Whew! I think I need a fan or a breeze after reading this book. Needless to say, Pride/Prejudice was not what I was expecting. From the back cover description, I was thinking it would be more along the lines of a retelling from multiple points of view, picking up on things that Austen could only hint at. I was completely wrong, and what I actually read was a complete surprise.
So, think Austen's Pride and Prejudice if it had been written as a bisexual, erotic-but-courteous 19th century romance novel, and you get the general idea of what Pride/Prejudice is. It's almost difficult to imagine Mr. Darcy as an immensely passionate lover until you finish reading this novel. Everything that would have been improper for a female author to pen during Austen's lifetime, comes out here. However, given the laws in England in that time, I don't think that most of this would ever have been written for publication then in the first place.
To start, Darcy and Bingley are lovers in every sense of the word. Herendeen's reasoning for this comes from Bingley's dependence on Darcy's opinion in P&P. Austen makes it very clear that Bingley turns to Darcy for support/approval, so Herendeen takes this a step further by putting the two men into a pseudo-ancient-Greek mentor-youth relationship. Darcy being older, has taken Bingley under his wing, but the two have also developed romantic feelings for each other. So, Bingley looks to Darcy out of respect as well as love, while Darcy looks out for Bingley for the same reasons. Yet, at the same time, they both fall in love with incredible women: Bingely with Jane, and Darcy with Elizabeth.
However, Darcy, being the arrogant brute we all love, is the jealous type, and Bingley's attachment to Jane fuels his jealousy, adding another reason to keep the young couple apart. In addition to Austen's original qualms for Darcy to not approve of Bingley's choice, Herendeen adds jealousy and possessiveness. It's really very cute to see the way Darcy and Bingley are together in private; they almost dote on one another like a newlywed couple.
Meanwhile, Darcy isn't the only one with a non-platonic friendship. Herendeen's view is that Elizabeth and Charlotte Lucas's friendship stems from more than them being of like minds. In this novel, the are also lovers. Herendeen gives Elizabeth a little of Darcy's jealousy and possessiveness when Charlotte decides to marry Mr. Collins. Lizzy doesn't want to lose her friend or their field activities, so she is angry with Charlotte to the point of cruelty. Not only is their relationship different, but Lizzy's relationship with Jane is different, too. They are still as close as sisterly friends can be, but Jane is more animated and doesn't hesitate to disagree with Lizzy. There are times when Jane actually becomes angry, which you never see in P&P. Jane and Lizzy also face a kind of estrangement after they marry their respective suitors, which I won't spoil the surprise for.
Which leads me to another aspect about Pride/Prejudice that I really like. Herendeen puts imagination to better use by adding a lot about what might have happened after the weddings. This novel doesn't stop when the two sisters wed, but goes on to the honeymoon and children, friendships and hardships. It's nice to see what another person thinks went on after the original story cut off.
There is absolutely more to the story than all of this, but I don't want to give away the juicier details. I think I'll leave off with this: if you take out most of the gratuitous sex scenes, it's a lovely novel that makes for an entertaining alternate P&P.
0 comments:
Post a Comment