Heading towards the final third now and things have certainly got interesting, I have loved seeing how they actually update the story to take modern sensibilities and technology into account.
It was fun watching Jane loosen up and pretend to be her younger sister but I love the fact in episode 70 we see a new stronger more independent Jane which is a lot more fitting for the modern age than the traditional moping character I do believe that is very much part of the changes modernity places upon the story. In Austen’s day her Jane would have had far more restricted options to help mend her broken heart and fewer chances to occupy herself to put the pain from her mind.
I loved the list of guests Lydia invited for the party, this is of course the parallel to Lydia going away to Brighton, but I am wondering how they will deal with the elopement thing as to be honest running off with a guy is not going to be as shocking as it was back then. I really enjoyed that we got to meet cousin Mary, and I have to say the ‘goth/emo’ persona actually works really well as a updated version of the serious and sensible sister, I can imagine a modern day Mary being very introspective and moving away from purely religious study to a wider study of the human psyche, she is actually the one character who I believe would be very different in a modern society, the ability to occupy her mind and study more freely would allow her to take up a career I could imagine her as a psychiatrist, and she would feel the need to try to please people and fit in less in ways which do not flatter her.
It really is interesting to consider how classic characters would fair in the modern world, which would flourish and which are really stuck in their own era.
Paula Acton 