Lately I've been enthralled by the BBC production of the Elizabeth Gaskell novel North and South. (Note: This is not about the civil war, but the rift between northern and southern English conceptions regarding industry.) It's rich, well done and stars Richard Armitage as a fantastic Darcy-esque hero. Which brings me to the point of my musing: I have noticed several similarities between North & South and Pride & Prejudice. Just a few quick ones to get us started. More later on each.
* Misconceptions upon first meeting
* A proud hero
* An overbearing mother
* A family scrape for our heroine which our hero resolves for her
* A slightly pernicious sister
* a greater and lesser house
* A midway marriage proposal resulting in heightened amorous feelings and an even better 2nd half.
And overall, complexities of character and situation in which similar relationships are portrayed in almost opposite ways. Like... being friends with a lower class girl is fine when done with integrity and honesty, but when put in the hands of a dim-witted sister....
However, and this is where Gaskell surpasses Austen I think, (though let us not presume that had Austen wanted to she couldn't have held her own,) describing excellent examples of the complexities of a snowballing cultural change. Whereas Austen masterfully uses sparring and intellectual conversation as her probe into human interaction, Gaskell just as superbly uses friction between the classes and growing sociological and economic discord. One is a microcosm and the other a macrocosm.
Ok 'nuff for now.
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