pride and
prejudice
BY JANET MUNSIL
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY JANE AUSTEN
JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 28, 2016
BILL’S NOTES
SPONSORED BY
1
Jane Austen’s novel of manners, first published in
1813, is considered one of the most popular English
language novels, and it has been adapted in many
ways (including numerous movies). When I heard
that a Victoria playwright had been commissioned
to do an adaptation for the National Arts Centre
and Theatre Calgary, I was immediately intrigued.
Janet Munsil has commented on the challenge of
adapting such a well-known work. In an interview
with the National Arts Centre, she spoke of how
she “wanted to keep as much of the story and
the feeling of the story as possible so that people
in the audience who don’t know the book will
understand what’s going on, and people who
love the book…will know that even though some
things had to change a little to fit the book on
stage, I was respectful of Austen’s original story.”
Pride and Prejudice is still very relevant today as it focuses on what young people
experience, perhaps faster than they did in the 1770s, but no less confusing,
with similar misunderstandings, obstacles, and setbacks. When thinking about
a director, I chose Sarah Rodgers as I have enjoyed the work she has done for
us on productions like Educating Rita, which we presented at the Granville
Island Stage last season. Sarah has cast an eclectic and talented group of actors
to fill the 19 roles, combining veterans like Shirley Broderick, David Marr,
and Katey Wright with those making their Arts Club debuts, including Yoshié
Bancroft, Raylene Harewood, and Sarah Roa. In fact, 8 of the 17 cast members
will be stepping onto the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage for the first time.
The design team has produced some of our most stunning productions for us.
The team includes Alison Green as the set designer (Mary Poppins), Christine
Reimer as costume designer (Saint Joan), Marsha Sibthorpe as lighting designer
(countless productions), and introducing Daneil Deorkeen as the sound designer.
The stage management team includes Angela Beaulieu and Ronaye Haynes.
Pride and Prejudice is one of the largest and most lavish plays we have produced.
Enjoy.
Bill Millerd
Artistic Managing Director
2 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
SYNOPSIS (SPOILER ALERT!)
Act I
As the play opens, members of the
Bennet family amuse themselves in
the garden of their country estate,
Longbourn. It is the early 19th century in Hertfordshire, England, not
far from London. Elizabeth Bennet is
painting at an easel, and her father
passes by and admires her painting;
her younger sisters, Lydia and Catherine (“Kitty”), interrupt by dancing
around in the garden. They are preparing for an upcoming “assembly,”
where Mary, another Bennet sister,
insists she will not dance, much to
the chagrin of Kitty and Lydia, the youngest two of the five sisters. Mrs. Bennet, the girls’ mother, enters with news: a neighbouring residence has been
let to a single, wealthy young man. Mr. Bennet is uninterested in this news,
but Mrs. Bennet is excited, as she hopes to marry one of her daughters to this
bachelor. Mrs. Bennet implores her husband to meet at once with their new
neighbour, Charles Bingley, but he replies that he has, in fact, already made
the acquaintance of Mr. Bingley. Lydia and Kitty, like their mother, are keenly
interested in any details regarding the new neighbour. “He wears a blue coat,
and rides a black horse,” observes Mr. Bennet dryly. The Gardiners, uncle and
aunt to the Bennet sisters, enter. They, too, are looking forward to the upcoming Meryton assembly. Speaking with his wife about the prospect of marrying
off one of their daughters, Mr. Bennet expresses his preference for Elizabeth.
Mrs. Bennet does not understand why he favours Elizabeth, the second-eldest
Bennet sister; she is not, in her mother’s view, the prettiest, nor the most
charming, of her daughters.
At the Meryton assembly, Mrs. Bennet introduces all five of her daughters to
Bingley. Bingley is clearly taken with Jane, the eldest daughter. He asks her to
dance. Mrs. Bennet worries that Charlotte Lucas—a local woman in her 20s
and a friend of Elizabeth’s—will “steal” Bingley away from her daughters.
Charlotte chats with Elizabeth while others dance. Elizabeth asks Charlotte
about a handsome young gentleman standing apart from the crowd. It is
Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is even wealthier than Bingley. Darcy is reluctant to
dance, telling Bingley that he only cares to do so with a partner with whom
he is well acquainted. Darcy agrees with Bingley that Jane is beautiful, but
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he describes Elizabeth as merely “tolerable,” which Elizabeth overhears.
Yet, when Bingley’s sister, Caroline, talks with Darcy, he refers to Elizabeth
as “pretty.” Later, as the Bennets walk home, they observe that Bingley
seemed particularly smitten with Jane and wonder where this might lead.
The following day, Jane, at her mother’s suggestion, rides on horseback in the
rain to Netherfield, the Bingleys’ country estate. On account of the weather—
and according to Mrs. Bennet’s plan—Jane catches a cold, and must stay with
the Bingleys until she recovers. Elizabeth walks the distance from Longbourn
to Netherfield. Caroline feigns astonishment that Elizabeth has travelled alone
on foot. Elizabeth checks on Jane, who is still feeling ill. Bingley is clearly
pleased to have Jane’s company, sick or not. At Netherfield, Elizabeth converses uneasily with the snobbish Caroline, Mr. Bingley, and their guest, Mr.
Darcy. Bingley announces that he will hold a dance at Netherfield once Jane
is well. After some time, Jane emerges, improved enough to return home
with her sister. Elizabeth tells Jane that she has “never been so happy to leave
a place.” Caroline had been deliberately condescending to Elizabeth, while
Darcy, in Elizabeth’s view, is proud and vain.
Back at Longbourn, the Bennets receive a visit from Mr. Collins, Mr. Bennet’s nephew and the heir to Longbourn (given Mr. Bennet’s failure to
produce a son). Collins, a parson, tells the Bennets that he has received the
patronage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, a wealthy widow. She has urged
Collins to marry, and he is interested in wedding one of the Bennet sisters. As this would mean some security for the family after Mr. Bennet’s
death, Mrs. Bennet is eager to marry off one of her daughters to Collins.
Later, in the Meryton village square, the Bennet sisters shop for hats to wear
at the Netherfield ball. They recognize a young military officer, George Wickham. He talks with Elizabeth, who seems charmed by him. He tells her that he
has known Darcy since they were children, having grown up at the Darcy family estate, but that the two men are no longer on good terms, as Darcy jealously revoked a “living” left to Wickham in Darcy’s father’s will. Nevertheless,
Elizabeth insists that Wickham should attend the dance at Netherfield, and
he agrees to come, despite Darcy’s presence and their soured relationship.
In the next scene, at the ball, Elizabeth looks for Wickham, who is nowhere in sight. She watches Jane dance with Bingley, when Kitty and Lydia
deliver the news that Wickham will not be able to make it. Mary asks Collins to dance, but he instead opts for a reluctant Elizabeth. Collins dances
awkwardly, and apologizes for his embarrassing missteps. Darcy asks
Elizabeth for the next dance. They verbally spar while dancing, continuing
their bristly conversation from Elizabeth’s earlier visit to Netherfield.
4 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
The following morning,
at Longbourn, Collins
asks Mrs. Bennet for
a moment alone with
Elizabeth, to whom he
proposes. Elizabeth
repeatedly rejects his
proposal. Mrs. Bennet is furious with her
daughter for turning
eric craig and naomi wright. photo by david cooper
down Collins, but
Mr. Bennet is fully supportive of his favourite daughter’s decision in
this matter. Charlotte asks Collins if he will accompany her into the village, and they leave Longbourn together. Wickham enters. Kitty and
Lydia flirt with him. He apologizes to Elizabeth for his absence at
the ball, and confesses that he has developed feelings for her.
Elizabeth notices that Jane looks sad. Jane tells her sister that she has just
received word that the Bingleys have left for London and do not plan to
return to their country estate. According to Caroline, Bingley is eager to see
Darcy’s sister, Georgiana, to whom he may soon be engaged. Jane is upset
by this unexpected turn of events; Elizabeth comforts her heartbroken sister. Charlotte enters, and informs the Bennets that she has just accepted a
proposal of marriage from Collins. Elizabeth is disappointed in her friend,
but Charlotte defends her decision as practical, rather than “romantic.”
Months later, Elizabeth visits the now married Charlotte at Lady Catherine’s
estate, where she lives with Collins. Collins, Charlotte, and Elizabeth are invited for dinner at Lady Catherine’s home. It is an altogether unpleasant meal,
with Lady Catherine talking down to her guests, especially Elizabeth. While
they are eating, Darcy, Lady Catherine’s nephew, arrives. He is betrothed to
Lady Catherine’s daughter, Anne, a young woman in chronically poor health.
Elizabeth continues to spar back and forth with Darcy, when he admits that
“against all rational thought and common sense,” he has fallen in love with
her. He proposes to Elizabeth, but she vehemently rejects his proposal, on
the grounds that he severed the relationship between Jane and Bingley and,
also, for his alleged mistreatment of Wickham. “You are the last man in the
world whom I could ever be prevailed upon to marry,” exclaims Elizabeth.
Act II
As the second act opens, Darcy is writing a letter to Elizabeth, defending
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himself against her accusations. He admits to persuading Bingley to break
off the relationship with Jane, but he claims that it was largely because,
in his view, Jane did not actually seem to be in love with Bingley. He concedes now that he was mistaken, and apologizes to Elizabeth. Regarding
the business with Wickham, Darcy explains that Wickham was given three
thousand pounds in lieu of the living left to him by Darcy’s father, and that
after quickly burning through this large sum of money, Wickham returned
to demand the living, which he had earlier agreed to forfeit. Since then,
Wickham has persistently attempted to defame Darcy’s name, while Darcy,
for his part, has remained silent on this matter. Elizabeth shares the content of Darcy’s letter with Jane, but not with the rest of her family. She now
regrets having rashly judged Darcy’s character, in light of these scandalous
revelations. Meanwhile, Lydia and Kitty hear that the regiment is leaving
for Brighton, and beg their father to take the family there, so that they may
continue to admire the handsome, uniformed soldiers, including Wickham.
In the next scene, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, with Elizabeth, tour Pemberley,
Darcy’s opulent country estate. Darcy is supposed to be out of town, and the
estate’s housekeeper is showing the property to tourists. Suddenly, as they
are touring the house, Darcy appears, having returned earlier than expected.
At first, Elizabeth cannot speak, but then manages to exchange basic pleasantries with Darcy. While talking with Darcy, Elizabeth accidentally knocks
over a priceless vase. Darcy shrugs off the broken item, but Elizabeth is
mortified at her clumsiness. Later, while still visiting Pemberley, Elizabeth
receives a letter with some alarming news, and she needs to leave at once.
Her youngest sister, Lydia, has run off to Brighton and eloped with Wickham,
circumstances that threaten to ruin the reputation of the Bennet family.
Back at Longbourn, the family is in a panic. Elizabeth tries to assure her
mother that Mr. Gardiner, who has gone to Brighton, will be able to mend
the situation. Eventually, Mr. Gardiner arrives in a carriage with Wickham
and Lydia. They have evidently reached an agreement, whereby Wickham
has married the youngest Bennet girl. Mrs. Bennet is ecstatic; everyone
else is simply relieved. Mr. Bennet worries about the expense of the marriage arrangement incurred by Mr. Gardiner. Despite the arrangement
having salvaged their family’s reputation, Mr. Bennet forbids Lydia from
ever setting foot in his home again. Lydia, however, will be leaving soon
anyway for Newcastle, where Wickham’s regiment will be stationed. She
mentions to Elizabeth that Darcy was present at her wedding. When Elizabeth questions her aunt about this, Mrs. Gardiner reveals that Darcy, in
fact, paid off Wickham and settled his many gambling debts, so that he
would agree to marry Lydia. Yet, Darcy insisted that Mr. Gardiner take credit
for the arrangement, thus keeping Darcy’s role in the matter secret.
6 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
After Wickham and Lydia leave, Bingley and Darcy arrive at Longbourn.
At last, Bingley proposes to Jane, and she joyfully accepts. Suddenly, Lady
Catherine arrives. She tells Elizabeth that she has heard a rumour that
she is engaged to Darcy, who has long been betrothed to Anne. Elizabeth
denies that she is engaged to Darcy, but refuses to promise Lady Catherine that she will never enter into such an engagement. Lady Catherine
leaves in a fit of anger, scolding Elizabeth for being a “thoughtless, impudent girl.” After this heated argument, Elizabeth speaks with Darcy, who
tells her that his feelings for her remained unchanged. He again asks her
to marry him, and this time she accepts; they kiss, as the play ends.
CHARACTERS
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bennet
A young woman, 20 years old at the start of the play, living with her mother,
father, and four sisters at Longbourn, their country estate in Hertfordshire.
Elizabeth is romantic, and believes in marrying for love, not simply for security or social advantage.
Fitzwilliam Darcy
A wealthy unmarried man, 28 years old, owner of the Pemberley estaste;
brother to Georgiana, nephew to Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Mr. Bennet
The owner of Longbourn, a man of modest income; husband to Mrs. Bennet,
father to Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia, uncle to Mr. Collins.
Mrs. Bennet
The mother of Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia, wife to Mr. Bennet.
Mrs. Bennet is constantly preoccupied with the task of marrying off her five
daughters; she hopes to improve her family’s social standing through favourable marriages.
Jane Bennet
The eldest Bennet daughter, 22, often regarded as the prettiest. Jane tends to
hide her feelings, but she is in love with Mr. Bingley and hopes to marry him.
Mary Bennet
The middle Bennet daughter by age; considered to be the plainest and least
appealing for marriage.
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Catherine “Kitty” Bennet
The second youngest of the Bennet
girls, 17 years old.
Lydia Bennet
The youngest of the Bennet girls,
15 years old at the start of the play.
Lydia, like Kitty, is smitten with the
handsome officers stationed near
their country home.
Charles Bingley
A wealthy landowner, who has
recently purchased Netherfield, an
estate near Longbourn. Bingley is 23
years old and unmarried.
Caroline Bingley
Charles’s sister, a snobbish young
woman with romantic interest in
Mr. Darcy. She looks down on the
Bennets as social inferiors, and
tries to discourage her brother from
marrying Jane.
George Wickham
A charming young military officer,
who was raised with Mr. Darcy at the
Darcy family estate. The two men,
however, are now on poor terms,
owing to a disagreement over money.
William Collins
A recently ordained parson, living
under the patronage of Lady
Catherine de Bourgh. As Mr. Bennet’s
nephew, Collins stands to inherit
Longbourn upon Mr. Bennet’s death
because Mr. Bennet has failed to
produce a male heir.
8 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
Charlotte Lucas
A 27-year-old woman, friend to
Elizabeth. Charlotte worries about
becoming a spinster and a burden to
her parents
Mr. Gardiner
Mrs. Bennet’s brother, uncle to Jane,
Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and
Lydia. Mr. Gardiner is a modestly
successful businessman residing in
the Cheapside area of London.
Mrs. Gardiner
Mr. Gardiner’s wife, aunt to Jane,
Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia.
Georgiana Darcy
Sister to Fitzwilliam Darcy, age 16.
Caroline Bingley intends for her
brother to marry Georgiana, rather
than the lower-class Jane.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh
A wealthy widow, owner of the
Rosings Park estate; employer of
Mr. Collins, mother of Anne, aunt of
Fitzwilliam and Georgiana Darcy.
Anne de Bourgh
Lady Catherine’s daughter, a
young woman in chronically
poor health; betrothed to Darcy
since they were children.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Austen is one of the most beloved writers in
all of English literature. Austen was born in 1775
at Steventon, Hampshire, and died in 1817 at the
age of 41. In her lifetime, Austen published four
novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice,
Mansfield Park, and Emma. Two additional novels,
Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published
posthumously. All six are regarded as classics,
perennially popular with readers and highly
acclaimed by critics. (For more on Austen, see
“The Life and Work of Jane Austen” below; on the enduring appeal
of her novels, see “The Long ‘Afterlife’ of Jane Austen.”)
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Janet Munsil’s plays include That Elusive Spark,
(finalist for the 2014 Governor General’s Award
for Literature), The Ugly Duchess, Emphysema
(a love story), Be Still, Influence, Circus Fire, and
I Have Seen Beautiful Jim Key—a new play for
young audiences about an educated horse, which
premiered in Victoria in 2015.
This adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
was co-commissioned and first produced by
Theatre Calgary and the NAC (Ottawa) in 2012,
and has been widely produced in North America
and the UK.
She is currently working on a new play for Realwheels Theatre, Act of Faith.
Her plays have been produced across Canada and the UK, including Touchstone, Tarragon, ATP, University of Victoria Phoenix Theatres, The West
Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, and the Soho Theatre + Writers Centre in London. Her self-produced works, Circus Fire and The Ugly Duchess, have toured
Ireland and the Czech Republic.
Munsil studied directing and design at the University of Victoria’s Phoenix
Theatres. Since 1992, she has been the Artistic Director of Intrepid Theatre in
Victoria (producers of Uno Fest, OUTstages, and the Victoria Fringe).
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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Sarah Rodgers has a number of directing credits
with the Arts Club, including Billy Bishop Goes to
War (Granville Island Stage); The Seahorse (Arts
Club On Tour); Educating Rita (Granville Island
Stage). She is a 12-time Jessie Award nominee and
four-time winner, and a graduate
of UBC (BFA, MFA).
THE LIFE AND WORK OF JANE AUSTEN
Jane Austen wrote a great deal about the elite, landowning upper class of
late-18th- and early-19th-century England, and particularly about the rituals of
courtship and marriage within this society. Yet, Austen herself came from a
family on the outer margins of the landed gentry, and she never married. She
wrote six novels—all of which remain immensely popular—before dying at
the age of 41. We can know something of the life that Austen lived from the
careful work of scholars and biographers, who have relied upon both Austen’s
own writings and the accounts left by her family and close acquaintances.
Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire. She was the seventh child, and second daughter, born to George
Austen, an Anglican rector, and Cassandra, his wife. Educated at Oxford, George emphasized literacy and creativity in the upbringing
of Jane and her siblings. Accordingly, Jane and her sister Cassandra
were sent first to Oxford, then to Southampton, to be educated
by a prestigious tutor, Ann Cawley. However, at Southampton, Jane and
Cassandra came down with typhus, a disease that almost killed the 10-yearold Jane. After recovering from this period of illness, the Austen sisters
returned to their parents’ home, thus ending their formal education. Nevertheless, Jane read voraciously from the books collected in her family’s
library. It was this autodidactic education that inspired Jane to begin writing, composing her first short stories, plays, and poems around the age
of 12. Of particular note among Austen’s early writings was a History of
England meant to parody the popular histories that Austen had discovered among her father’s collection. She also wrote a satirical epistolary
novel titled Love and Friendship. These early efforts were already marked
by the distinctive wit that would later define Austen’s signature works.
Sometime before 1796, Austen wrote a novel, then called Elinor and Marianne. This manuscript, initially read aloud to the Austen family, would later
10 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
evolve into Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s first major work. During this period,
Austen entered into a short-lived—though perhaps quite memorable—romance with Thomas Lefroy, a university-educated young man of around 20,
the nephew of the Austens’ neighbours in Steventon. Jane and Thomas’s
relationship did not, however, end as happily as that of Elizabeth Bennet and
Darcy. Lefroy was sent away from Steventon by his family, and it is unlikely
that Austen ever saw him again. Scholars have speculated about the role that
this romance served in shaping Austen’s fiction. It might, in any case, have
been the closest that Austen came to the kind of passionate courtship enjoyed
by so many of her characters. It was around this time that Austen began work
on a novel called First Impressions, later published as Pride and Prejudice.
In 1801, Austen moved with her father to Bath. Austen scholars have
speculated that this was an unhappy and unproductive period for Jane;
other, more recent views have contended that Austen was not at all unproductive, but continuously revised her novels during her time in Bath.
She also began, but did not finish, a new work entitled The Watsons. It was
during this period that Austin received her only known proposal of marriage, from a man named Harris Bigg-Wither. Austin initially accepted the
proposal, but then changed her mind a day later, perhaps because she did
not love Bigg-Wither. The circumstances surrounding this aborted engagement contribute to the general lack of agreement among Austin specialists
regarding her experience and frame of mind during these years of her life.
What is much clearer is that Austen was deeply affected by her father’s
sudden illness and death in 1805, and that the months following his death
were the least productive of her adult life. Yet, Austen ultimately returned to
writing, perhaps motivated by her family’s financially precarious situation in
the wake of George’s death. The years that followed were tumultuous ones
for Jane and her family, with the Austens moving frequently between Bath,
Steventon, and Southampton, among other locales. By 1809, Jane settled at
Chawtown in a large cottage owned by her brother, Edward.
While living at Chawtown, Austen found success in the publishing of her
novels. Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice were published in 1811
and 1813, respectively, both by the publisher Thomas Egerton. Austen paid
Egerton to have Sense and Sensibility published on commission. When it sold
out its first edition, Austen made a profit of 140 pounds. For Pride and Prejudice, however, Austen was paid 110 pounds by Egerton, a decision that would
prove costly, as Egerton would earn around four times that on the book’s first
and second editions. Austen’s first two books were both well-reviewed, and
popular among the still relatively small audience for novels. Mansfield Park
saw publication in 1814, and Emma was published about a year later.
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This would be the last of Austen’s novels published during her lifetime. In
1816, Austen became seriously ill with what many today suspect was bovine tuberculosis, caused by drinking unpasteurized milk. Although Austen
continued writing during this period of sickness, her health worsened considerably by early 1817. On July 18, Austen died in Winchester, where she had
been receiving medical treatment. She was buried at Winchester Cathedral. A
memorial gravestone at the cathedral reads: “The benevolence of her heart,
the sweetness of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her mind
obtained the regard of all who knew her and the warmest love of her intimate
connections.” By the end of 1817, two more novels, Northanger Abbey and
Persuasion, were published as a set. In the two centuries since, many more
readers have come to know the “extraordinary endowments” of Austen’s distinctive literary genius.
THE LONG “AFTERLIFE” OF JANE AUSTEN
When Jane Austen died in 1817 she could scarcely have conceived the enormous global popularity that her novels would continue to enjoy nearly two
hundred years later. Not only have Austen’s works been the subject of intense
study by generations of literary scholars, they have also been adapted for film,
television, and theatre, while greatly influencing entire genres of entertainment focused around courtship and romance. In 1999, when the American
television channel A&E ranked the 100 most influential people of the millennium, Austen placed 63rd—ahead of Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Franklin, and
Pope Gregory VII.
In her own lifetime, Austen did enjoy some success, receiving admiring
reviews; selling out multiple editions of her novels, which were quickly
translated into French and German; and winning fans among England’s
cultural elite, including the Prince Regent (later King George IV), who
asked Austen to dedicate Emma to him. Yet, these accomplishments
notwithstanding, the audience for long-form fiction was still quite small by
later standards. Editions of Austen’s early novels numbered around 750
copies (a large quantity for the time), while Emma’s first edition was around
2,000 copies—a strong sign of Austen’s steadily growing popularity among
contemporary tastemakers.
Austen’s novels were reprinted throughout the 19th century, but they were not
as widely read, nor as acclaimed, as those of the most famous English writers
of this era, such as Charles Dickens. It was not until quite late in the century,
around 1880, that Austen’s work began to inspire the kind of ardent devotion
that it continues to elicit today. The critic Leslie Stephen described the
12 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
increasing interest in Austen as “Austenolatry.” At the same time, apart from
this growing popular appeal, scholars began to re-evaluate Austen’s novels,
frequently praising Austen’s satirical commentary on English society and its
rigidly hierarchical class system. Some later critics, beginning in the early 20th
century, would even argue that these aspects of Austen’s work were indeed
sufficient to consider her a “subversive” writer.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, some Anglophile readers
appreciated Austen’s work, but others recoiled from what they perceived as
Austen’s inherent, thoroughly mannered Englishness. Mark Twain was one
such detractor, contending that the celebration and canonization of Austen’s
work was antithetical to the development of a distinct canon of American
literature (including, of course, Twain’s own writings). Describing the minicanon of books compiled aboard his ship, Twain famously quipped, “Jane
Austen’s books ... are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone
would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn’t a book in it.”
Despite Twain’s objections, the “Janeite” movement was eventually at least
as robust in America as in Austen’s home country. Indeed, in the 20th
century, Austen’s novels, and works inspired by them, would, arguably, play
as prominent a role in U.S. popular culture as Twain’s own quintessentially
American oeuvre. While the rapidly improving rate of literacy contributed to
Austen’s broadening audience in the 19th century, many more encountered
her work in the 20th century through the new media of film and television.
Pride and Prejudice was the most frequently adapted of Austen’s novels. It was
first put to film in 1938, but another treatment two years later achieved greater
success. This version—produced by the Hollywood studio MGM—starred
Greer Garson as Elizabeth and Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy. Subsequent
adaptations for film or television appeared in 1952, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1967,
and 1980. Across these decades, Emma, Sense and Sensibility and, to a lesser
extent, Austen’s other novels each received multiple iterations on film.
Since the mid-1990s, Austen’s work has enjoyed a fresh cultural resurgence,
expanding to a seemingly unprecedented level of ubiquity and worldwide
appeal. In 1995, the BBC aired an immensely popular mini-series version of
Pride and Prejudice, with Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth and Colin Firth as what
many now consider the definitive Darcy. That same year, an Oscar-winning
adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee and starring Emma
Thompson, Kate Winslet, and Hugh Grant, arrived in movie theatres, around
the same time as Clueless, a modern update of Emma set in Beverly Hills,
California. A year later, more traditional adaptations of Emma appeared on
screen and television, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale, respectively,
cast as Austen’s eponymous protagonist.
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This resurgence of Austen-inspired works—both traditional and decidedly
non-traditional—has not slowed at all in the opening decades of the 21st
century. In 2001, a screen adaptation of Helen Fielding’s best-selling Bridget
Jones’s Diary (a comic novel loosely based on Pride and Prejudice) proved to
be a major box-office success, leading in turn to a sequel, a Broadway musical
adaptation, and numerous British romantic comedies deriving more or less
from Bridget Jones’s Austen-like formula. In a (comparatively) more traditional vein, a 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice not only eschewed the modernity of Clueless and Bridget Jones’s Diary, but set the story of Elizabeth and
Darcy slightly earlier than Austen’s novel, in the late 18th century—a decision
owing in part to director Joe Wright’s dislike of the “empire” gowns characteristic of the early 19th century. In 2007, Anne Hathaway starred in Becoming
Jane, a speculative, fictionalized biopic centered on Austen’s brief romance
with Thomas Lefroy. In addition to these varied treatments of Austen’s life
and work, the feverish modern cult of Jane Austen was itself the subject of a
novel and eventual film titled Austenland, set at a vacation resort that aims to
recreate the period and romantic atmosphere of Austen’s novels.
While Austen knew some success before her death, she certainly could not
have envisioned anything like Austenland. Nor could she have predicted that
one of her novels, Pride and Prejudice, would eventually be voted the UK’s
second-“best-loved” book, as it was in a 2005 poll conducted by the BBC.
To be sure, the “Austenolatry” first identified as such in the 19th century has
reached surprising new heights in the 21st century.
SPOTLIGHT ON: BOOM
BOOM is a breathtaking one-man stage
documentary and mixed-media spectacle.
It explores the impact of the baby boom
generation by transporting us through 25
electrifying years of music, culture, and
politics. Commissioned by the Stratford
Festival in 2014, BOOM is now touring
the nation and thrilling audiences.
The play has had over two hundred
performances in eighteen months.
The Arts Club presents BOOM at the
Granville Island Stage this January. It
is written, performed, and directed by
award-winning Canadian artist Rick Miller.
jan 14–feb 13 at the granville island stage
It features vivid, cutting-edge video and
projection design. Its focus is the turbulent post-war years between 1945 and
1969, and the generation they shaped. Through the eyes of artists, activists,
and politicians, we witness gripping global events. These include: the Cold
War, Beatlemania, Trudeaumania, the Vietnam War, the Summer of Love, and
the Landing of Apollo 11. Scenes, songs, impersonations, and interviews are
fused together to create an exhilarating narrative.
Much more than a history lesson, BOOM is a one-of-a-kind experience for all
generations. The play entertains, educates, and empowers us by immersing
us in our past. It is a visual feast that appeals to young people and adults.
Moreover, it acquaints us with a highly imaginative homegrown talent.
cast of pride and prejudice. photo by david cooper
14 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice
rick miller. photo by david leclerc
artsclub.com 15
SPOTLIGHT ON: THE (POST) MISTRESS
NOTES
The (Post) Mistress is a one-woman
musical tour-de-force from one
of Canada’s most important and
entertaining writers: Tomson Highway.
The play’s soundtrack was nominated for
a Juno Award and three Indigenous Music
Awards. Its stylistic influences include:
Berlin Cabaret, French Chanson, Dixieland
Jazz, and Bossa Nova. The score includes
songs in English, French, and Cree.
The (Post) Mistress is a cabaret-style
musical. But it is much more than a
succession of tunes. The songs are
connected by Highway’s inventive and
powerful storyline that weaves everything
together in a truly unique story.
feb 4–28 at the goldcorp stage
at the bmo theatre centre
Bill’s Notes are sponsored by:
The play’s heroine, Marie-Louise, is the postmistress of the imaginary smalltown of Lovely, Ontario. The story reveals the supernatural abilities she
possesses which allow her to experience the townspeople’s lives, loves, and
losses as she sorts their mail. The play takes an unexpected turn, however,
when Marie-Louise’s personal drama is exposed. A comic, surprising, and
moving narrative unfolds as she shares her insights with us.
Tomson Highway is world-renowned aboriginal playwright, and is among
Maclean’s Magazine’s 100 most important people in Canadian history.
Come and discover his new musical. Its celebrated, diverse soundtrack,
and unforgettable heroine make it a distinctive addition to our musical
theatre canon.
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pride and prejudice
JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 28, 2016
604.687.1644
ARTSCLUB.COM
20 Bill’s Notes: Pride and Prejudice