The Jane Aust-a-thon: Emma

Look at this! Another blog in so short a time? Its unbelievable! The days are starting to get hotter and being stuck inside is getting annoying. At least now the weather is cooperating so that my husband and I can go to the cabin and escape the city for some solicitude. I've already got sunburnt once!

I really enjoyed Emma, much more so than Mansfield Park. It was funny, and quirky, and there were so many characters for you to love to hate. Like Mrs. Elton. There were actually likeable characters in Emma too, and I thought the story just flowed so much better and actually kept me engaged.

While I did like this book much better as whole, the group did agree that Emma is the least liked of Austen's heroines. She's snobby, bossy, catty and refuses to admit she is wrong. Eventually she does own up to her mistakes, and we agreed that few characters do that, but she's still ranked low in the scale of Austen women. Elissa made a hilarious observation about the Emma and the other characters. She said "they're an ensemble cast not done well." Phew, that made me laugh!

One of the girls in the club (I'm purposefully not saying who) actually said she identifies a lot with Emma. She said it made her quite anxious and that is a big part of why she doesn't like Emma. She compared herself with the snobbiness of Emma, stated the drama of the book is much like her high school years, and that she enjoys matching people up like Emma does as well. It was quite the revelation, but I applaud her for being open about it and explaining how and why she feels the way she does about the book in that context.

Another thing we noted was how many similarities there are between Emma and Sense and Sensibility. There is a secret engagement, a large age difference between two of the main characters, there is a snobby gentleman of questionable virtue, and a lady of uncertain background. When you think about it though, there are several themes that feature throughout Austen's novels in interesting ways.

I'm going to cut the writing about the actual book short through because what I really want to do is write about the ADAPTATIONS. Oh baby, they were quite a treat to watch all close together and really get a feel for the difference and nuances each film decided to go with. Let's go!

__________________________________________

The first one I watched is my favourite of the adaptations. It stars Romola Garai as Emma and Johnny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley. (You can probably guess why this one if my fave now.) I find the mini-series format really worked well for Emma because there is a lot going on and a lot to cover about the characters and storyline. Mr. Elton in this one was also fantastic, especially in the carriage scene at Christmas; he did a great job being creepy af.

Other notable mentions are Michael Gambon as Mr. Woodhouse - an interesting choice that actually worked out not too bad. Robert Bathhurst as Mr. Weston was also a good fit. He played the anxious but boastful father role well.

I watched the newest adaptation from 2020 second. This one was hilarious and really captured the fact that Emma is a comedy. Anya Taylor-Joy is probably my favourite Emma because I just loved to hate her and her smug little face. I do think that Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley wasn't a great fit when compared to Johnny Lee Miller or Jeremy Northam. Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse was so completely amazing that I cannot imagine anyone else as the neurotic patriarch.

The aesthetic of this adaptation reminded me of a Baz Luhrmann film. It felt and looked much like Bridgerton but not sexy and the music was time period appropriate. It was funny and aloof, and kind of cheesy sometimes, but in a good way. Its really hard to describe. Either way, I liked this adaptation.

The last one I watched is the one that actually came out first. I don't like this adaptation even though my celebrity husband, Ewan McGregor, is in it. Even he could not save it. And that probably has A LOT to do with his unfortunate wig. God that thing was awful. He does sing though and that always makes me swoon. I've always said he should release an album, I'd listen to it on repeat the rest of my life. I'm absolutely not kidding either.

I mentioned Jeremy Northam was a good Mr. Knightley already compared to the 2020 film, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Emma is my least favourite casting. I am not a fan. Toni Collette as Harriet Smith was very good, she did a great job with her, and Alan Cumming as Mr. Elton was also noteworthy.

Comparing these adaptations was lots of fun and I was really able to figure out what worked or didn't in each one for me. The thing I love about Austen is that she doesn't often describe her characters in a lot of detail so the casting of the characters can vary quite a bit because the actors mostly just have to get the nuances down and it is not based on if they match the description. I find that is getting to be a really annoying thing in film or television adaptations lately. People will tear a production apart just because a cast member doesn't fit what they thought or pictured the character as in their head, or it doesn't match the written description. Austen allows for significant flexibility and variance in this matter. I like that.