\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Body: Privileging the Female Gaze\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nLisa Hopkins
\nFrom Jane Austen in Hollywood<\/u>
\nA summary by Mary-Carolyn Clanton<\/p>\n
Hopkins begins her essay reflecting on the astounding and lasting success of the 1995 Davies adaptation of Pride and Prejudice<\/I>, as seen by the prevalent use of the film\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s images in related and unrelated articles in the British press over 16 months after its release. She cites the opinion of the film\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s star, Colin Firth, that he had never read the novel because he thought it would be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sissy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as well as the opinion of the film\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s producer, Sue Britwistle, who found Firth the perfect embodiment of Austen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Darcy. For Hopkins, these different views hit on an import idea, that the finished film is unabashed in appealing to women by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fetishizing and framing Darcy and offering him up to the female gaze\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (112). She first supports this argument by looking at the film\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opening scene, which shows us first Darcy and Bingly, and then reveals what we have seen is from the perspective of Elizabeth as she watches them. This lets the viewer know that everything they see will focus on the woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective; that the woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s views and ideas will be privileged. Hopkins also addresses that while the language focuses on what women look like, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153camerawork picks out\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6primarily how men<\/I> are seen\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (113). <\/p>\n
Hopkins begins a more in-depth analysis of the film by looking at it in two distinct parts, the first ending just after Mr. Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first proposal (the DVD and video versions are conveniently separated in this way as well). Hopkins points out that in the first half of the adaptation, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Darcy is presented carefully and consistently in two specific ways: either in profile by a fireplace or looking out of a window\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (113). This suggests that Darcy has not yet \u00e2\u20ac\u0153looked fully either at what lies within him or at the women who sits in front of him\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (114). We see instances of this in Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first scene at the Merryton assembly, where he is always seen in profile, most notably when he is being discussed. The same emphasis is seen again at Lucas Lodge. When we finally see Darcy head-on, after the discussion on accomplishments at Netherfield, he is gazing at Elizabeth; while Elizabeth has become \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the object of his<\/I> gaze, he himself is clearly offered as the object of ours<\/I>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (114). This is especially emphasized in Davies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 added bath scene, from which point onwards \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Darcy looking at Elizabeth becomes a recurrent and compelling image, used both to provide a crucial insight into his character and to build up a powerful erotic charge, of which he is clearly the center\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (114). <\/p>\n
Part Two opens, Hopkins notices, with a scene that focuses on Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response to the rejected proposal, and from there moves to a discussion of the changes Davies made in his screenplay, which she observes concern Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character and make his feelings, emotions and motivations more clear. She then discusses the prime example of this \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the scene where Darcy writes Elizabeth a letter. Hopkins observes two primary themes: heat and sex. These themes are in direct counterpoint to the accompanying scene where Darcy bursts in on Wickham and a young girl where Darcy is buttoned-up. While writing the letter, on the other hand, Darcy become quite heated and thus, is an object of sexual attraction himself. This makes the viewer scrutinize Darcy a bit more when he says he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find any sign of attachment in Jane. In fact, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the whole question of sexual attraction and female desire is thus sharply highlighted\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (116). Hopkins continues her discussion of Darcy noting that the film places much more emphasis on who Darcy is, rather than what he has; but, even as interest in his property and monetary wealth is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153muted, interest in Darcy himself is vigorously sustained\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (118). She also compares Davies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 treatment of Darcy towards the end of the film with the novel. While Darcy completely drops out of the novel from the end of Elizabeth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time at Pemberly to his return to visit her in Longburn, in the film we see him in several scenes, such as Lydia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wedding, keeping him a constant and important character. She notices upon Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s return to Longburn he reverts to his first-half habit of always being in profile, which she attributes to Davies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 desire to create a sense of suspense. That idea is supported in viewing the proposal scene, which also \u00e2\u20ac\u0153teasingly keep[s] back full resolution for as long as possible\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (119). Hopkins concludes saying the addition of Darcy and his gaze signify his need, and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it is that need we most want to believe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (120). <\/p>\n
On another note, it has occurred to me we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t discuses Bridget Jones\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Diary<\/I> in our last meeting! We simply can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pass over this fabulous interpretation\/re-envisioning of an Austen novel. Besides, there are some uber-fabulous things going on in this film (Colin Firth, who plays Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, which is based on a novel, playing Mark Darcy in a film also based on a novel that was based on a film). So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve decided that since I love the film anyway, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll watch it over break. Yay! I also requested on ILL Books, Bras and Bridget Jones: Reading Adaptations of Pride and Prejudice<\/I> by Olivia Murphy. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll let you know how it goes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. Darcy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Body: Privileging the Female Gaze\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Lisa Hopkins From Jane Austen in Hollywood A summary by Mary-Carolyn Clanton Hopkins begins her essay reflecting on the astounding and lasting success of the 1995 Davies adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, as seen by the prevalent use of the film\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s images in related and unrelated articles in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elsweb.org\/janeaustenfilm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}