Author Archives: Myretta

About Myretta

Myretta is a founder and current manager of The Republic of Pemberley, a major Jane Austen destination on the web. She is also a writer of Historical Romance. You can find her at her website, www.myrettarobens.com and on Twitter @Myretta.

Pride & Prejudice: Adapting the First Proposal

Updated on February 1, 2013 by Myretta

I’m still celebrating Pride & Prejudice’s 200^th anniversary. Today, I’m enjoying a retrospective of Darcy’s first proposal to Elizabeth. It’s a classic within a classic. So, I thought we should take a look at the various ways it has been adapted

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent. This he considered sufficient encouragement; and the avowal of all that he felt, and had long felt for her, immediately followed. He spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride. His sense of her inferiority — of its being a degradation — of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.

Read the rest of the proposal here.

This is possibly the most heartfelt and insulting proposal in English literature. In adaptations, there is so much to be done with it. Shall we see what has been done?

My apologies for not embedding the videos. I can’t seem to size them correctly at this moment.

1940: Greer Garson & Laurence Olivier

Like much of this adaptation, Darcy’s first proposal takes some liberties with the text, but it does manage to get the basics. It’s one of the most faithful scenes in an unfaithful adaptation. But who doesn’t like Sir Laurence?

1980:Elizabeth Garvie & David Rintoul

Yes, I know many love this adaptation. I’m afraid I cannot share that affection. The dialog is fairly faithful, but really. There is no emotion in this scene. I’ve come to expect that from David Rintoul, who plays Darcy as though he had been assimilated by the Borg. And, I’m afraid Elizabeth Garvie gives as good as she gets here.

1995: Jennifer Ehle & Colin Firth

Now, this one… This one is, in my opinion, very nearly perfect. It occurs in the right setting and captures the feeling of the dialog, the emotion of both parties without going overboard (see below). You can actually see Mr. Darcy struggle against his inclination and Elizabeth’s realization of exactly what’s going on. And you can’t go very far wrong with Colin Firth. Now, that’s Mr. Darcy.

2005: Keira Knightley & Matthew MacFadyen

Here we have Pride & Prejudice by Charlotte Bronte (or possibly Emily). I cannot indict this scene for lack of emotion. Indeed, there is a surfeit of emotion as evinced by the thunder in the background. I’m sorry, but this proposal is sufficiently dramatic without the atmospherics. And what is happening at the end. Is she thinking about kissing him after telling him off? That’s one way of writing this scene. I could see it happening and have in several romances but not, alas, in Pride & Prejudice.

I’m sure you all have a favorite adaptation. And I won’t object too strongly if it doesn’t agree with mine. What do you think of these proposal scenes or do you have another that you prefer?

200 years of Pride & Prejudice

Updated on January 19, 2013 by Myretta

As you had not heard from me at that time it was very good in you to write, but I shall not be so much your debtor soon. – I want to tell you that I have got my own darling Child from London; — on Wednesday I received one Copy, sent down by Falknor, with three lines from Henry to say that he had given another to Charles & sent a 3d by the Coach to Godmersham; just the two Sets which I was least eager for the disposal of.
Jane Austen to her sister, Cassandra
January 29, 1813

pp1st Jane Austen’s “own darling Child” was, of course, the published Copy of Pride & Prejudice. This is month is the 200^th anniversary of its publication and a big month for Janeites.

On January 27, 1813 Jane Austen, at Chawton, received her first copy of Pride & Prejudice, sent by her brother Henry from London. Henry also sent copies to Jane’s brothers Edward Austen Knight (in Godmersham) and Charles. Once Jane received her copy, she immediately wrote to Henry and asked him to send c0pies to her brothers Frank and James and, along with her mother, began reading it aloud to a friend without revealing the author.

On January 28, publisher Tomas Egerton’s first advertisement for Pride & Prejudice appeared in the Morning Chronicle, detailing a novel in three volumes with a price of 18s. There were possibly 1500 copies printed; this is not clear. The copyright remained with Egerton until 1841.

Sometime in early February, an anonymous review of Pride & Prejudice appeared in The British Critic, No. 41. No doubt, Jane Austen noted and probably recorded this review. She was assiduous in collecting reviews of her work both public and private.

We will see a lot of events, real and virtual, celebrating this anniversary. Of Jane Austen’s six novels, Pride & Prejudice is, without a doubt, the most beloved. This year, Jane Austen Societies around the globe will be organizing their annual meetings around Pride & Prejudice. Already, books have been published on the topic, festivals are being planned, and the BBC intends to recreate the Netherfield ball. Who can resist?

Will you be celebrating or do you celebrate Pride & Prejudice every year anyway? What are you looking forward to? And what do you think? Is this Jane’s best work?

Posted in Jane Austen | Tagged Pride and Prejudice | 2 Replies

Mad about Titles

Updated on January 9, 2013 by Myretta

One of my Regency hobby-horses is the use of titles. I’m afraid it makes me crazy if an author spends the time to write a novel set in our era and neglects the proper titles for her aristocratic characters. Indeed, an author who’s writing I love has been known to make me wild by getting titles wrong book after book. Come on, honey. You should have figured this out by now.

I have had this rant before on other sites, so I will not take too much space with the ranting and, rather, devote this post with some advice about how to get it right. It’s not that difficult.

Let’s start out with what not to do: A duke is never my lord or your lordship. He’s not Lord anything. Most frequently a title is not the same as a last name and they are never interchangeable. Earls, marquesses, and viscounts are never Lord Surname and certainly never Lord Given Name. Dukes, as we have established, are never Lord anything. Last names and titles, if different, are not interchangeable when addressing an aristocrat. There’s only one right way to do it.

Now, on to that right way.

A duke is “your grace” or “his grace.” The same goes for his duchess. His title is “Duke of Title.” For example, Peregrine Cavendish is the Duke of Devonshire. He is never Lord Devonshire or Lord Cavendish. His peers may call him Duke rather than Your Grace.

An earl is Lord Title, never Lord Surname or Lord Given Name. For example, John Montague is the Earl of Sandwich and is addressed at Lord Sandwich.. Friends might refer to him as Sandwich. His wife is the Countess of Sandwich and is called Lady Sandwich. In a few cases, such as Earl Spencer, the title and surname are identical.

A Viscount is also Lord Title. Edward Pellew is Viscount Exmouth and would be addressed as Lord Exmouth. His wife is Lady Exmouth.

Barons are also referred to as Lord Title. Barons, more frequently than other titles, may have titles that are the same as their surname. For example, William Hawke is Baron Hawke and is called Lord Hawke. His wife is Lady Hawke (and may or may not be played by Michelle Pfeiffer). This is not always the case, however, and you should be sure that, whichever you choose, your title remains consistent.

So these are the basics. It goes on from there. Oldest sons of dukes, marquesses and earls usually take one of their father’s lesser titles as a courtesy title (if one is available) and would, thus, be Marquess, Earl, or Viscount of Whatever.

Younger sons of dukes and marquesses have the courtesy title of Lord, but they use their first names. Lord Peter Wimsey is Lord Peter, never Lord Wimsey or Lord Denver (his older brother is the Duke of Denver). And, moreover, his wife would be Lady Peter. Cool, huh?

Younger sons of earls, viscounts, and barons are just “honorable” and are usually addressed as “Mr.”

Daughters of peers are Lady Given Name regardless of their birth order. In Pride and Prejudice, Lady Anne Darcy and Lady Catherine deBourgh are the daughters of an Earl (which one, we’ll never know). This applies to daughters of dukes, marquesses, and earls. It does not, however, apply to the daughters of viscounts and barons. Like the sons, they are just honorables and addressed as “Miss.”

Have written these down, I realize they don’t look as easy as I may have lead you to believe. However, I have a couple of web sites for you that will make it much easier.

Laura Wallace created and maintains the fantastically useful British Titles of Nobilitywhich takes on all this stuff and more in an easy-to-understand layout. If you bookmark this site, you need never wonder if you’re using the right title. For something not as detailed or exhaustive (just the basics, ma’am), I give you the table of honorifics from the Jane Austen Information Page at The Republic of Pemberley.

So, there it is. Yes, it’s a little convoluted but if you love your subject and your era, and you’re going to write about it, it’s not too much to ask that you get the details that are easily available to you. Right? If you don’t know it, look it up. Or ask a friend who does.

Here’s the final question. Am I alone in being driven wild by misuse of titles? Does this make you tear your hair out or are you able to overlook it and get on with the story?

Posted in Research | Tagged titles | 12 Replies

Regency references – moving through London

Updated on January 5, 2013 by Myretta

atoz One of the challenges of writing a Regency Romance is geography. I know. Not what you thought, is it? Well, it’s one of my challenges. I want my characters to be taking the correct streets, catching the mail coach at the right inn, taking a walk along the right path in the right park, running off the road into the right ditch.

It’s not always easy to make this happen and I’m never quite sure I’ve got it right but I have certain go-to books that help me get around the Regency without taking a totally wrong turn.

My current WIP takes place mostly in London. This at least puts some boundaries around my geographical exploration. When negotiating the byways of Regency London, I always start with The A to Z of Regency London. This fabulous book was published by the London Topographical Society in 1985 and is based on Richard Horwood’s map (third edition, 1813). But it is far more useful than Horwood’s huge map (which requires really good eyesight and a magnifying glass). The Horwood map is broken into 40 sections and enlarged. And each street, square, lane, almshouse, burial ground (and more) is indexed. If you want to know where anything is in Regency London and its relative position this is your resource. It will, without a doubt, help you get your heroine from Little Brooke Street to Gunter’s for ices with nary a wrong turn.

Perhaps, you crave a little more detail. I wanted to send my hero and heroine meandering through a park and needed more than a map to get the ambience right. London Green by Neville Braybooke has a pretty good overview of KensingtonGardens, Hyde Park, GreenPark, and St. James Park. You have to be a little careful with Neville, here, as it’s not quite as era-specific as one would want, but it has some great illustrations, history and enough detail to probably extract what you need for a romantic stroll.

period-house It’s not all geography, though. If you have a burning need to be able to talk, in detail, about the design of your hero’s townhouse, you might want to take a peek at Georgian London by John Summerson. This lovely book is probably going to give you more information that you’ll ever need and maybe should be reserved for the day when you really want a thorough background on the architecture of the city. For the basics, I really recommend The Period House: Style, Detail & Decoration 1774-1914, a good, general overview of several different types of townhouses complete with floorplans. This book will allow you to move your heroine from her room to the library (with a candle, in her nightclothes) without having her stray into the kitchen.

gentlemens-clubs Just a couple of more. Your hero, undoubtedly needs a place to escape from his meddling mama. You’ll need to send him to his club. Also, you’ll need to know what club to send him to. Try The Gentlemen’s Clubs of London. This is also not era-specific, but it has a brief history and description of each club and great photos. You’ll be able to find the right place for your boy to hide out and you’ll get a good picture of what it looks like. What more you do need?

How about a romantic evening? Vauxhall Gardens might be just the place. VauxhallGardens, A History has more information than you’ll ever need about this scene of many a seduction. Truly, it is more information than you’ll ever want unless you want your hero to build his own pleasure garden. Which, come to think of it, is an interesting idea.

life-georgian-city Let me leave you with one last, excellent, book for a general understanding of your era in London. Dan Cruickshank and Neil Burton’s Life in the Georgian City is both general and detailed. Dan Cruickshank makes the various parts of the Georgian city accessible to the reader. This book has chapters on street life, work and play, houses and their occupants, construction, interior design, gardens, and includes two case studies. This is something you might just want to read for pleasure.

I have lots more. More on London, more on the countryside, more on getting from one to the other and what to do when you get there. I look forward to sharing my library with you this year.

Do you have a favorite research book or web site? What’s your go-to resource when you’re thinking about Regency England?

Posted in Regency, Research | 5 Replies

Celebrating Jane Austen – an Afterword

Updated on December 22, 2012 by Myretta

greenjane As an adjunct blogger, I missed Risky Regencies’ Jane Austen week, but I cannot let another week go by without my own acknowledgement of what Jane Austen has meant in my life.

I have been reading Jane Austen yearly since – well, since before I can remember. I was delighted when, in the 1980s, the BBC productions of Jane Austen’s novels were brought to us on PBS. But nothing thrilled me as much as the BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice in 1995. Along with half the women in the English-speaking world, I fell in love with Colin Firth’s Fitzwilliam Darcy and the adaptation in general. I had ordered my own videotapes (yes, it was that long ago) before A&E had even completed broadcasting the series.

atlog Not long after that, I began developing The Republic of Pemberley along with Amy Bellinger, who had started a discussion forum just to talk about that 1995 adaptation. Over the years, Pemberley has grown into a pretty big Jane Austen destination on the web. We talk about a lot of things besides Colin Firth these days and have created some interesting Jane Austen-related material. I’m pretty proud of what we’ve done and would like to share some with you.

Early on, we incorporated the Jane Austen Information Page, an idiosyncratic compilation of Jane Austen facts and criticism, collated and created by Henry Churchyard (an early member of The Republic of Pemberley’s management committee). Henry has moved on, but Jane Info, remains and I keep threatening to reorganize it one day.

qback Also in our early days, we were a big fan fiction hub. Our Bits of Ivory board drew everything from the initial version of Pamela Aidan’s best-selling Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy to stories like “Pemberley High.” Eventually, we decided that fan fiction was not our focus and it made its way to other sites such as The Derbyshire Writers’ Guild (an early spin-off from Pemberley). But we continue to maintain, The Bits of Ivory Archive, a collection of the early fan fiction posted on our site.

As the Republic of Pemberley focused more on Jane Austen, we began developing some interesting additional material. I’m particularly fond of Jane Austen Locations, a compilation of links to sites in Jane Austen’s life and locations used in adaptations of her work. Like everything on our site, it’s a work in progress.

Another fun addition to Pemberley is The Jane Austen Gazetteer. This page is an exhaustive exploration of actual locations used in Jane Austen’s novels. It uses period maps, guidebooks, and illustrations to provide information that Jane Austen would recognize regarding each location mentioned in her six novels.

There’s more (there’s always more). We maintain a database of current Jane Austen-related events: celebrations, meetings, festivals, plays, readings. This is not exhaustive, although we wish it were. We do group reads of Jane Austen’s work two or three times a year. We maintain on-line copies of her work. We do other stuff. We celebrate Jane every day. We’d love to have you celebrate with us.

Posted in Jane Austen | 4 Replies