home. After a couple worried weeks, they get word from Mr. Gardiner that he was able to get Wickham (~28) and Lydia (16) married. After Lydia accidentally tells her, Lizzy finds out that Mr. Darcy actually did all the work to get them married and paid off much of Wickham’s debts. 

Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy return to Netherfield. Bingley, who still loves Jane, proposes with Darcy’s blessing and they become happily engaged. Lizzy gets a surprise visit from Lady Catherine de Bourgh, demanding that she never get engaged to Mr. Darcy. Lizzy refuses to make any promises, and Lady Catherine leaves enraged. 

Lizzy and Darcy are on a walk together when she thanks him for helping with Wickham. Darcy confesses that it was all for her and proposes again. Lizzy, who by this point truly loves him, happily accepts. 

The adaptation follows the book very closely. Almost all of the dialogue is taken directly from the book, and it keeps almost all the same scenes, which is the reason it’s 5 ½ hours long. It’s definitely more historically accurate than any other adaptation I’ve seen. 

It keeps the book’s humor and charm (unlike another adaptation I know *cough cough* 2005 Pride and Prejudice *cough cough*). One of my favorite examples of this is Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s scenes. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a meddling, bordering on ridiculous and tacky, rich woman. The adaptation plays this up with extremely dramatic music, gaudy-looking clothes and furniture, and fun zoom-ins on her face. The actress who plays Lady Catherine de Bourgh has such a strong presence and really fits the role.

I’m generally nervous when it comes to movie adaptations of books after struggling through messes like Ella Enchanted, the Giver, and (sorry) Harry Potter. It’s hard to find a good movie that follows the plot enough that you’re not screaming at it the whole time and has the same kind of feel. Pride and Prejudice is a fun story and this mini-series is really enjoyable to watch. If you think Jane Austen is all stuffy and unrelatable, try giving the 1995 Pride and Prejudice a chance. 

-Edie