My Jane Austen Week Questions: Part 2

Here's Part 2 of my Jane Austen Week Questions. Part 1 is here!


 4. Who are your top three favorite Jane Austen Heroes and why?

Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) -- At first, I didn't like Mr. Darcy very much, but as Pride and Prejudice goes on, I grew to like him. At first, he is arrogant and proud, but under that arrogance and pride is a caring brother and a great husband for Elizabeth. He also did a great thing for the Bennets when he found Lydia and Wickham and brought about their wedding and saved the Bennets from disgrace. He's an honorable hero.


Let's face it, Colin Firth just is Mr. Darcy. 'Nuff said.

Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility) -- I felt so bad for Colonel Brandon: he loves Marianne, but she likes Willoughby (who's very undeserving) and his past is a sad one. But he was still an honorable hero and he doesn't complain about his past.


I did like David Morrissey's Colonel Brandon, but there seemed to be something missing. I think Alan Rickman got Colonel Brandon's melancholy appearance well.

Mr. Knightley (Emma) -- We all know that Emma should have probably listened to Mr. Knightley on multiple occasions. Even though it can be difficult to get Emma to listen, Mr. Knightley still persists in trying to tell Emma when she is wrong when nobody else will. Plus, he's a caring neighbor (he helps out Mrs. and Miss Bates), and he's an honorable hero.

5. Any honorable mentions for 3 and 4? (Keep it under five)

Mr. Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey) -- Mr. Tilney can be a bit odd at times, but at the same time he's funny. The way he makes little jokes is entertaining (gotta love the "nice" conversation). He's also a caring brother to Eleanor and spends time with her.

Marianne Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility) -- While Marianne valued sensibility over sense (and found the downsides of it after awhile), she comes to realize her errors and becomes determined to mend her ways.

Emma Woodhouse (Emma) -- Emma annoyed me at first, but I grew to like her. Yes, she is a bit manipulative and sticks her nose into everyone's business, but at the same time you know that she means well and only wants to help out her neighbors. She does come to realize her errors and eventually mends them.


6. Top three Jane Austen Adaptations and why?

Pride and Prejudice (1995) -- This was my first Jane Austen movie. I absolutely love this miniseries! The costuming is wonderful, the acting is brilliant, and I could watch this movie over and over again! I love that it takes five hours to tell the story. The downfall to movies is that they have to move the story quickly enough to fit into a 90 minute to two hour time frame. With this miniseries, they take their time to completely tell the story and accurately portray the characters so that you get to really know everyone. And, let's face it, Colin Firth just is Mr. Darcy; end of story! ;-)

Sense and Sensibility (1995) - My second Jane Austen movie. I really fell in love with this movie: sure, some of the actor's/actresses were older than they should have been and characters were left out, but the costumes were excellent, the scenery was great, and it told a great story. The only problem I have with the movie is that it differs in a lot of way from the original novel plotwise. But I think that this version of Sense and Sensibility really captured the correct tone of the novel, something that the 2008 version didn't do as well of a job (don't get me wrong, I still liked the 2008 version, but it had it's problems too).

Emma (2009) - Emma wasn't my favorite Jane Austen novel when I started to read it, but by the end I liked it. I think this is the best version of Emma that I've seen: the 1996 version (Gwyneth Paltrow) got the tone right, but things in the story were changed and some things were modernized; the 1997 version was okay, but Mark Strong's Mr. Knightley was scary and the overall tone was darker than it should have been. In this version, while some of the language is modernized, had the tone of the novel right and had most of the characters right (although some didn't like this Jane Fairfax, but I didn't mind her... and Mrs. Elton could have been a little older).



7. Top Three Jane Austen characters that "take delight in vexing" you?

Wickham (Pride and Prejudice) -- Uggh! Wickham, a liar with bad past. He nearly completely ruined the Bennet girls' chance of getting any husband and then he's welcomed at Longbourn open-heartedly by Mrs. Bennet? Wickham is an example of a guy who can go and do something horrible and yet be spoken nicely.

Willoughby (Sense and Sensibility) -- Is there any redeeming quality to him? I know during his confession scene at the end of Sense and Sensibility, you are supposed to feel a little sorry that he's married to a woman he doesn't love, but I can't feel sorry for him. After all he did with breaking hearts, I can't feel sorry for him.

Mrs. Elton (Emma) -- Me, me, me, me, me... and my sister and brother Mr. Suckling in Maple Grove! This pretty much sums up Mrs. Elton. Everything constantly has to be about her! Someone will be talking about something that happened, and Mrs. Elton always manages to bring the focus back to her! I know, she's not nearly as bad as Wickham and Willoughby, but she's still very vexing. Poor Jane Fairfax!



Stay tuned for Part 3!


God Bless,