Back To the Middle Age

Today we watched the movie "Pride and Prejudice" with some Malaysian friends, on a whim. The riveting show set our imagination in motion almost immediately as the story began in an obscure village Netherfield.The background music of piano solo was too brilliant to hypnotize us. In consequence, we sat there watching the whole show and munching on cereals without yawning until late at night we found our necks were too stiff to turn properly.

Pride and Prejudice has always been one of my favourite literary pieces. Despite its old-fashioned usage of language, I still find myself extremely partial to it. In that era characters lived an old way of life, simple and sweet, with treachery not so detrimental, and love not so fierce and passionate, which was of great contrast to the Jazz Age, when people had unrealistic "American Dreams", their backyard gardens stinking of the smell of gin and vodka, and frivolous laughters hovering over their houses till late night. Comparing with the modern age, people in this novel lived a far too sweet life, a life more alluring, attractive and imagination-provoking.

In the time when women had to wear bonnets and high hats and men had to behave like gentlemen, there were not so many varieties of rituals. Lower castes performed curtesy to their higher counterparts and mothers felt proud if their daughters were married at a young age. Sewing, cooking and picking flowers made up the daily life of a normal rustic girl while receiving a letter from a messager usually meant bad news. For an ordinary household, having the opportunity to partake in a high-class dancing party was enough to blow their young ladies' minds. To those who were better-off, ball parties became their peculiar way to relish a cultured and socialised life.

That is why almost all romance in 19th century novels began in ball parties. If a casual encounter was not enough to bring two parts together, then a well-composed invitation and the magnanimous manner of the host might well set a young girl's imagination in motion. On one angle, this kind of story was quite cliche, but Pride and Prejudice stands out and makes a masterpiece due to Jane Austen's superb writing skills and great empathy with characters, which set silent pulses in every reader's heart.

The 2005 edition movie with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy can be seen as the best one to transfer the message of the literature piece. Though my first impression towards Miss Elizabeth was not very promising, I soon found that she the most prominent actress in the whole show with her motherly look and angelic smiles that send warmth down into one's heart, comparing with her meek, compliant sister Jane, stoic, book-addicted Mary, opportunistic Kitty and her most frivolous younger sister, Lydia. Miss Elizabeth is surly the most rational person in the movie and she displayed her amiable and understanding nature to a degree that no one might dislike her, even her marriage-oriented and shortsight mother cannot deny her good traits. However, she is not the good-good girl who restrain to herself and take in everything, oblige everyone. She is headstrong, adamant and brave whenever her personal happiness and family fame is concerned.

Mr Darcy played by Colin Firth, on the other hand, add more colour to this classic movie. Featured for his steely gaze and stern face, he is a piece of ice with hissing flame burning inside. His kindness made him overcome his prejudice to wipe out Mr Wickham's debts in one stroke. Moreover, his fidelity and unwaverly quest towards Miss Elizabeth draped the movie with heartwarming elements that make it a must-watch. When the two happy pairs finally held a quartet wedding together and the holy oath resonated in the church, we all clapped for them, hoping our benediction could eternize their bliss that they had searched for such a long time.

Watching "Pride and Prejudice" was like taking a long journey back to the Middle Age, reliving the scenes when ladies put flowers in their willow baskets, gentlemen sat straight smiling on their birch-bark furniture, and ladies and gentlemen had such exciting journeys before they recognized each other as their soulmates.