Subtext - Pride & Prejudice

Let us talk about love. Let us go old school, Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley, Jane and Lizzy, and… lots of dancing. Make no mistake, my friends, Jane Austen’s brilliant novel was never about Pride nor Prejudice. At its core is the very chick-flickiest of all chick-flick notions – how to hook the man of your dreams. This is why, not one, but two of my female friends read P&P every year. For girls in the early 1800’s, this was their Cosmo. This was Man-Hooking 101 for advanced students. This was master chess-playing at its finest level for love strategists the world over.

Last year, we had the superb adaptation penned by Deborah Moggach who is known for a number of great novels including Tulip Fever, which is also being adapted for the big screen. Unfortunately, Moggach's script is not available online, but you can read Austen’s novel here for free in .txt or .pdf format thanks to Project Gutenberg. In any case, you have to admire the way Moggach condensed Austen’s material to a manageable 2-hour movie and at the same time, made it so much fun.

I think Darcy is the character with the most depth because of the many contradictions in his personality. At times, he’s selfish and other times, generous. He’s thoughtless and thoughtful. He’s cruel and kind. He’s loyal and disloyal. He’s mysterious and yet everybody thinks that they know what he’s really about. He is the ultimate challenge. And we empathize with Lizzy. She’s not as beautiful as her older sister, Jane. She is every girl with modest circumstances fighting for love. She is a ferocious thinker and strategist. She is equal parts strong-willed and vulnerable, and don’t forget, a master chess player.

P&P, for me, is the movie (& novel) with the best subtext in dialogue.

I’d like to point you to an element Moggach added to the latest movie that is not in the book, which I thought was so brilliant – all the talk about dancing, which Moggach used as a symbolic representation of Darcy’s courtship to Lizzy.

At the first ball, Jane immediately hits it off with Mr. Bingley (pictured above) and as they dance together, Lizzy walks up to Darcy and asks him a subtle question...

LIZZY
Do you dance, Mr. Darcy?

DARCY
Not if I can help it.

Here, dancing was simply an invitation to flirt, but she was rejected and she walks away.

Later, Lizzy and her sister Charlotte overhear Darcy talking to Bingley...

BINGLEY
I’ve never seen so many pretty
girls in my life.

DARCY
You were dancing with the only
handsome girl in the room.

BINGLEY
She is the most beautiful creature
I have ever beheld. But her
sister, Elizabeth, is very
agreeable.

DARCY
Perfectly tolerable, I dare say,
but not handsome enough to tempt
me. You’d better return to your
partner and enjoy her smiles.
You’re wasting your time with me.

CHARLOTTE
Count your blessings, Lizzy. If
he liked you, you’d have to talk to
him.

LIZZY
Precisely. As it is, I wouldn’t
dance with him for all of
Derbyshire, let alone the miserable
half.

At the end of the night, Jane, Lizzy, their mother Mrs. Bennet, talk to Darcy and Bingley. Mrs. Bennet tells a story about a gentleman who tried unsuccessfully to woo Jane and wrote her some bad poems...

MRS BENNET
...however, he did write to her
some very pretty verses.

LIZZY
And that put paid to it. I wonder
who first discovered the power of
poetry in driving away love?

DARCY
I thought poetry was the food of
love.

LIZZY
Of a fine, stout love, it may. But
if it is only a vague inclination
I’m convinced one poor sonnet will
kill it stone dead.

DARCY
So what do you recommend to
encourage affection?

LIZZY
Dancing... Even if one’s partner
is barely tolerable.

Lizzy curtsies, walks away, and smiles.

She swore to loathe him for all eternity. After a few more clashes with Darcy, the next ball brought the most surprising turn of events...

DARCY
May I have the next dance, Miss
Elizabeth?

LIZZY
(stunned)
You may.

And as they dance together for the first time, it is not love at first sight. It is, in fact, a verbal war of wits. Here, I think, is Lizzy's great declaration of independence, her showing Darcy that she will not be intimidated by his great wealth, that she will not be treated like a worthless lower class citizen, that the decision of whether they fall in love is actually up to her, that he needs to shape up if he wants her, and that if she is to accept him, he had better be a man with good character. And she says all of these things without actually saying it…

LIZZY
I love this dance.

DARCY
Indeed. Most invigorating.

LIZZY
It is your turn to say something,
Mr. Darcy... I talked about the
dance, now you ought to remark on
the size of the room or the number
of couples.

DARCY
I am perfectly happy to oblige.
Please advise me of what you would
most like to hear.

LIZZY
That reply will do for present...
Perhaps by and by, I may observe
that private balls are much
pleasanter than public ones.
(beat)
For now we may remain silent.

DARCY
Do you talk, as a rule, while
dancing?

LIZZY
No... No, I prefer to be
unsociable and taciturn... Makes
it all so much more enjoyable,
don’t you think?

DARCY
Tell me, do you and your sisters
very often walk to Meryton?

LIZZY
Yes, we often walk to Meryton...
It’s a great opportunity to meet
new people. In fact, when you met
us, we’d just had the pleasure of
forming a new acquaintance.

DARCY
Mr. Wickham is blessed with such
happy manners he is sure of making
friends. Whether he’s capable of
retaining them is less certain.

LIZZY
He’s been so unfortunate as to lose
your friendship. And I daresay
that is an irreversible event?

DARCY
It is. Why do you ask such a
question?

LIZZY
To make out your character, Mr.
Darcy.

They stop dancing while everyone else continues.

DARCY
And what have you discovered?

LIZZY
Very little. I hear such different
accounts of you as puzzle me
exceedingly.

DARCY
I hope to afford you more clarity
in the future.

They resume dancing. They stare at each other, and suddenly, all of the other guests around them disappear. They’re alone in the hall as they circle each other.

The music stops. Everyone reappears.

They bow to each other.

(There is still much more subtext to come. Next will be a submission by the great Billy Mernit! And if you think of more submissions, please feel free to email them to me.)