Have you heard the news? Netherfield Park is-- oh, wait.

As much as I had hoped that the year 2014 would inspire somebody to make a new—and worthy—version of Mansfield Park (because it is the 200^th anniversary), and as disappointing as it is that that doesn’t seem to be happening, there are at least some delights in store, one of which is an old BBC radio version from 2003 of the story being rebroadcast.

Not quite interesting enough for you?  Okay, well, Felicity Jones, who plays Catherine Morland in the 2007 version of Northanger Abbey, will be Fanny Price.  Julia McKenzie, who is in a number of period dramas including Cranford and Little Dorrit will be Mrs. Norris… and, which seem to be the most popular names at the moment... wait for iiiit... our hero Edmund Bertram’s voice will be nobody’s but everyone’s favorite Benedict Cumberbatch (or maybe that should be ‘The One and Only’), while his older brother Tom is David Tennant.  (They’ve both been in period dramas, too… Amazing Grace and He Knew He Was Right, for example, but everyone seems to know them better from Sherlock and Doctor Who.)

I’m not really the Actor Fangirl type, but the fact that those gentlemen were going to be those characters DID excite me greatly, and I do think they’re quite superb actors, sooo… I’m looking forward to this.  Muchly.  Especially since there’s such a lack of good versions of this story.

(And I was a bit of a rebel, I suppose, putting a picture of Felicity Jones and not either of the guys, but... well, that's what everyone else is doing, and besides, we have HER in Regency costume. ;) )

The first broadcast will be May 12^th, and every successive weekday for the nine following, and each installment will be fifteen minutes.

This is where you'll be able to listen; the first episode (and probably all of them) will be from 2-2:15 pm their time, which would be 6 am PST and 9 am EST for us Americans.  (If you're in-between, you can figure it out. Heehee.) Which could mean getting up pretty early for some of us, but from the looks of it, the radio at that link seems to have old broadcasts from the last week or so, so we'll probably be able to listen to it afterwards. 

Anybody else tuning in? :D 

*Update: Here is where you can get started, and here is a list of all the episodes.  They're available for seven days from when they were first broadcast, so don't get too far behind!

Rereading Mansfield Park

I just finished Mansfield Park (for the second time) yesterday, and tomorrow I start Sanditon, so I thought I should write about it now while it is still fresh on my mind. Like I always mean to do, but rarely actually achieve. ;)

Getting into it this time was, I have to confess, a bit difficult for me.  I still like MP, but... well, it's probably on the bottom of my list of JA favorites. Which I almost hate to say, because it has a reputation it doesn't deserve of being not as good, and I still think it deserves more love.  But I was having a hard time getting into it.  One excuse, though, was that there was a lot of Distraction going on in my life at the time. (Ahem. :D)  When I read it the first time, of course, it was New and therefore more interesting (even though I'd already seen the BBC miniseries and knew the basic story--it's still different to actually read the book).

Anyway.  Whenever this does happen with JA, generally when you get further into the story you become more attached to it, and that, as well as actually determining to spend more time reading, moved things along a bit.

So, as I've already done reviews of all 6 of JA's main novels, I like to just talk about my thoughts on rereading the story--what I thought differently this time, what new I noticed, etc.  There wasn't really that much of a difference... although I have to say that this time I was *cough* a tad little bit more sympathetic with the Crawford siblings. *cough, hide*

They're still horrid villains and everything. It's just that I kind understood them a little better, even though I didn't particularly enjoy the feeling. HA.  And of course by the END it's just like... wow, you two are even worse than I thought. (Especially Henry. What a... I can't even... who could seriously think Fanny was wrong to refuse him by the end? Besides Mrs. Norris and Mary Crawford who are jerks and don't count? Goodness, even Sir Thomas admitted she'd been right!)

Okay, so I guess I didn't actually think any better of Henry this time.  It was just that he didn't drive me quite as insane the entire time. I guess it was Mary I liked a little better. She can be rather amusing, and she's not exactly the evil scheming sort.  I wasn't any less annoyed with Edmund for falling for her, though, haha... and still a little annoyed with him at the end, too, how he kept going on about that it was all owing to her upbringing and otherwise she would have been perfect. You know what... whatever. She's just not, okay? She is what she is. And though a lot is often due to upbringing/influence, some people can come through things and still turn out better... especially in stories, although of course he doesn't know he's in a story. (snicker-snort)

Well, anyway. Moving on. So, if you've read the book (and if you haven't you probably shouldn't be reading THIS), you know how towards the end it plunges into the most of the Heavy Stuff. In fact it's probably the Heaviest Stuff of any Jane Austen book ever. Which is why when I turned a page and started in with what ends up being the last chapter and saw--
Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore every body, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort, and to have done with all the rest.
--this sort of Rush of Happiness went over me and I was like, YAY JANE! This is why I love you so much!!  Haha, obviously she was getting a little tired of it all, too.

Although I do still wish she'd have spent a little longer once everyone was restored to comfort. I should have liked to see exactly how everything happened with Fanny and Edmund, and instead she leaves most of it to supposition. Sigh. Well, she tells us the general end, but as to details, they are left to our own inferior imaginations. :P

However, I could just envision how lovely it could all be in a movie.  Honestly... why hasn't anyone done it?? There is so much New Stuff that can be done with a Mansfield adaptation, a REAL one in which everybody is portrayed like they're SUPPOSED to be... argh. Anyways.  Come oooon, BBC! I confess I was rather hoping the fact that the 200th anniversary being next year would inspire them, but alas, it would seem not...

And I really do think that it is all finished nicely even if I would want it to be longer.  I mean, Mrs. Norris is out of the picture with good riddance and everyone is happy.  Maria is ruined and deserves it. (Although maybe I would have liked to see Henry a with a bit more of a comeuppance.)  Susan Price gets to stay at Mansfield and doesn't have to live with the horrid Prices anymore.  Tom improves.  Sir Thomas is no longer an idiot about certain ideas he had concerning Fanny (namely, that she should have accepted Mr. Crawford, and that she should not marry one of his sons, haha); and it's a bit morbid of me but I found this hilarious: "...Dr. Grant had brought on apoplexy and death, by three great institutionary dinners in one week..." (cough). And of course, Edmund and Fanny live happily ever after.

One thing bugs me though, and that is this--
Could he have been satisfied with the conquest of one amiable woman's affections, could he have found sufficient exultation in overcoming the reluctance, in working himself into the esteem and tenderness of Fanny Price, there would have been every probability of success and felicity for him. His affection had already done something. Her influence over him had already given him some influence over her. Would he have deserved more, there can be no doubt that more would have been obtained, especially when that marriage had taken place, which would have given him the assistance of her conscience in subduing her first inclination, and brought them very often together. Would he have persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been his reward, and a reward very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable period from Edmund's marrying Mary.

What... no. Jane. Please. DON'T. Don't indicate that Fanny would have married Henry in the end if all that Stuff hadn't happened. How could you do that to your own Fanny??  It's rather like the indication that Marianne wasn't really in love with Col. Brandon at the time of marrying him. (My thoughts here.) I prefer to have my own opinion on these subjects. Heh.

Just the same, I finished the book with the same sentimental feeling I always get when finishing one of Miss Austen's stories... and this little sigh escaped me which then made me giggle because it wasn't at all premeditated. Haha.

Anyway. I'll stop rambling now and close with two random quotes I scribbled down. (I wasn't very good at writing down quotes this time...)

"There is not one in a hundred of either sex, who is not taken in when they marry. Look where I will, I see that it is so; and I feel that it must be so, when I consider that it is, of all transactions, the one in which people expect the most from others, and are least honest themselves."

~Mary Crawford

"I was quiet, but I was not blind."

~Fanny Price

A fun tidbit about Jane Austen movie actors

Period drama fans such as myself always take delight in spotting actors in one movie as being such-and-such character in another. Here are a few fun connections I discovered a while back, where two actors who are in the  cast of one period drama both play the same character in two different Jane Austen adaptations. That probably won't make any sense; it's hard to explain, but not once I show you. Read on.

First, we have Mrs. Weston from Emma. 

She was played by Jodhi May in the 2009 mini-series and by Greta Scacchi in the 1996 Miramax version, and both those actresses were in...

Daniel Deronda (2002) as Mirah Lapidoth and Lydia Glasher. 

Then, there is Captain Wentworth from Persuasion. 

Ciaran Hinds played Captain Wentworth in the 1995 film, and Rupert Penry-Jones portrayed him in 2007. Well, they both acted in...

Jane Eyre (1997) as Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers.

The other one I noticed was Edmund Bertram from Mansfield Park (though I have seen neither of the adaptations about to be mentioned).

Jonny Lee Miller was Edmund in the 1999 slaughtering version, and Blake Ritson played him in the 2007 misrepresentation movie.

Well, they were both in Emma (2009), playing [their correct Jane Austen characters] Mr. Knightley and Mr. Elton.

I'm sure there are other such coincidences, but these are just the ones I noticed for the actors in Jane Austen adaptations. Which are my specialty, as it were.

The latter one is especially interesting I think, as both the actors had portrayed Edmund Bertram before being cast in Emma. I wonder if they talked about it on set...

Have you ever noticed any of those, or any other fun actor-double coincidences? 

Mansfield Park Quotes

“But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.”

“I pay very little regard to what any young person says on the subject of marriage. If they profess a disinclination for it, I only set it down that they have not yet seen the right person.” –Mrs. Grant

“There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere.” –Mrs. Grant

“To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure, is the most perfect refreshment.” –Fanny

“I think the man who could often quarrel with Fanny must be beyond the reach of any sermons.” –Edmund

“A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.” –Mary Crawford

“Could she (Fanny) believe Miss Crawford to deserve him, it would be – Oh! how different it would be – how far more tolerable! But he (Edmund) was deceived in her, he gave her merits which she had not; her faults were what they had ever been, but he saw them no longer.”

“A woman can never be too fine when she is all in white.” –Edmund

“Sir Thomas could not dissent, as it had been his own arrangement, previously communicated to his wife and sister; but that seemed forgotten by Mrs. Norris, who must fancy that she settled it herself.”

And this concludes my section on Mansfield Park.

Mansfield Park: Recognizable Actors

Here are the actors/actresses on Mansfield Park movies who 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 portions I saw.)

1983

Marianne Thornton
(Amazing Grace)

   Sylvestra Le Touzel (Fanny Price) – Mrs. Allen on *Northanger Abbey (2007), Marianne Thornton on Amazing Grace

   Nicholas Farrell (Edmund Bertram) – Mr. Musgrove on Persuasion (2007), Henry Thornton on Amazing Grace

   Samantha Bond (Maria Bertram) – Mrs. Weston on Emma (1996 A&E)

   Anna Massey (Aunt Norris) – Miss Stanbury on He Knew He Was Right  

   Jonny Lee Miller (Charles Price) – see below

Molly Gibson
(Wives and Daughters)

*1999

   Jonny Lee Miller (Edmund Bertram) – Mr. Knightley on Emma (2009), Charles Price (Fanny’s little brother) on Mansfield Park (1883)

   Justine Waddell (Julia Bertram) – Molly Gibson on Wives and Daughters, Estella on Great Expectations (1999)

*2007

   Blake Ritson (Edmund Bertram) – Mr. Elton on Emma (2009)

Poll Results, the Villain in Emma, and More

The poll closed quite a while ago, and I didn't get around to doing this until now, but here are the results for:
"Which Jane Austen story most needs another movie?"
Winner: Mansfield Park (5 votes)
Tie for second: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion (4 votes each)
Sense and Sensibility got 2 votes.

I voted for Mansfield Park. I also would greatly appreciate another version of Northanger Abbey, and in short, I'd enjoy another of any of them, even Pride and Prejudice or Emma. Especially P.&P. out of those two - I really love the 1995 version, but it could still be done better, but nothing would be equal to the book.

Claire Foy as Fanny Price?

So, new Mansfield Park movie? When I was reading the book, I could really picture Claire Foy in the roll of Fanny Price. Her character reminds me of Amy Dorrit, and I thought she did it really well. Actually, with brown colored contacts, she could make a good Mary Crawford, too. Mary is supposed to be small, pretty, and have dark hair & eyes. 

What do you think? Would she suit either of those roles? I focus more on characters than actors, so I don't have any other ideas. Do any actors come to your mind who could make a good Mansfield Park character?


Yesterday I posted about the M.P. movies there are so far, and I said I thought there should be a new BBC mini-series. Miss Laurie, Abby and I were commenting about how screenwriters Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice 1995, Sense and Sensibility 2008) or Sandy Welch (Emma 2009, North and South 2004) could do a good adaptation. I'd vote for Sandy Welch - what do you think?

Lizzy wins again! ;-)

A bit of a rabbit trail, that. Now, for the other poll that just closed:
"Which Jane Austen heroine is your favorite?"
Winner: Elizabeth Bennet (8 votes)
Anne Elliot (4 votes)
Catherine Morland,
Emma Woodhouse,
Marianne Dashwood (2 votes each)
Elinor Dashwood (1 vote)


And, the new poll!
I was thinking about the villains in Jane Austen novels - John Willoughby, George Wickham, Henry Crawford, etc., but I couldn't figure out who the villain is in Emma! Is there one? What do you think?

After a whirlwind of Emma, Frank Churchill started to drive me crazy. What a jerk, and an arrogant jerk at that. It’s not quite like the book, but I liked what Emma said in the 2009 mini-series:

“Why did he come amongst us, engaged, and then pretend to be so very un-engaged?...I was not in love with him; but how was he supposed to know that? How could Jane bear it – waiting for him, and looking on while he gave attentions to another woman? No wonder she cannot stand the sight of me! It’s so unlike what a man should be - no truth, no principle, no integrity. Badly done indeed!”

Pretending to be interested in one woman just to conceal your attachment to another is not only deceitful but cruel. And then on top of that, he critisizes Jane Fairfax all over the place, just to remove suspicion! If I were Jane, I’d have pitched him. Ha!

But…is he really a villain?

If you wouldn't mind scooting over a little...

Maybe I shouldn’t have called Frank Churchill arrogant when I was planning to talk about Mr. Elton next. He is arrogant. I love Mr. Knightley’s quote from the 2009 mini-series: “That man is so full of himself, I’m surprised he can stay on that horse.” I doubt many clergymen caught girls with 30,000 pounds very often, but Mr. Elton thought he could. He didn’t, of course, and settled for 10,000 instead. I never liked him, but his behavior at the ball is always very maddening, when he refuses to dance with Harriet. (It makes it all the lovlier, though when Mr. Knightley comes to her rescue.)

So they’re both jerks, but is either one a villain? And which one is more so?

Who is the villain in Emma?
-Frank Churchill
-Mr. Elton
-There is no "villain"

The poll is on the sidebar!

~On a side note, Emma seemed unlike Jane Austen's other novels in that there were no very sad parts (such as deaths and broken hearts) or scandals (unless you count a secret engagement!).

June 28: A few of my readers have said Emma was the villain in Emma. This is an interesting point of view, but even if it were possible to change th poll, I wouldn't because (1) Emma is a girl and (2) to me, she doesn't seem to be any more villainous than the other two options. But, I really enjoyed Maria Elisabeth/Miss Darcy's post about it - to read it, click here (where you can find nearly all my thoughts on the subject; I went a little long when I commented on her post.)

Mansfield Park: The Movies

Click here to read about the actual story

1983 (BBC)

Since this is one of the older versions, it’s not as well made, and seems a little like a play; however, I thought it was better than some of the other older ones, and I enjoyed it. I thought Fanny was cast well; Edmund not so much, and if it had been me I would have chosen a different Mary – probably a different Henry, too. It stuck close to the book though, and that is very important, and something which I cannot say for the other ones.

   I think it’s funny that Jonny Lee Miller (Edmund on a different version, and Mr. Knightley in Emma [2009]) is in there, only very young, as one of Fanny’s little brothers…though you can hardly see him, his hair must be covering half his face! (You need to give him a haircut, Mrs. Price…)

   I enjoyed this version. I’ve seen it all the way through twice, and some more besides; and I’m sure I’ll be watching it again.
Fanny: Sylvestra Le Touzel

Edmund: Nicholas Farrel

(You can see this couple again, but older, in Amazing Grace.)

Length: 5 hr. 12 min.

1999 (Miramax)

I have never actually seen this version, nor have I any intention of doing so. From  what I hear, it is repulsively unlike the book. Even if it weren’t for the fact that someone took a Jane Austen story and completely changed it, I wouldn’t watch it. There are very inappropriate things that Jane Austen would never have made up. All right, there are some scandals in the book that could be taken to extremes, but everything is mentioned so very discreetly in Jane Austen books; mentioned, not shown; talked of, not written about directly. There’s also probably other stuff in there that wasn’t even slightly alluded to in the book. From a single quote I happened to see, I also know that they didn’t do Fanny at all right, either. It might have been interesting to see Jonny Lee Miller (Emma 2009) as Edmund and Justine Waddell (Wives and Daughters) as Julia, but for all I know they messed up those roles, too.

Fanny: Frances O’Conner

Edmund: Jonny Lee Miller

Length: 1 hr. 52 min.

2007 (ITV/Masterpiece Theater)

This one I started watching with my family, but we didn’t finish it. For one thing, all the dresses had really low necklines – mostly all the time – more so than usual. And the way the people were acting was rather…er…low-class. Now the Bertram girls don’t always have the highest morals and Mary is sort of flirty, but they weren’t like that. Fanny wasn’t much better than them on the movie, as far as how she dressed, from what I saw. Which brings me to the next thing – Fanny. That actress was really annoying me – how she looked and acted; and she never puts her hair up! And it’s rather short. Really, I find that quite unauthentic. She always seemed to be scowling, and didn’t give that impression of sweetness like Fanny is supposed to. And then there’s Edmund – he was Mr. Elton in the 2009 Emma, and he suited that role, but he doesn’t suit Edmund in my opinion. He’s too creepy or something. A lot of the dresses had too low of a waistline to be Regency; they’re more 1790s. (The book was published in 1814, and unlike some other of Jane Austen’s stories, it wasn’t first written when she was younger, so they have no excuse.) I’ve read that it didn’t follow the story very closely, either. In short, I’m not fond of Jane Austen stories with a modern feel.

Fanny: Billie Piper

Edmund: Blake Ritson

Length: 2 hr.

My Favorite

Well, that would be the mini-series from 1983. I enjoyed it and it follows the book, so I approve. ;-) (Really, Mansfield Park deserves a new movie. Let us not be negligent, BBC; give us another mini-series!)

So, which is your favorite?

Which, in your opinion, is the best version of Mansfield Park?
	BBC 1983
	Miramax 1999
	ITV 2007
pollcode.com free polls

Mansfield Park: The Book

The story

Fanny Price, a girl of ten, undergoes a complete change of circumstances when her rich relatives the Betrams offer to bring her up, away from her large and under-privileged family. Small and scared, it takes time for her to grow accustomed to her new family, but she is much comforted by the kindness of her cousin Edmund.

By the time Fanny is eighteen, she has become quite necessary to the comforts of the extremely laid-back Lady Bertram, but her other aunt –Mrs. Norris, quite the opposite of her sister in every way – likes to spend her time criticizing and over-scolding Fanny for anything she can possibly think of. She is not of much consequence to her other cousins (Tom, Maria, and Julia) one way or another. Her uncle Sir Thomas, whom she always found rather frightening, had been gone for a year or two, his business dragging on longer than he’d expected.

Henry and Mary Crawford, the half-sister and brother of the parson’s wife, arrive at Mansfield and find their way into the emotions of the Bertram siblings. Henry is quick to capture both Maria and Julia’s fancy, while Edmund finds himself attracted to Mary.

Fanny is disturbed by all this – disgusted by Henry’s flirtatiousness, and worried about Edmund and Mary; not only does Fanny herself have tender feelings for Edmund, but she observes Edmund’s (sometimes purposeful) blindness to Mary’s faults and shortcomings. When he does notice something – be it an inappropriate way of looking at things, or something that goes against Edmund’s beliefs and principles – he is bothered by it for a while, but then conveniently forgets as he is distracted by her good looks, playful wit, and sparkling dark eyes.

After sporting with the Miss Bertrams’ hearts, Henry Crawford decides that he must make Miss Price attached to him, and though he tries very hard to be agreeable, he does not succeed with her so easily as he has with everyone else. Eventually, Mr. Crawford finds himself to be the one in love, and everyone is very happy about the proposed match – except Fanny herself.

Mansfield Park was Jane Austen’s third book, published in 1814.

My sentiments (for those who are already acquainted with Mansfield Park)

Now, there is some scandal in most of Jane Austen’s books, but Mansfield Park must top them all off. I got towards the end, and goodness! It all happens at once! I went through the last seven or so chapters with great rapidity. (Great rapidity for me, that is, but I’m never much of a fast reader.)

I like Fanny. All the Jane Austen heroines are so different! Fanny is shy and timid, gentle and selfless. One thing I especially like about her – she cries easily. (I can relate to that.) Even though she is timid and quick to do anything anyone wants her to do, she stands firm in her beliefs, and with important things, while it makes her very upset to be displeasing anyone, she won’t let them change her convictions. She is a better judge of character than anyone else in the book.

I felt sorry for her a lot. The words “poor Fanny!” were so often running through my head,  since unpleasant things were so frequently happening to her, and because of the way she had to bear them all.

Despite other opinions I know have been expressed, I thought as badly of Henry and Mary Crawford as Fanny did. I hated the control Mary seemed to have over Edmund, and I always thought Henry was a jerk – even before the scandal. It would have been horrid if Fanny had married him – he would still have been a flirt, even after they were married, and likely worse. As to Mary and Edmund, I was very happy they didn’t end up together! They both would have been miserable.

 I actually liked Mansfield Park better than I had expected to – other than it’s being written by Jane Austen, I didn’t have many expectations. I’m not quite satisfied with the hurried ending – I would have liked to see more dialogue there (especially where Edmund and Fanny are concerned) but then, with only one chapter to settle it all, I didn’t expect more than that. 

I had chosen Mansfield Park to read next, because it was the story I knew least about. I’d seen the 1983 mini-series once, but that was all, and I felt so under-educated when it came to the characters. I am very glad I read it.