The Other Bennet Sister Is How We Should Be Making Adaptations

This shouldn’t be a hot take, but if a story like Pride and Prejudice has been turned into an adaptation more than a dozen times, then studios should be looking at other angles to bring to television or movies. The Other Bennet Sister brought people’s interest in the original story back without making it yet another redundant copy.

What’s the point in an adaptation if all its movies and series are all too faithful to the books? It isn’t difficult to find a spectacular adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, many would argue that Pride and Prejudice (2005), starring Keira Knightley and Matthey Macfayden, is superior to the book. Aside from its improved pacing, the fans got the iconic scene of Mr. Darcy clenching his fist after one encounter with Elizabeth—oh, the drama!

But one faithful adaptation is enough. There doesn’t need to be sixteen other adaptations that follow the script to the dot. And although The Other Bennet Sister is technically a fanfic of the original work, it managed to expand the world of the source material the way other adaptations haven’t. More importantly, it touched on other characters who were relegated as footnotes in the original text.

Reimagining characters in The Other Bennet Sister

Aside from Mary, many of the original cast were given depth. They weren’t just antagonists who served as roadblocks to the main character. Instead, their intentions were given nuance—it was another stroke of genius for the latest BBC adaptation.

Mr. Collins, who is often seen as the strange cousin who didn’t care for others, was redeemed in the recent adaptation. He wasn’t just an oddball who cared for no one. Rather, he was a man just as deeply misunderstood as Mary. By the end of it, Mr. Collins and Mary even formed a sort of friendship with each other.

Caroline Bingley, who is portrayed to be an antagonist, managed to make people despise her further. She was already disliked by Jane Austen fans, but the extent of her wickedness was rarely ever maximized. But when she picked on Mary in the show, it became difficult to find any sympathy for Caroline. If it weren’t for her redeeming act in the end, it would have been impossible to forgive her.

Even the Bennet matriarch became a full-fledged anti-hero in the adaptation. She was largely seen as a narcissistic parent in the books and oftentimes called foolish. Who could forget the way she tried to force Elizabeth into marrying Mr. Collins? Arguably, it was just her way of securing her children’s futures. Women in England’s Regency era were severely restricted, after all.

But in The Other Bennet Sister, Mrs. Bennet was shown to be highly critical of Mary. Her intentions were revealed in the end, but none of the sisters in the other movies had ever been faced with the extent of cruelty Mary had in this latest series.

Are modernized takes becoming stale?

If done right and cohesively, modernizing Jane Austen work—or any period classic for that matter—wouldn’t be a problem. A criticism for Emerald Fennel’s Wuthering Heights is that it completely strayed from the book, both plot and era. But the real issue is that it no longer felt like the source material the movie drew from. If it had been a straightforward modern work, maybe one with Catherine and Heathcliff both reincarnated in the modern era, maybe it would have worked.

Taking the plot to the modern era is one way to adapt the story, but it’s not the only way. Sometimes, a change in perspective is all a franchise needs.

(featured image: BritBox)

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.