The Buccaneers
Has anyone else seen The Buccaneers? It's a 1995 BBC miniseries, not about pirates at all, but based on Edith Wharton's novel about four American girls who went to England to snag noble husbands, succeeded, and then - this being Wharton - suffered. Everyone suffers a lot in Wharton, particularly people silly enough to get married.
But actually the series is far less dour than that makes it sound: the girls seem far less emotionally isolated than Wharton characters often are, and they try to look out for each other. (I particularly liked Annabel's relationship with her governess-turned-friend Miss Testvalley, because Annabel's so horrified by the idea of getting a governess and then completely adores her.) Unfortunately none of them are experienced enough to recognize the warning signs that a man, despite being a nobleman, is actually a terrible match.
The nineties had plenty of historical fiction with ham-handed feminist critiques of the past (often put in the mouth of our spunky tomboy heroine), so I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate hand The Buccaneers took toward criticizing the social structures that trap our heroines. They very much go for show-don't-tell, which I think works so much better than inserting social commentary: there's less chance for the show to create an explicit comparison between the past and now, which is not only usually obnoxiously self-congratulatory, but also breaks the sense of immersion.
And this is a show that's worth getting immersed in, because the sets and the food (oh my goodness the food) and the costumes are all lovely. Conchita gets the best dresses, but all four girls get some stunners, and they also spend a great deal of time walking through bucolic countryside having picnics etc. etc.
I'm actually super curious to read the book now, never mind that reading Wharton is generally something I regret. I'm just so curious to see what, if anything, the TV series changed from the book. BBC miniseries are usually fairly faithful, but the girls all get endings that are, if not happy, at least not hopelessly miserable, and that just seems so un-Wharton.
But maybe it's just that without Wharton's narrative voice to tell us that these events are actually steeped in despair, it's easier to read it as partially positive when characters make compromises that net them some if not all of what they want. The events are the same, but the presentation is different. For instance, Virginia's tentative reconciliation with her husband seems vaguely hopeful in the miniseries, but a different creator could easily cast it as a collapse into despair: she forgives, yet again, the philanderer who married her for her money, because she is unable to envision any better future.
...Actually, I've just gone to look it up on Wikipedia, and it appears that Wharton didn't finish the novel before she died. Therefore the series creators had the chance to give everyone decent endings, and took it with both hands.
But actually the series is far less dour than that makes it sound: the girls seem far less emotionally isolated than Wharton characters often are, and they try to look out for each other. (I particularly liked Annabel's relationship with her governess-turned-friend Miss Testvalley, because Annabel's so horrified by the idea of getting a governess and then completely adores her.) Unfortunately none of them are experienced enough to recognize the warning signs that a man, despite being a nobleman, is actually a terrible match.
The nineties had plenty of historical fiction with ham-handed feminist critiques of the past (often put in the mouth of our spunky tomboy heroine), so I was pleasantly surprised by the delicate hand The Buccaneers took toward criticizing the social structures that trap our heroines. They very much go for show-don't-tell, which I think works so much better than inserting social commentary: there's less chance for the show to create an explicit comparison between the past and now, which is not only usually obnoxiously self-congratulatory, but also breaks the sense of immersion.
And this is a show that's worth getting immersed in, because the sets and the food (oh my goodness the food) and the costumes are all lovely. Conchita gets the best dresses, but all four girls get some stunners, and they also spend a great deal of time walking through bucolic countryside having picnics etc. etc.
I'm actually super curious to read the book now, never mind that reading Wharton is generally something I regret. I'm just so curious to see what, if anything, the TV series changed from the book. BBC miniseries are usually fairly faithful, but the girls all get endings that are, if not happy, at least not hopelessly miserable, and that just seems so un-Wharton.
But maybe it's just that without Wharton's narrative voice to tell us that these events are actually steeped in despair, it's easier to read it as partially positive when characters make compromises that net them some if not all of what they want. The events are the same, but the presentation is different. For instance, Virginia's tentative reconciliation with her husband seems vaguely hopeful in the miniseries, but a different creator could easily cast it as a collapse into despair: she forgives, yet again, the philanderer who married her for her money, because she is unable to envision any better future.
...Actually, I've just gone to look it up on Wikipedia, and it appears that Wharton didn't finish the novel before she died. Therefore the series creators had the chance to give everyone decent endings, and took it with both hands.