Lizbeth Wrote:
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> I'm fine with the stories, and particularly understand it
> for a shorter story that may not wish to take the
> time to have the characters grow and/or work
> through their faults to find happiness as better
> people. Sometimes it's fine to start from a place
> of perfection. However, I think that it creates a
> story that leans a bit toward the enjoyable but
> bland category, kind of like comfort food, and
> leaves the characters decidedly two dimensional.
The original story is great because the characters are great. Change them too much and not all the plot twists and villains in the world can lift it back to Austen's heights. Character is the key ingredient that makes the central Austen plot unforgettable. Keep the characters and you can write other good plots for them but it does not work so well in reverse. I agree the problem is not so much with physical beauty and shy nobility as it is making Elizabeth Bennet a beauty pursued by many men and Fitzwilliam Darcy a shy, sweet soul whose gruffness is merely misunderstood.
Suppose Austen's story had instead had Jane and Bingley as the main characters. She is beautiful, and he always loved her--and he is a sweet guy. It was only a mistake triggered by the duplicity and/or blindness of others that stood in their way. However, I think that as a storyteller Austen recognized that the more interesting tale, the more surprising twist was in how two people came to know themselves and each other better --a story that could not be told through the characters of Jane and Bingley. They knew almost from the beginning that they wanted each other.
But they were two people kept apart by the machinations of others, sure, it is the stuff of fairy tales and it is an easy story to tell. A lot of P&P fanfiction does exactly that and calls the characters Darcy and Elizabeth. A deft writer can make it interesting or, at least, good comfort food. But Jane and Bingley have a hard row to go in trying to be as compelling as Darcy and Elizabeth.
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> I'm fine with the stories, and particularly understand it
> for a shorter story that may not wish to take the
> time to have the characters grow and/or work
> through their faults to find happiness as better
> people. Sometimes it's fine to start from a place
> of perfection. However, I think that it creates a
> story that leans a bit toward the enjoyable but
> bland category, kind of like comfort food, and
> leaves the characters decidedly two dimensional.
The original story is great because the characters are great. Change them too much and not all the plot twists and villains in the world can lift it back to Austen's heights. Character is the key ingredient that makes the central Austen plot unforgettable. Keep the characters and you can write other good plots for them but it does not work so well in reverse. I agree the problem is not so much with physical beauty and shy nobility as it is making Elizabeth Bennet a beauty pursued by many men and Fitzwilliam Darcy a shy, sweet soul whose gruffness is merely misunderstood.
Suppose Austen's story had instead had Jane and Bingley as the main characters. She is beautiful, and he always loved her--and he is a sweet guy. It was only a mistake triggered by the duplicity and/or blindness of others that stood in their way. However, I think that as a storyteller Austen recognized that the more interesting tale, the more surprising twist was in how two people came to know themselves and each other better --a story that could not be told through the characters of Jane and Bingley. They knew almost from the beginning that they wanted each other.
But they were two people kept apart by the machinations of others, sure, it is the stuff of fairy tales and it is an easy story to tell. A lot of P&P fanfiction does exactly that and calls the characters Darcy and Elizabeth. A deft writer can make it interesting or, at least, good comfort food. But Jane and Bingley have a hard row to go in trying to be as compelling as Darcy and Elizabeth.