Firth & Firthiness

Is the miniseries better than the book?

The BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice was released 25 years ago this month. Jack Hughes, our pop culture historian, asks whether it’s better than the book.

by Jack Hughes

Before I submit anything to The Experiment, I always ask my wife to read what I’ve written to ensure that I don’t get laughed at or sued. (ed. Hard same.) Thankfully, she is much, much smarter than me, and offers thoughtful edits that vastly improve the quality of all my work and words. As an example, she even reviewed this paragraph for me.

After my last entry, my wife asked me for a favor. If I were going to keep giving her things to proofread with her weekend morning coffee, could I perhaps write about something she likes? If so, could it be about Pride & Prejudice? Not the Jane Austen novel per se but the iconic A&E/BBC TV mini-series starring Colin Firth.

Regular readers of my Experiment contributions, if such masochists exist, will know I love a good anniversary. There’s no literary crutch that I lean on more heavily than when some pop culture phenomenon reaches a significant milestone. So, you can imagine my relief when I realized that production is passing a major one.

After my last entry, my wife asked me for a favor. If I were going to keep giving her things to proofread with her weekend morning coffee, could I perhaps write about something she likes?

If you don’t know, the six-hour series is a painstaking adaptation of Austen’s book about privilege, protocol, and passion (in that order). It was released in the U.K. twenty-five years ago this month and in the U.S. a few months later. I didn’t see it then, but my wife has helped me overcome my oversight many times over. 

Firth plays Austen’s austere Fitzwilliam Darcy, a British gentleman who falls for an obstinate, headstrong girl. It’s not to be confused with the Bridget Jones films where he plays Mark Darcy, a gentle, manly Brit who falls for a headstrong, obstinate girl. (Jones’ creator Helen Fielding based her Darcy on the Firth BBC Darcy.)

Full disclosure, I’m a big fan of Colin Firth. I genuinely believe he’s one of the best actors of our times. I’d pay to see him do a dramatic reading of a phone directory. That said, my favorite work of his would be the Kingsman franchise or The King’s Speech (anything with ‘King’ in the title, really) – but this isn’t about me. 

Technically speaking, Pride & Prejudice is the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a woman ahead of her time who uses her intellect to fight inequality and inequity. The original novel put a mirror up to the English class system of the era and many of the lessons of the story remain as valid and valuable today as in pre-Victorian Britain.

The best moments in the series are those involving Elizabeth and Lady Catherine de Bourgh – played by the eyes and eyebrows of the great Barbara Leigh-Hunt. Lady Catherine puts the ‘status’ in status quo and defends the old order with the full force of her formidable personality. Elizabeth is her equal but a radical reformer.

Lady Catherine warms to Elizabeth despite their different stations in life, and there are even signs of respect – ‘game recognizes game’ as only my wife would say. But when she hears there may be a fledgling romance between Elizabeth and her nephew Darcy the frigid sangfroid returns as she writes her off as a social climber. 

Again, Elizabeth is the central character in the book. The A&E/BBC version does justice to her in a BAFTA Award-winning performance by Jennifer Ehle, but the real cultural impact of the series comes from Firth and, specifically, his infamous lake scene when Elizabeth sees Darcy returning from an impromptu swim. 

The lake scene has been indulgently, even obsessively, commemorated in ways both touching and troubling. If you are unfamiliar with any of this, all you really need to know is summarized in a truly amazing Hollywood Reporter headline from back in 2013: “Huge Statue of Dripping Wet Colin Firth Erected in London Lake.”

There are two things about the ‘lake scene’ which strike me as remarkable. First, Firth isn’t exactly crazy about it. He doesn’t know what all the fuss is about, and he thinks it held back his career (um...no). Second, it’s not in the book. The scene for which Pride & Prejudice is now best known isn’t from Pride & Prejudice.

The scene for which Pride & Prejudice is now best known isn’t from Pride & Prejudice.

All this got me thinking about a provocative question: Is the A&E/BBC version of Pride & Prejudice better than book on which it’s based? I know this will cause dramatic pearl-clutching among Jane Austen purists but, please, I beg of you, put away the antique fountain pens. There’s no need to curse at me in cursive.

I never studied English literature (“if I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient”) but even I know Austen is one of the greatest writers in history and that her Pride & Prejudice is a masterpiece. What’s more, I’m a staunch and steadfast believer that movies and shows are rarely better than their source material.

In fact, for the life of me, I can only think of one other example of a screen adaptation that’s better than the original book: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. Unlike Pride & Prejudice, I’ve read Mario Puzo’s novel many times – but the movie has Brando, Pacino, and Cazale. C’mon, it’s not personal it’s strictly business. 

The same can be said of Firth and Pride & Prejudice. As the series celebrates its 25th anniversary, I’m declaring it’s a greater artistic achievement than the book. (“Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?”) And, no, not because I think my wife secretly thinks so or that we’re also celebrating an anniversary this month. 

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