If I look like a zombie today

It's because I was up till 3:00am. Ever since Tusk mentioned ITV's Jane Austen Season in the UK I've been dying to see what they're up to. They've redone Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Northanger Abbey. (They're also showing the 1996 Emma starring Kate Beckinsale before all the plastic surgery and tanning--back when she was cute.) I cursed my fate as one who now dwells on the absolute wrong side of the pond.

But.

It turns out that there are wonderful people out there who have already put all three of them up on YouTube. I love you, wonderful people! After reading Tusk's review of Persuasion I couldn't resist checking it out. And once I did I couldn't stop.

First off, I love the story of Persuasion. And now that I'm an old maid of 27, like its heroine, I can identify with it a bit more than I could back when I was 18 and thought 27-yr-old single LDS women (if such things existed) were probably rounded up and shipped off to some failure farm in the desert.

Basic synopsis: Nineteen-year-old Anne is persuaded to call off her engagement to Captain Wentworth because he's this young sailor with no money and no future and it's the middle of a war. Eight years later, after no contact, they end up back in the same social circle. She's still single, knows she passed up her chance for happiness, and has resigned herself to a life of spinsterhood looking after the selfish pack of freakshows that is her family. He's now rich, eligible, sought-after, and completely bitter towards poor sweet Anne. Did I mention that he's hot? Because he is. But of course he still loves her, and of course they eventually end up back together. And of course I totally cried at the end.

As an adaptation I don't think it quite holds up to the 1995 Ciaran Hinds version--lots of things get left out. But the music and scenery are lovely and the acting is great. The leads are younger, which better represents their ages in the book. I really liked Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot. I would never call her plain or aged-looking, but she has an expressive face that lets you know what Anne is going through.


As for Captain Wentworth, Oh. My. Gosh.

He was the reason I was up till 3:00am with a heaving bosom. I don't even go for blond men, but I will make a big, big exception for my new friend Rupert Penry-Jones. At one point he and Anne stared at each other all close-up and I may have possibly shouted "Oh my gosh make out. Make out! Make out make out make out!!" because I just could not stand the tension and the hotness and my brain was about to explode. Seriously. I'll be watching that one over and over again just for him.

In the beginning Anne tells Lady Russell (the one who persuaded Anne to break off the engagement) that she would have been happy if she had gone ahead and married Capt. Wentworth all those years ago. Lady Russell tries to give Anne the "Hey, you're young and pretty and will definitely find someone one of these days" pep talk. But Anne just gives her this sad smile and says, "I'm twenty-seven years old." Bwah hah hahah! And Lady Russell is all, "Yeah, true point. You're screwed and I'm talking out my ear."

So now I think anytime people ask me if I'm dating anyone, I'll answer with a sad, brave smile and say, "I'm twenty-seven years old."

And that will be the end of the conversation.

Posted in: Anglophilia,men I love,Sumptuous Literary Adaptations