Perspectives on Pride and Prejudice: Comedy

by Rosie Holt, comedian and actress

As a proud Pride and Prejudice fan (what sensible person isn’t?) I have watched several screen adaptions: the one with Kiera Knightley as an unusually glamourous Elizabeth Bennet (2005’s Pride & Prejudice), the PD James-penned murder mystery sequel (Death Comes to Pemberley), the one where Lizzy gets stuck in present day London (Lost in Austen), and the one that adds brain eating undead (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies). But innovative and amusing as these twists may be (though zombies and murder prove sadly po-faced) it is the 1995 adaption that is not only the best, but the best at bringing out the humour of the novel.

Pride and Prejudice is such a gloriously witty book that any bells and whistles added to its winning formula belittle it. It has a clever, amusing heroine who countless readers adore, and the best portrayal is, in my opinion, Jennifer Ehle’s. Whether it’s delivering lines like (when asked when she first fell for Mr Darcy): “I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley…” or taking the famous opening lines of the book, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” Jennifer Ehle conveys the right mix of knowing intelligence and mirth that first catches Mr Darcy’s eye, when she reacts to him being rude about her by laughing at him. Laughing at him! I wish the man I dated who took umbrage when I laughed at his jacket found this as winning.

However, although the BBC adaption shows humour in the realism of a timelessly wry heroine and uptight hero, that realism is thrown out of the window with its portrayal of some of the other characters. This is an adaption where, comedically, the performers seem to be in completely different productions. While Lizzy and the archly bitchy Caroline Bingley are understated, Alison Steadman turns Mrs Bennet’s ridiculousness, with her squealing and smelling salts, up to ten – her performance would work in a clown show and even most pantomimes. However despite this giving the show a slight oddity, it’s all rather pleasing to watch.

For me, the funniest bit in the series is when Mr Collins comes to stay. There’s a bit in episode 2 where he is extolling the virtues of Lady Catherine de Bourgh to the mostly bemused Bennet family. Although the dialogue from the book provides a lot of the humour there is great work from what is not said. David Bamber plays Mr Collin’s as obsequious, slimy and dreadful, yet Mary clearly fancies him something rotten. Having previously been completely deadpan and disapproving, she is suddenly animated – throwing him flirtatious smiles in response to the most ridiculous things. When Mr Collins boasts that his house and Lady Catherine’s is separated “only by a lane” Mary looks like he has suggested getting up early to watch the sunrise together. But Mr Collins is interested in Jane, and gives her a ghastly smile at the end of meal to which she politely acknowledges. I love it.