I know, you’d think I’d have read Pride and Prejudice before now, wouldn’t you? I’m not really sure why not.
Well, maybe those two nouns in the title had something to do with it. I think I’ve always thought Jane Austen was a bit beneath me.
Early 19th century romcoms? Yeah, not my bag.
It’s funny what can turn your views around.
I have a 5 play subscription to our local (Wollongong) Merrigong theatre season. I did notice that a musical stage version of this book, titled “Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)” was part of the season, but I gave priority to some other productions.
I happen to be an Inner Circle supporter of Merrigong (which, incidentally, is simply the best entrepreneurial theatre company in the country, which means we get to see some of the best works from STC, MTC, Belvoir, Playbox, La Boite, etc as well as touring overseas productions), so I was invited to a backstage tour of “Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)”.
That privilege seemed fun and, if I was going to do that, I might as well stick around to watch the show.
Here’s me with the rest of the backstage invitees on 10 September.
This particular production started out as an Edinburgh Festival event, moved to the West End, and grew into an international touring show. The show we’d see was the Australian production touring the country.
TBH, I didn’t expect too much of a humorous, musical adapation of the Austen classic, but I was surprised to find it a very clever, witty, sharp and irreverent comedy of manners that used a genius twist of telling the story from the point of view of the servants acting out the roles of the main protagonists, backed by absurdly appropriate modern pop songs, and delivered by an all singing, all dancing, boots and white shift wearing, multiple role playing (male and female) cast of five women.
No wonder it won an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
Having savoured the irreverent class and gender bending of the musical I decided, perhaps not surprisingly, to swallow my pride and overcome my prejudice and read the book.
And, yes, I now thoroughly acknowledge its brilliance, from the totally engaging story of the unlikely yet inevitable romance of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, wrapped in family dramas and social commentary that 200 years later seems completely contemporary, to the very distinctive writing style and structure that marks Austen as one of the great writers of all time.
A fascinating aspect is how our language has changed over 200+ years. It took me a while to realise that by “stupid”, Austen didn’t mean “unintelligent” but “reduced to a stupor”, which makes perfect sense.
Equally interesting is how she can slip between directly quoting her character’s statements and thoughts, or giving us a summary instead. And, somehow, she turns long, convoluted sentences in what feels like stilted language into passages of rhythmic poetry that carry the reader along.
It’s not a quick read – 366 pages – but I flew through it in a few days.
Highly recommended.
PS I’m still not sure about the various film and TV versions, though.