Pride & Prejudice
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David O. Selznick, producer of films like Gone With The Wind, David Copperfield, and A Tale Of Two Cities, is generally considered the greatest adapter of classic literature into film. As Selznick once stated to a writer during the production of Gone With The Wind, regarding parts of the book which were left out of the film, “The Audience will forgive us anything we cut as long as we don’t add anything of our own invention.” Hunt Stromberg and Alduous Huxley and Jane Murfin, the producer and writers of the film version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice seem not to have had the benefit of this adaptation wisdom. For there are many differences between the cinematic and the literary versions of Pride and Prejudice. While the scope of this analysis is not long enough to discuss all of the differences an analysis of two scenes will demonstrate this fact. This analysis will also discuss the director’s use of dialogue and acting which make the film have more of a comedic than the more romantic tone of the novel. The opening dinner at Netherfield is quite different in the film than in the book, including different bits of dialogue, additional interaction between characters and the insertion of more bits of humor in the film. For example, at the ball Mrs. Bennet instructs her daughters how to behave more appropriately, including telling them bits of individual advice like to “Sparkle, but just a little,” not to cough inappropriat
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e intention of the line in the book—that Darcy is full of pride—one can’t help but understand why the filmmakers changed a slight from Darcy to Elizabeth, the main romance of the novel, to a slight to the middle-classes in general.
There is another significant change that occurs where Elizabeth’s reaction to Darcy’s insult is concerned. Unlike the last difference discussed, this one appears to have a valid cinematic justification. In the novel, after Elizabeth overhears Darcy’s insults, Austen describes her reaction and tells us that Elizabeth’s particular character was of such a nature that she was able to view the “absurd” comments humorously: “Mr. Darcy walked off; and Elizabeth remained with no very cordial feelings toward him. She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous” (Austen 10). In the novel this expositorily informs us of certain of Elizabeth’s character qualities. However, since film is a visual medium the filmmakers show us these character qualities by allowing Elizabeth additional dialogue in the film wherein we get to see her actually humorously mock Darcy’s insulting words by repeating them to her frien
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1360
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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