Introduction

Join us in celebration of author Jane Austen (1775-1817) through her masterpiece Pride and Prejudice and modern interpretations and sequels and spin offs.

Also, a compilation of her letters and books about her life - including one startling new biography by an Australian writer.

Jane Austen, a clergyman’s daughter raised in the English countryside of Hampshire, was home schooled by her father.

Austen began writing the novel which later became Pride and Prejudice in 1796 ( more than two hundred years ago) and finished it the following year; she was then twenty-one years old.

The publisher Thomas Egerton paid her £110 for the copyright, and it was the only money she would ever earn from her most popular work. It is estimated that 20 million copies of it have been sold world-wide to date.

Its hero and heroine Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet may be the most famous romantic couple in fiction after Romeo and Juliet. 

Numerous retelling and re-imaginings of the original work written have also been published.  

Enjoy !

Roshan Deva
 

1.Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Australia, Penguin Books Limited, 2003

Pride and Prejudice is grown-up fairy tale and a social commentary and arguably Austen’s best.

Lizzie or Eliza Bennett is an unconventional character.  In a letter to her sister Cassandra, Jane Austen wrote: "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print”.

This mix of energy and intelligence, and her playfulness and strength of character make Elizabeth a true heroine and one of Austen’s most individualistic. To know Lizzy Bennet is to love her.
And Mr Darcy.  Tall, dark and handsome... and rich.  The ultimate romantic hero.
Darcy displays outrageous arrogance to Elizabeth, but the novel ends with him falling in love with her which was a testament to the power of a woman to tame a man.

The chemistry between her and Mr. Darcy is legendary - romantic tension,  separations, surprise twists in the plot, troubles and triumphs. Austen herself said that her novel was “light and bright and sparkling” .

Review
Amazon uk

2. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (DVD)

BBC 1995

Pyrmont, N.S.W.,  Roadshow Entertainment, 2009.

Epic BBC production of Jane Austen’s romantic classic.

In this 5hour adaption Jennifer Ehle plays the lively and rebellious Elizabeth and the arrogant, mysterious and brooding Darcy, is played by Colin Firth and he looks the part. 
Darcy emerging from a pond wearing a wet white shirt, the scene although not part of the book, is "one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history.”  -The Guardian.

The entire cast is brilliant and especially the combination of Ehle and Firth and Firth never did anything better than his Darcy.


Review
Amazon uk
BBC

3. Pride and Prejudice (DVD)

Burbank, California, Warner Home Video, 2006

Black & White, Subtitled

Classic, witty 1940’s movie adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel by screenwriter Aldous Huxley.

Greer Garson is Elizabeth—'dear, beautiful Lizzie'— poised, graceful, self-contained, witty & spirited but never vulgar, and Laurence Olivier is Darcy, that's all there is to it.  The arrogant, sardonic Darcy whose pride and snobbery went before a most delightful fall.

A most enjoyable, charming comedy of old manners.

Review
Amazon

4. Bride and Prejudice (DVD)

United States, Miramax Films, 2005

Bride & Prejudice  is a truly gorgeous Bollywood rendition of this classic story from the director Gurinder Chadha of Bend it like Bekham.  

Jane Austen begins her novel with one of the most famous lines in English literature - 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

This becomes,”Anyone who's got big bucks is shopping for a wife.” from  incredibly beautiful Aishwarya Rai (playing Lalita/Elizabeth). And good looking Martin Henderson is charming as Will Darcy.

Its modern day and the story moves between east and west – India, London and L.A. A celebration of British, Bollywood and Hollywood cinema. 

A delightful chick flick with great music and dancing.  A happy, sweet, high spirited romp!

Review
Amazon
The Guardian

5. Lost in Austen (DVD)

ITV Studios Home Entertainment, 2008

If you are an Austen fan and mad about Pride and Prejudice, watch time-swapping heroine Amanda Price swoon over the man who launched a thousand sequels (especially that version of him played by Colin Firth).

Amanda Price is unsatisfied with her modern day life in London. She longs for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen.

One fateful evening, finding a door in her bathroom, she is transported into the Regency world of Pride and Prejudice.  And the book's Elizabeth Bennet changes places with her.

What will become of one of the world's greatest love stories? 

Lost in Austen is a charming mini-series, with a new fun twist on Pride and Prejudice.  

Review
Amazon

6. Pride + Prejudice + Zombies (DVD)

United States, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2016

A major motion picture starring Lily James and Sam Riley, based on parody novel and The New York Times Best Seller by Seth Grahame-Smith.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

A mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the undead are coming to life and running riot!
The heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters, have fortunately been trained by their father in martial arts and are fighting the zombie menace.  And then the dashing and arrogant Mr. Darcy arrives on the scene…and the verbal sparring and battlefield sparring amps up.
Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights and the zombies running loose among the aristocracy.  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a mash up of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, a comedy of manners and classic horror. 

Twisted fun!

Review
Amazon