KatelynEssay

Katelyn May Dr. Matthew Hartman ENG 425 15 July 2013 Pride and Prejudice: Politeness vs. Passion The 2005 movie, Pride and Prejudice, is just one adaption of the famous Jane Austen novel, and also happens to be one of my favorite stories of all time. The story is set in Georgian England and follows a young woman, Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters, mother, and father in Hartfordshire, England. As the time period dictates, in order to support the family, the mother, Mrs. Bennet, spends every waking moment preoccupied with making a good marriage for the girls. When two wealthy gentlemen, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, come to Hartforshire, Mr. Bingley falls in love with the oldest daughter, Jane, but Mr. Darcy, who comes off as snobbish, is disliked by the family, most of all strong-willed Elizabeth. Slow to trust the modest Jane, Darcy convinces Bingley that she does not love him and they leave the town. Mr. Darcy, on the other hand, falls in love with Elizabeth, “against his better judgment.” Elizabeth, however, has a prejudice against him as he appears to be a snob and because a story she heard from his enemy, Mr. Wickham, one that Mr. Darcy ignored his father’s wishes for Wickham to inherit money after he died. Believing these things, Elizabeth has sworn to loathe him eternally. The scene I am focusing on is a scene in which Elizabeth has just heard of what Mr. Darcy has done in separating Mr. Bingley and her sister Jane, and has fled to a private sanctuary among the trees to collect her bearings. Little did she know that Mr. Darcy followed her in order to confess his love for her and ask her to marry him. The confrontation that follows is one of passion and raw emotions, and acts as a turning point in the movie. ** The rawness of emotion and confession in the scene is depicted through elements of mise-en-scene, editing techniques, and cinematography, which all come together to enhance the moment and make it unlike any previous scene in the movie in order to showcase it even further as a pivotal moment in the overall plot. **

The mise-en-scene of this scene establishes the passion of the moment through lighting, depth, costume, setting, and performance. The scene begins with an extreme long shot of Elizabeth running across a bridge in the rain. This shot establishes the circumstances: that Elizabeth is so upset after hearing what Mr. Darcy did, that she needs to escape and go somewhere to think, even if it is dark and raining. The scene doesn't show the entire structure of where she ran to until the end, but we understand that she is under some kind of stone structure, out by herself (or so she thinks) in the vast wilderness. The lighting of the scene is natural and this is common throughout the movie. However, the darkness of this particular scene is unique to the movie up to this point, as it is more low-key than the rest of the film, and conveys the dark or dramatic tone of the scene. The fact that it is raining also makes the tone dark, and also contributes to the rawness of emotion because the characters feel so strongly that they don’t care that they are out in the dark and rain. The setting of the scene—a secluded area under a structure that is “curtained in” by rain—contributes to the passion and intimacy of the moment as it is a moment of confession for both of the characters, and the rain curtain provides a rare moment of privacy for them. The depth of the scene stands out from other scenes in the movie, because there is a shallow depth of field behind the characters, as they are higher up and distant from the nature behind them, as well being curtained in by the rain which makes the background hazy. This works well with the close-ups of their faces, as the character’s emotions stand out, and not necessarily their surroundings. Another element is the costumes, namely, the dark color of their clothes, and their wet hair and faces. Their clothes match the color of the trees behind them, and they seem to blend in with the wild nature around them, as opposed to the pretty pastels and lighter colors the women wear in previous parts of the movie. The wetness of their clothes and hair makes them appear disheveled and not put together, which deepens the meaning of the confessional and honest moment. They seem to be wilder, more instintual, and more able to convey their true feelings. Performance was another element that contributed to the passion and rawness of the scene. As the argument escalated, and the angrier one of the characters got, the closer they stepped to the other. This performance portrayed the tension in both characters in two contrasting emotions, sexual and anger. This performance culminates in the end when they get so close at the end of their argument that they almost kiss, which amps the passion and complex feelings the characters confess in the scene.

The editing and cinematography of the film worked together to help portray the argument as fast-paced and passionate. The editing of the scene helps to facilitate the quickness of the scene because the continuity editing techniques portray a fast-paced argument. The alternating over-the-shoulder shots help to convey their proximity to one another as well as the pace of the argument. One technique that I thought helped convey the fast-paced, angry confessions was the times when the camera would not show one of the characters responding, but instead keep the camera on the same person for the other’s off-screen response. A cinematography technique that worked well with the editing and performance was the unsteady camera movement used throughout the entire scene, except for the extreme long shots, which were steady. This unsteady movement is not used in any other part of the movie. This portrays the unsteady emotions of the characters, and the rawness of the confessions of the two characters, which is so unlike the picturesque and polite tone of the previous scenes in the film. Another cinematography technique that worked with editing was subject-camera distance. As I said in the performance, the characters would step closer to one another the angrier they got, or when the other would strike a nerve in the other. This paired with the camera getting closer to the character’s faces whenever they would get closer to each other, was a way of enhancing the verisimilitude of the scene, as the over-the-shoulder also seemed to be point-of-view shots. For example, the scene starts with Elizabeth in an extreme long shot, and then goes to a long shot when Darcy finds Elizabeth under the structure. He walks up to her in a point-of-view shot until it is a medium shot, and gives his confession of love to her. Elizabeth responds with her outrage at him breaking up her sister and Bingley, and when the argument escalates to Darcy offending her family’s name, Elizabeth takes a step closer to a medium close-up shot. The alternating shots show a slightly lower angle when looking at Elizabeth, and a slightly higher angle when looking at Darcy, to portray the points-of-view of the characters. When Elizabeth brings up the touchy topic of Mr. Wickham, it is Darcy’s turn to have a nerve struck, and he takes a step closer to her. As the argument ensues, Elizabeth counters his first confession with a harsh one of her own—that he was the last man she would want to ever marry. Despite the outburst, they seem to almost kiss. This shows the tension and instinctual qualities that they both show in this scene, that seem to be brought out by the argument. Instead of kissing Elizabeth, Darcy becomes falsely cordial, and turns away to leave, returning the distance between the two as in the beginning. When cordiality and politeness returns, distance also returns, and Elizabeth is even more confused than ever by her feelings. The ending shot of the scene is again an extreme long shot of Elizabeth alone under the structure. She is small, and this portrays her loneliness and confusion by seeming small and fragile in the shot. This scene captures the essence of the movie’s time period—where politeness and appearance were very highly valued—and acts as the first honest moment in the story and the lives of the characters. This scene is when the first aspects of the Elizabeth and Darcy’s pride and prejudices are confessed and explored, and the portrayal of the scene furthered this meaning. The darkness, rain, seclusion, camera movement and editing all came together to make a scene unlike any other scene in the movie, so that not only does the dialogue stand out as marking this confessional turning point in the story, but the visual aspects were there as well to mark this turn and make it that much more rich, engaging, and believable for the viewer.

Works Cited

//Pride and Prejudice//. Dir. Joe Wright. Focus Features, 2005. Film.