On October 16, “Sense and Sensibility” will be released to U.S. theaters. After its UK release, the movie currently sits at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 3.9 on Letterboxd. Jane Austin is having quite the year, with a “Pride & Prejudice” T.V. show releasing on Netflix in December, and “The Other Bennet Sister”, an adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice”, being released earlier this year. In pop culture, the Regency Era, the time period in which all of Jane Austen’s novels take place, has become a favorite, with shows like “Bridgerton” and “Seeking Persephone” becoming international hits.Â
The Regency era refers to 1795-1837, but its name comes from the transfer of power from King George III, who was deemed too mentally unstable to rule to his son, The Prince Regent, who was also named George. The Prince Regent was only in power for 9 years, 1811-1820, which was when he became George IV. This era is popular for its fashion, which saw empire waist dresses, and the height of the marriage season, when rich or noble families would travel from their country homes to cities like London and Bath to pomade and host balls in hopes of securing a successful marriage match for their children. This backdrop has become a favorite for romance novels, movies, and shows.Â
It is also popular because of Jane Austen, whose books were all written and take place during this time period. Austen, who is noted as being one of the greatest writers of all time, used the season and its rules as a backdrop to criticize and make fun of the way marriage was treated. That’s not to say that the books aren’t romantic (they are), but the main intention of the books was to criticize the system of marriage, not endorse or romanticize it.Â
While I love some of the Austen adaptations, I don’t think she would be too happy with them and the way the regency period is depicted. Her books highlight the lack of agency women were given, feeling forced into marriages to secure stability for both themselves and their families. Media around this period tends to romanticize this, as well as exaggerating the purity culture and claiming that unmarried women over 21 were considered spinsters and lost causes.Â
Another problem I have with them is the Elizabeth Bennet of it all. Elizabeth Bennet, the main character in Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”, is one of the most beloved characters in fiction. Her stubbornness and wit is something that set her apart from other female characters that came before her, and inspired those who came after. However, a problem I am seeing in current regency media and recent adaptations of Austen’s work is turning every female character into Elizabeth Bennet. The most prevalent example of this comes from Netflix’s “Persuasion”, where Anne Elliot, a character who in the book keeps to herself, is an extrovert who is a self described hot-mess. The same thing is done to a lot of male characters with a parallel to Elizabeth’s love interest, Mr. Darcy. All of a sudden, all the male love interests are brooding and cold. The trend of making regency characters all like the ones from “Pride and Prejudice” leads to repetitive bland characters, and make every adaptation the same.
So, are all current and upcoming adaptations going to be like this? I don’t think so. I already have tickets to see “Sense and Sensibility”, and while I did notice some things in the trailers that I definitely have issues with, I’m sure I’ll find something to like.