Tansy Bradshaw

The Original Text

One of the most relevant stories that was produced during this time is Pride and Prejudice. Written in 1813 this book is seen as a satire on modern society at the time.   During the first few months of publication, the book received favourable reviews along with some writers wishing they had written it themselves rather than their own published works. One of the biggest romanticism element in Pride and Prejudice is the use of reason and emotion. This is shown mainly through our protagonist Elizabeth Bennet. One of the best examples of this is her reply to Mr Collins upon his proposal of marriage.

“Upon my word, Sir,” cried Elizabeth, “your hope is rather an extraordinary one after my declaration. I do assure you that I am not one of those young ladies (if such young ladies there are) who are so daring as to risk their happiness on the chance of being asked a second time. I am perfectly serious in my refusal. — You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so, — Nay, were your friend Lady Catherine to know me, I am persuaded she would find me in every respect ill qualified for the situation.” 

(Chapter 19, Pride and Prejudice).

The Web-Series 

From April 9, 2012 – March 28, 2013 ran a web-series entitled The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube. With the rise of the vlog, this is a popular format in which to adapt a classic novel. The series is co-created by Hank Green and Bernie Su. 

Lizzie Bennet does mostly keep to the narrative of Pride and Prejudice, yet adds technology and modern day problems to make it feel fresh. Some of the names have been modernised too, eg: Mr Bingley is now Bing Lee.

Pride and Prejudice has been around for just over 200 years, yet even in the web-series there are still characteristics of Romanticism that are embedded into the video.

A key idea in this literary era is the idea of the artist/creator as a creator of a piece of work that reflected them as an individual. In 1813, Jane Austen was seen as an artist taking a stand against the standards of society. By making Lizzie Bennet the vlogger places her in a position of power to express her feelings on the events that are happening in her life.The Romantic Period placed an emphasis on emotions, feelings, instinct and intuition rather than anything else. Apart from the main channel for the web-series, the creators took the liberty of setting up other character vlogs and twitter accounts allows characters to interact with each other and offer multiple points of view that aren’t accessible in the original text.