oh, for the love of...

[tempestsarekind]

Again unlike Austen and what [Griff] Rhys Jones [who has made a documentary about Thomas Hardy] calls her “dry control of the page”, Hardy felt it vital that his stories shouldn’t appear contrived because he believed his “duty was to tell the truth about the world and about human emotions” which means his books “have this incredibly modern feel”. “

Comments

[lareinenoire]

That seems to be a growing trend at least in terms of Austen adaptations -- the 2005 P&P seems to me to exemplify it. Both Elizabeth and Darcy were, for lack of a better term, emo. The contrast between it and the 1995 version in that regard is startling. Sense and Sensibility, of course, tackles that gulf, and both of the adaptations I've seen more or less follow the book in that regard (all Romantic settings aside).

I think people have decided to confuse Austen with the Brontës. It needs to be understood that -- among other things -- they were writing thirty years apart, and the stylistic trends were completely different.

[tempestsarekind]

No, "emo" is exactly right. "You have bewitched me, body and soul"--so not Darcy! Maybe Wentworth, but not Darcy. Which is frustrating; Austen is not the missing Bronte sister! And she shouldn't be seen as *lacking* because she didn't write like them. But for some reason this persists. Maybe it makes an easy tag on articles because people *know* Austen, from all the films, when they might not know Hardy, but it's still irritating.

[lareinenoire]

Speaking of Wentworth, anyone who claims Austen is unemotional obviously hasn't read Persuasion.

I guess Hardy is less well known than Austen at least in terms of film adaptations -- I know lots of people who were forced to read Tess in high school, for instance -- but I sincerely believe comparing him to Austen is completely unhelpful. It would make more sense to me to compare him to Eliot or Dickens or possibly even the Brontës, despite the time gap.

[tempestsarekind]

Yes, especially after the Bleak House adaptation was so popular! The Austen comparison really isn't helpful--but then, they did the same thing with Cranford, I guess because there were women in bonnets in it or something.