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Tumblr crosspost (13 April 2020)
awesomenell65 reblogged this post, and added a comment about how regrettable it is that the Gardiners are so sidelined in adaptation.
I replied:
This, exactly. It’s especially important because of Austen’s enduring preoccupation with the effects of education and upbringing on how people develop and who they become. P&P in particular highlights the failures of parents and parental figures over and over (even Mr Collins has a bad parenting backstory!). The Gardiners are virtually the only exception to this (both w/ their own children and with their influence on Jane and Elizabeth), and their intermittent but persistent presence right up to the last line centers the qualities that are really important in going forward, and undercuts the importance of others, especially class.
Tagged:
#the gardiners are both some of the lowest-ranking characters in the book #and the most purely benevolent #in a way that's not really saccharine at all #but it's... not sure how to put this #but #adaptations are always choosing to foreground certain elements and minimize others in their retellings #this is an inevitable part of adapting things—and /what/ is chosen for each can be very suggestive #beyond just weighing judgment on whether it's faithful / unfaithful #it would be perfectly possible for adaptations to foreground class /more/ than the book does #and instead it's largely diminished and when addressed it's in a super reductionist way #and that reflects a general lack of interest in it that i think particularly influences the treatment of the gardiners and mrs reynolds
I replied:
I think it throws off the balance of who is really important, and what behaviors are being held up as admirable in Austen’s work, in this novel in particular.
This, exactly. It’s especially important because of Austen’s enduring preoccupation with the effects of education and upbringing on how people develop and who they become. P&P in particular highlights the failures of parents and parental figures over and over (even Mr Collins has a bad parenting backstory!). The Gardiners are virtually the only exception to this (both w/ their own children and with their influence on Jane and Elizabeth), and their intermittent but persistent presence right up to the last line centers the qualities that are really important in going forward, and undercuts the importance of others, especially class.
Tagged:
#the gardiners are both some of the lowest-ranking characters in the book #and the most purely benevolent #in a way that's not really saccharine at all #but it's... not sure how to put this #but #adaptations are always choosing to foreground certain elements and minimize others in their retellings #this is an inevitable part of adapting things—and /what/ is chosen for each can be very suggestive #beyond just weighing judgment on whether it's faithful / unfaithful #it would be perfectly possible for adaptations to foreground class /more/ than the book does #and instead it's largely diminished and when addressed it's in a super reductionist way #and that reflects a general lack of interest in it that i think particularly influences the treatment of the gardiners and mrs reynolds