Quotes from Emma

“There are people, who the more you do for them, the less they will do for themselves.”

“One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.”

“Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of.”

“What is right to be done cannot be done too soon.” –Mr. Weston

“…I hate Italian singing.---There is no understanding a word of it.” –Harriet Smith

“There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” –Emma

“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort.” –Mrs. Elton

“Mr. Knightley seemed to be trying not to smile, and succeeded without difficulty, upon Mrs. Elton’s beginning to talk to him.”

“Emma must submit to stand second to Mrs. Elton, though she had always considered the ball as peculiarly for her. It was almost enough to make her think of marrying.”

“She was more disturbed by Mr Knightley’s not dancing, than by any thing else.—There he was, among the standers-by, where he ought not to be; he ought to be dancing,--not classing himself with the husbands, and fathers, and whist-players…--so young as he looked! He could not have appeared to greater advantage perhaps any where, than where he had placed himself. His tall, firm, upright figure, among the bulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, was such as Emma felt must draw every body’s eyes.”

   “Whom are you going to dance with?” asked Mr. Knightley.

   She [Emma] hesitated for a moment, and then replied “With you, if you will ask me.”

   “Will you?” said he, offering his hand.

   “Indeed I will. You have shown that you can dance, and you know we are not really so much brother and sister as to make it at all improper.”

   “Brother and sister! no, indeed.”

   "No,"--he [Mr. Knightley] calmly replied,--"there is but one married woman in the world whom I can ever allow to invite what guests she pleases to Donwell, and that one is---"
   "---Mrs. Weston, I suppose," interrupted Mrs. Elton, rather mortified.
   "No--Mrs. Knightley;--and, till she is in being, I will manage such matters myself."

    “…He had ridden home through the rain; and he had walked up directly after dinner, to see how this sweetest and best of all creatures, faultless in spite of all her faults, bore the discovery.
   “He had found her agitated and low. –Frank Churchill was a villain. –He had heard her declare that she had never loved him. Frank Churchill’s character was not desperate. –She was his own Emma, by hand and word, when they returned into the house; and if he could have thought of Frank Churchill then, he might have deemed him a very good sort of fellow.”

“I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other.” –Emma

Quotes from the 2009 mini-series

"A mile's walk and a daily scolding of Emma is just what Dr. Perry prescribes." -Emma (about Mr. Knightley)

Emma: We have heard that you are very musical, Mrs Elton.

Mrs Elton: Oh, I dote on it! Dote! As I said to Mr E. – don’t give me two carriages, don’t give me enormous houses, but I could not live without music. No. Life would be a blank to me without music.

“ ‘Knightley’, indeed. Never seen him in her life, and she calls him ‘Knightley’! Insufferable woman! Horrible, upstart, vulgar being with her ‘Mr E.’ and her ‘caro sposo’ and her carriages and air of pert pretentions and underbred finery. Actually to discover that Mr Knightley is a gentleman, and that the woman who brought me up should be ladylike! I’ve never met her equal! ‘Knightley’, indeed! I’ve known him all my life, and even I don’t call him that!” –Emma

Isabella: You know, I believe my father would worry. I believe George is not well – he is listless and snappish.

Mr. Knightley: What?

Isabella: You are behaving strangely – not yourself. You did not want to go to dinner with the Cavendishes, you did not wish to take the boys to find frogs in the park.

John Knightley: Some might say hesitation was a perfectly normal response to both those invitations.


"That man is so full of himself, I'm surprised he can stay on that horse." - Mr. Knightley (about Mr. Elton)

~I know there are many more great quotes from this mini-series; if you think of any (particularly ones that aren’t in the book), feel free to suggest them.~

And so concludes my posts on Emma. I hope you enjoyed them!

The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World

(More recently published as: The Jane Austen Handbook: Proper Life Skills from Regency England)

By Margaret C. Sullivan

Learning about life in the past couldn't be more enjoyable. Delightfully mixing information with entertainment, this illustrated book tells you what every Regency young woman should know – from becoming an accomplished lady to declining an offer of marriage. It’s divided into four sections, and has a very useful appendix in the back – including a list of all Jane Austen’s novels with a summary, and when they were written and published. It also includes a list of all the movies with year it was made, actors, etc. Then there is a helpful glossary that defines tricky words of the time, and a good index to help you find what you’re looking for. This book is essential to any young woman who has ever imagined herself to be a Jane Austen heroine!

I have nothing but praise to say about this book. It’s one of the few non-fiction books that is great to read all the way through. I recommend it very highly to all Janeites – or anyone who likes Jane Austen, the time period, or old-fashioned things in general. More enjoyment can be drawn from it, however, if you do know something of Jane Austen’s stories. The authoress is constantly making indirect references to the books and characters – which you only catch if you know – and it’s very funny. I can’t say how many times I’ve started laughing out loud while reading it. I really love how at the beginning of each section of one of the ‘How To’s, there is a Jane Austen quote. The way everything is written is superb – I love the interesting choice of words and sentences, quite the opposite of boring.

I was exceedingly glad to receive the book for my birthday – I had been borrowing a friend’s copy, and it’s so nice to have my own on hand. (By the way, the girls at my birthday party were having fun flipping through the book, laughing, and saying they needed to get one for themselves.)

I know so much more now than I did before I read it (which wasn’t too small an amount.) I love knowing about things like the proper dress for first mournings and second mournings, what sort of meals were served at what times, paying calls…there’s so much in there!

Yes, I know, I should stop already – but what can I say? It was splendid! Highly recommended!

Anne of Green Gables & The Sequel

Anne of Green Gables (1985)



Mistreated in homes and not wanted at orphanages, Anne Shirley comforts and amuses herself with her excellent and dramatic imagination. She tries to imagine difficulties away and lives her own life, the way she wants it, in her head. When she finds herself in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, on her way to a new home with a quiet old man named Matthew Cuthbert, she can hardly believe it is real. When they arrive at Green Gables, she learns from Matthew’s spinster sister Marilla that they were expecting a boy, and she must go back. Anne’s happiness melts to despair as the beautiful dream is shattered. Marilla’s hasty decision to send Anne back is hindered, and she decided to let Anne stay “on trial”. Anne finds the “bosom friend” she’s always dreamed of, a girl named Diana Barry. 

Rachel Lynde, a gossipy woman who speaks her critical mind and Gilbert Blythe, a boy at school who teases get the better of Anne’s short temper – not difficult to achieve, when her red hair is remarked upon. However, in spite of – or because of – her peculiar ways, with Matthew on Anne’s side the whole way, she finds her way into Marilla’s heart, and Green Gables becomes her permanent home. As few years pass, and Anne excels in her studies, has Gilbert as a constant but unwelcome admirer (and rival), and all along keeps finding herself in numerous mishaps and difficult situations (which, to the onlooker, can prove quite hilarious.)

Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987)

(Also known as Anne of Avonlea, when sold by Disney.)Now 18, Anne Shirley is a teacher at the Avonlea school. She is an aspiring authoress, but discouraged first by a rejection letter from a magazine and then by the surprising (and horrifying) publication of her story for a baking powder company. Gilbert proposes, but convinced that she feels only friendship for him, she refuses – much to his distress. Her best friend Diana marries, and Mrs. Rachel Lynde, at the loss of her husband, comes to live at Green Gables. Anne’s old teacher and friend writes to her about a need for an English teacher at a private school for young ladies, and Anne accepts the position, leaving Avonlea. She arrives in Kingsport, where she finds an abundance of prejudiced Pringle families, who want desperately to see her lose her position and a sour, sarcastic spinsterly teacher who is always out of humor.

Anne finds a kindred spirit in one of her students, 13-year-old Emmeline Harris, who lives with her crabby old grandmother. Emmeline's dashing widower father Morgan takes an interest in Anne, and she, in turn, is charmed by his romantic ways - but it ends with her realizing that handsome and melancholic isn't everything. After a very interesting and eventful year, she is happy to return to Avonlea, which, to her, is the best place -with the dearest people- on earth.

I love both these movies, they have been favorites of mine for more than half my life. They are light-hearted and highly entertaining, comical and romantic. Here are a few things I particularly like:

The heroine. Anne Shirley must be one of the most interesting and amusing heroines in literature: there is no one else quite like her. She is bright and hilarious as a child; entertaining and elegant, and still very likeable as an adult. Her imagination, her love of reading, and her use of big words have always delighted me.

The music. Superb acting, authentic costuming and settings, and a good soundtrack make up a large part in the success of a ‘period drama’. The music has a large part in determining the feel of the movie and the mood of the story. I have always loved the soundtrack, especially the theme song. It is so beautiful and well-written; Hagood Hardy was a talented composer.
The scenery is sometimes breathtakingly beautiful.

The time era. These movies are set in the late 1800s. I love late Victorian fashions – the long, floor-sweeping elegant gowns, lacy shirts, poufy hairstyles – everything so delicate and feminine.

The characters. L. M. Montgomery is one of those authors who knows just how to create a variety of highly amusing characters.

Accuracy to the books

   Anne of Green Gables is based on the book (of the same name) by L. M. Montgomery. There are a number of differences – one being: in the book, Anne was 11 when she came to Green Gables, and in the movie she was 13. The Christmas ball was not in the book – if I remember correctly, it was some sort of concert (not just music, but other performing arts as well.) Many things were from the book, though, and it stayed faithful to the story and characters.

   Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel is based on Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Montgomery. There is a lot of content in all three of those books, so making them into one movie took a lot of combining. In Anne of Avonlea, Anne is teaching at the Avonlea school. Her neighbor, a grumpy old man who eventually takes a liking to Anne was the one with the jersey cow, and the one who said her story had ‘high-faultin’ mumbo-jumbo’, etc. They took some of his quotes and gave them to Mrs Lynde and Gilbert Blythe.

    In Anne of the Island, Anne and a couple others from Avonlea are attending a university, where she meets the dashing Roy Gardner, where they must have gotten the idea for Morgan Harris. Roy is a younger man than Morgan, and of course does not have a daughter.

   In Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne is teaching at a high school, where there are a lot of families with the last name of ‘Pringle’. So that’s where Kingsport Ladies College came from. However, they got some ideas for teaching experience there from Anne of Avonlea – such as snakes in desks and firecrackers in woodstoves. I gather Windy Poplars must be the book where Mrs. Harris, Pauline, and Emmeline originated, but I have not read the whole book.

   While so many changes were made, they managed to keep the characters faithful to the books. I was rather annoyed, though, that they had Gilbert become engaged to Christine – in the book, nothing close to that happened.

Quotes

I love the quotes from these movies, and there are so many! I will try to narrow them down.

(Anne 1)

Marilla: Well, what's your name?

Anne: Would you please call me Cordelia?

Marilla: Call you Cordelia?

Anne: Don't you think it's a pretty name?

Marilla: Is that your name?

Anne: Well, no, it's not exactly my name, though I would love to be called Cordelia.

“You can punish me any way you like. You can lock me up in a dark dungeon inhabited by snakes and toads, and feed me on bread and water. I won't complain. But I cannot ask Rachel Lynde to forgive me. –Anne

Anne: Don’t you ever imagine things different from what they are?

Marilla: (emphatically) No.

Anne: Oh, Marilla! How much you miss.

“Let us not have tears; partings are a natural part of life.” –Mr. Phillips
“My life is an open book, I see. Who told you that?” –Anne

Mrs. Allan: How are you, Anne?

Anne: Well in body, although considerably ruffled in spirit, thank you.

“I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I was never able to believe it. A rose just couldn't smell as sweet if it was a thistle or a skunk-cabbage.” –Anne

(Anne 2)

Marilla: Now, you come downstairs and see if a good cup of tea and some of those plum puffs I made today don't hearten you.

Anne: (Tearfully) Plum puffs won't minister to a mind diseased in a world that has crumbled into pieces.

“I'm afraid to speak or move for fear that all this wonderful beauty will just vanish - like a broken silence.” –Anne

“I don’t eat my lunch with anyone. I’m not a raggle-taggle gypsy, take me in! Take me in!” –Mrs. Harris

“Good grief! You know how to try one’s patience, don’t you?” –Anne

Josie Pye: You wore that sweet old dress to Fanny Emerson's wedding last year, though, didn't you, Anne? You know what they say, "Twice a bridesmaid, never a bride".

Anne: That's three times, not twice, Josie. But then you're so fortunate; the only thing you've had to wear twice, is a sour expression.

Marilla: What is to be will be, Rachel.

Mrs. Lynde: And what isn’t to be sometimes happens.

Info, links, etc.

Actors…

Anne: Megan Follows

Gilbert: Jonathan Crombie

Marilla: Colleen Dewhurst

Diana: Schuyler Grant

Length: Anne 1: 3 hrs. 19 min.

             Anne 2: 3 hrs. 50 min.

My grade: A+

Trailers:

~I cannot very well review both Anne 1&2 without even mentioning 3&4.

Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000) was, in my opinion, a failure, and Sullivan Films should have stopped while they were ahead. Their big mistake: this movie was not based on the books. At all. The time period was inconsistent, too – it takes place during WWI, and in the books, Anne had a son who was old enough to fight; in this movie, she’s not even married at the beginning. For another thing, the characters themselves were not presented the same way at all – and it was not an improvement. ‘Twas quite sad to see Anne’s character so altered!

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning (2008) was a complete and utter disgrace. They should have stopped while they were behind. I don’t know much about it, but enough to know that it pretty much changes the whole of Anne’s story – and, of course, it was all completely made-up (it didn't even have characters from the books, except a younger Anne.)

The scripts, some soundtrack samples, and a bunch of other information can be found here: http://greengables.tripod.com/ (It’s also where I got some of the pictures.)

Emma Actors

Here are the actors/actresses from the Emma movies that I recognized from other old-fashioned films:

(* means I haven’t actually seen it (or all of it); therefore I may not approve of it, but I always hear about that person being in that movie, or may have recognized them from the what I did see.)

Emma 2009

Romola Garai (Emma Woodhouse) – Kate Nickleby on Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Gwendolen Harleth on *Daniel Deronda, Barbara Spooner on Amazing Grace

Frederick Hale

Rupert Evans (Frank Churchill) - Frederick Hale on North and South (2004) 

Jonny Lee Miller (George Knightley) – Edmund Bertram in *Mansfield Park (1999) and Charles Price (Fanny’s little brother) in Mansfield Park (1983)

Blake Ritson (Mr. Elton) – Edmund Bertram on *Mansfield Park (2007)

Michael Gambon (Mr. Woodhouse) – Squire Hamley on Wives and Daughters, Mr. Holbrook on Cranford, some person on Amazing Grace
Christina Cole (Mrs. Elton) - Nora Rowly on He Knew He Was Right
Jodhi May (Mrs. Weston) - Mirah Lapidoth on *Daniel Deronda

Emma 1996 (A&E)

Jane Eyre

Mark Strong (George Knightley) – Sir John Conroy on The Young Victoria

Samantha Bond (Mrs. Weston) – Maria Bertram on Mansfield Park (1983)

Samantha Morton (Harriet Smith) – Jane Eyre on the 1997 version

Raymond Coultard (Frank Churchill) – Mr. Glascock on He Knew He Was Right, Scrooge as a young adult on A Muppet’s Christmas Carol (hehe)

Lucy Robinson (Mrs. Elton) – Mrs. Hurst (Bingley’s sister) on Pride and Prejudice (1995)

Olivia Williams (Jane Fairfax) – Jane Austen on *Miss Austen Regrets

Emma 1996 (Mirimax)

Sophie Thompson (Miss Bates) – Mary Musgrove on Persuasion (1995), Someone on Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
Juliet Stevenson (Mrs. Elton) - Mrs. Squeers on Nicholas Nickleby (2002)

Guest Posting and My Regency Dress

I have been asked by Charity at Austenitis to post on her blog while she's unable to, along with Miss Bennet from Elegance of Fashion. I will be doing that this week, and when I write a post for hers I'll link to it right here. If nothing else, I will have it for my personal reference. ;-)
Introduction post (interview)
Anne of Green Gables (movie)
Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
Bleak House (mini-series)
The Love Letter (movie)
Sense and Sensibility Comparison: Part I *
Sense and Sensibility Comparison: Part II *
Sense and Sensibility Comparison: Part III *
Sense and Sensibility Comparison: Part IV *
* with Miss Bennet from Elegance of Fashion

The other thing - I wanted to have a picture of myself in my Regency-styled dress for my profile, and I thought I might as well put a bigger picture on this post too, for anybody interested. Yes, I made the dress, and the hat too. =)