Jane Austen as RomCom

Um, yeah, so how is, uh, Pride and Prejudice going?

Great. Um, I'm big— I believe I'm starting chapter 15, so I read from 8 to 15 this week.

You are a little bit ahead of me. I just got the note this morning where you were, so I think I got 13 where, um, they're going back to, uh, their parents. Elizabeth's going back to her parents' place, right? But yeah, so since I don't know the chapters you read, we'll stick with the ones I read, which are most of the same.

Okay.

What do you make of what's going on, you know, up till when Elizabeth goes back home?

Well, I thought, and I kind of know what— remember last time you were like, oh, it's kind of funny, it's like comedic, and I didn't really understand. But now I think I understand a little bit. Or I think you compared it to like rom-com. And yes, I think it's a rom-com now because just because of the way Darcy and Elizabeth was interacting. And just as a side note, I always get the characters' names confused because I mix up Bennet and Bingley for one, and then I mix up Mrs. and Miss. So if I mess that up a little bit while I'm talking, my bad. But that's why I was having a hard time with that because they don't just use names.

No, that's okay. But of course you're right. Darcy and Elizabeth are where most of the action is. Yeah, for sure. Everyone else is sort of a side figure. But yeah, tell me more about the rom-com dynamic that you're perceiving.

I think you could say that they were flirting in a couple scenes. I mean, at least like jokingly teasing each other. That's what I thought. I don't really know what flirting is, but that's, you know. First of all, I did obviously reach the part where you said that Elizabeth was going to be mentioned as a great reader.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I know, speak— I mean, just on the subject of reading, I know there was also a scene where Elizabeth had gone somewhere, I forgot where, but then one of the Bingley sisters— I forgot her name, it was either Kitty or the other one, Linda— uh, she wants to try and like make Elizabeth— because she sees that Darcy is like liking Elizabeth, so she's like trying to make Elizabeth seem bad by like insulting her when she's out of the room, which I thought was like Like, that's like a mean girl thing, right? Gossip mean girl thing, which I thought was pretty cool. Not cool, but funny.

Yeah.

And there's a scene where her and Darcy are sitting down and he's reading a book and she's pretending to read a book. And I just, I think the funniest part of that scene was that the book she's reading, pretending to read, is the second book in the series that he's reading. So like, she obviously doesn't want to read that. She's just sitting there for him because she wants to seem cool. And then while they're reading, she's like insulting Elizabeth at the same time, which is really funny.

It is funny. It is funny. So I'm glad you're getting it. So let's back up and what is the dynamic? How would you describe the plot lines of a rom-com? What makes— are there any generalizations you can make about what makes something into a romantic comedy?

Well, there's got to be the romance. So I guess in this case, it's Elizabeth and Darcy. And like, and then the side characters, which are, um, Mr. Bingley, his sisters, um, Elizabeth's parents and her sister. This is, I think, sisters, but you, you really only see Jane, I think. Um, and then there's the tension between the couple, which is, uh, um, Elizabeth and Darcy. No, Darcy hated did not like Elizabeth in the beginning, but it's starting to like her. And Elizabeth is still resistant to the fact that she— because she— I think she notices that like he's looking at her more. I think there was a scene where she did notice that he was looking at her, but she assumed that it was out of contempt or something for something she said. And she was like, oh, how dare he. I don't like him. I mean, yeah, I don't like him even more. Which is like the complete— she's giving completely wrong signals, which is bad.

But, you know, um, yeah, no, I'm glad you're getting all that. So why do you think tension is important between the characters? Why? I mean, what I could imagine, one version of a romance where, you know, it's kind of love at first sight and, um, you know, happily ever after and voilà. Why all this dynamic of Darcy and Elizabeth's kind of annoying each other and, you know, that kind of thing?

Because that would not be interesting. Um, I mean, it would be satisfying if it was just like love at first sight, happy ever after, but, um, in most rom-coms, if that happens in like the first scene, then later on they're gonna have an argument or a fight or something, or something happens. Um, so I don't think it's ever going to be like that.

Got it. So the tension is part of what makes the narrative of the story interesting.

Yeah.

Um, and do you think that Darcy is more clear that he likes Elizabeth, or is Elizabeth more clear that she likes Darcy, or they both at this point kind of dislike each other? How, how do you kind of feel out the extent to which they like each other?

I think, um, well, Elizabeth doesn't like Darcy from what I could tell, but Darcy is beginning to like Elizabeth, and it's like not thinking so badly of her anymore and actually disliking that he's liking her this much. I think, um, there was a point in time where he mentioned that or thought that, um, and that's why he was not fighting them going back to their parents early, because he was— he didn't like how much she was staring at Elizabeth. I think that was it. Um, but so I think it's mostly Darcy. So thinking romance at this point.

Why, why, or how is Darcy going to win over Elizabeth? Or do you think one outcome could be that Darcy will give up on Elizabeth?

Maybe, but I think the only way that could happen is him thinking, oh man, I'm liking her too much, I should stop. But he's not going to stop because that's how these types of narratives work, in my opinion. Um, I don't think that's going to happen. Um, But I think it could go two ways. I think he's gonna keep, like, realizing— like, it's going to take a long time. Like, eventually, in, like, the last chapter or whatever, the second to last chapter, he's gonna realize, oh my gosh, I'm in love with her, I'm in love with her, I don't know what to do. Or Elizabeth's gonna start liking him too, because I don't know how that's gonna happen. He seems pretty snobby to her at this point.

But got it. And just to make it explicit then, um, is it fair to say part of what happens in rom-com is the couple gets together in end. That's part of what—

part of it.

So there's kind of this tension early on, or maybe you said could be love at first sight but then tension, um, but then at the end it gets resolved and it's happily ever after.

I hope so.

You'll be disappointed in Jane Austen if she doesn't do that for you.

Yeah, yeah. I think they'd make a great couple.

Why do you think they'd make a great couple?

Uh, they both like reading and they're both pretty witty and Smart.

So why are we not rooting for— is it Miss Bingley? Miss Bingley is the one, uh, because she seems like the bad guy.

Well, I don't like in the story, but I know she's really not.

But yeah, why, why do you— what makes her seem like the bad guy?

Because she's purposefully insulting Elizabeth in front of Mr. Darcy. And I think everyone who— at least me, but I hope everyone who has read the book at this point likes Elizabeth, so they don't like the fact that the sister is doing that to her, which makes her seem like the bad guy, even though she's just another character really. She's not really the bad guy.

Got it.

Something like that.

No, it's interesting, you know, how when you're writing, um, you know, you're right, it's perfectly clear that we're supposed to like Elizabeth and perfectly clear we're not supposed to like Miss Bingley.

Yes.

Um, and why, why should we be liking Elizabeth? What makes Elizabeth the kind of heroine of the story or protagonist?

Other, other than her personality, like, oh, she's smart and she likes to read and she's nice and she's kind and she has like big emotions that are interesting, um, I'm not too sure. Maybe it's because like we really, really want Darcy and Elizabeth to get to it, to get together, so no matter what, we're gonna like Elizabeth. At this point, but I'm not really sure besides that.

Um, is there any sense in which Elizabeth is kind of overly harsh or critical or rude of Darcy? And why can't Elizabeth just be nicer to Darcy?

Uh, I'm not sure that she's overly critical because first, because of their first impression. Like, the first impression wasn't— what, didn't he like insult her? Like, to her— not really to her face, but like, he knew that she could— yeah, basically. He knew that she could hear. Um, so I wouldn't get over that for a really long time.

I see. So, so it's entirely— Elizabeth's harsh attitude towards Darcy is entirely justified then?

I think so. At this point, it hasn't been too long, I think, right?

I think it's less than a week, I think.

Yeah, exactly.

So, so in which case, why do you think Darcy— was Darcy just clumsy and stupid, uh, in terms of why did he behave that way in front of her?

Um, I, I'm— I forgot the exact, um, like, dialogue and emotions in that scene, but, um, he didn't want to dance. I know he didn't want to dance that night, and then when Bingley suggested he dance with Elizabeth, that like made him kind of offended, especially because at the time he thought that she was like lowly, I think. Yeah, I think he said she's too plain, you know, and now he's like, oh, her eyes.

Yeah, exactly. So, um, yeah, was it just— do you think it was just a stupid excuse not to dance, or that he didn't find her attractive, or that he didn't find her worthy of him, or, or just, yeah, just stupid? And why did he do that?

I think because of his feelings for not wanting to dance, he was like biased on his opinion, especially if— because he only saw her for like a glance, basically, really. Um, but then after those emotions, like went away and now he's dead and he was like, oh shoot, messed up. So something like that.

Do you think that Elizabeth should forgive him for that slight?

Well, she doesn't have any reason not to, so I don't think she should. If I mean, well, I'm not sure that I think that, but if I was in her position, I would not. So I'm going to go with that.

Well, I think you said last time, one of the earlier times, that you would have a big grudge against him.

I would, yeah.

So what is it going to take for him to overcome that grudge?

Do something better to overcome that grudge. I mean, uh, do something that would, um, eclipse the bad thing. I think—

is paying attention to her in the way he's paying attention to her going in the right direction for Elizabeth?

No, because she thinks that he's like insulting her in his mind because of their first interaction. He hasn't really shown any other emotion. Besides like playfully arguing with her about something, books or something. But she probably saw that as like contempt too.

Well, without going farther, is it fair to say you are enjoying Pride and Prejudice?

Yes. Yeah, for sure.

Okay. Give me a little bit more heads up on how far you've read because I'm a little bit behind now. I'll keep up with you. So it's okay.

I'm sure you're catching up. You're fast.

Yeah, but we'll text next Saturday, see how far we are. Okay. And then I can read Saturday evening, Sunday. All right. Sounds good. Have fun. Bye-bye, Ilana.

Thank you. You're welcome.

Bye.