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19 March 2006
North and South
Over the weekend, I watched upon Karen's recommendation the wonderful BBC mini-series 'North and South' adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell's novel by the same name. The series is set in Industrial England and relates the story of a woman from the more culturally refined and urbane South who moves with her family to the proletarian and working-class North. Comparisons with that other work of near-perfect adaptation, BBC's 1995 presentation of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' are inevitable. Not having read Mrs Gaskell's book, I am somewhat disinclined from commenting on the plot outline but I will however assume that the television series itself hemmed very closely to the book and say that 'North and South' comes across as being deeply influenced by 'Pride and Prejudice' in how the story is developed, the central characters -- an erudite and marriageable young heroine of limited means and income and the proud, wealthy and misunderstood hero -- and how it resolves itself towards the end. This may of course, perhaps have been the theme for most plots in the Victorian Age of literature in England but still seeing as Pride and Prejudice was written in 1813 and North and South in 1854 it does appear to be more than just a coincidence and even probably a case of the latter being influenced and inspired by the former. Needless to say, that is not just condonable but also commendable -- any effort to imbibe some or all of Pride and Prejudice into every subsequent work of literature written ever since is welcome and a favour to the English language; more so than something of the same manner done with Shakespeare's work. At the same time, there are also glaring contrasts which, I would be doing grave injustice to Mrs Gaskell by not mentioning. Austen's work was set in a happier, halcyon time when nobility was perhaps shining brighest before fading away. She chose consciously to focus her writing talents on portraying the social and cultural patterns of the age and away from its radically transforming economic realities whereas Mrs Gaskell wrote her book at a time that was seated just right at the crest of the Industrial Revolution, giving her the perfect vantage point to issue forth critiques on its impact on England and the different cross-sections of the country.Coming to the basics of the television series itself, I was highly impressed by the soundtrack, the art direction and the cinematography -- all brought to light the hardships endured at the cotton mills in nineteenth century England as effectively as they did the steadily maturing romance between Mr Thornton and Ms Hale. The support performances, particularly from Sinéad Cusack as the matriarch of the Thornton household, were extremely apt and well done. Daniela Denby-Ashe played Margaret Hale bringing to the character the demure, restrained and fragile charm a lady of the South is expected to display as well as the upstanding, firm of conviction and compassionate spirit of fraternity a woman of the North acquires in her time spent in the midst of penury and struggle for everyday existence. Richard Armitage playing John Thornton, the master of the Marlborough mill, seemed -- as I thought was the case even with Colin Firth's Mr Darcy -- a little too handsome for the part though he made up for his good looks with all the glowering rage and fiery passion for Ms Hale in his eyes.
In all, not having seen 'Pride and Prejudice' for a while (and having rectified it immediately the day after), I was quite satisfied with its Industrial-age cousin.
