The Lizzie Bennet Diaries is a YouTube adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and it is absolutely brilliant. It features Lizzie Bennet as a communications graduate student who is running a vlog as a project for one of her classes, and later for her thesis. Through this vlog she chronicles her life for about a year. Here are 10 reasons why everybody should watch it!
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries has everything that fans love about the original Pride and Prejudice
The series stays as true to the plot of the original book as possible considering that it takes place in 2012. Though there are obvious changes, and a few character cuts, (for example, Kitty Bennet is simply Lydia’s cat in this adaptation), the vast majority of the plot is adhered to, often in surprising and clever ways.
It adds new depth, twists, and plot points to the original story, so even fans of the book will find surprises
I actually watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries long before reading Pride and Prejudice, but several people I’ve introduced it to have been very surprised by the twists put on different character’s, especially Lydia’s, arcs. There’s the added layer of complexity that comes with somebody spilling details of their life on the internet without the people they’re talking about knowing, which is especially important when it comes to Lizzie and Darcy’s relationship. Additionally, there are just additional smaller subplots that add depth to the overall story, and make the world feel more complex.
However, you don’t need to have read the book to enjoy and love it.
As I said above, I actually watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries in 8th grade and had not yet read Pride and Prejudice, and I still loved it. They actually drove me to read the original book, and I think they could do that for other people too. This is especially the case for people who have issues connecting to characters in classical books, since I think modern adaptations can help to bridge the gap and help people relate to the original characters more.
The casting is phenomenal
Ashley Clements is a perfect Elizabeth Bennet, and retains all of the original character’s wit, confidence, and intelligence. However, she also brings a layer of self-evaluation to the character that helps to make her feel more like a person. Daniel Vincent Gordh is an excellent Mr. Darcy despite not appearing for the first half of the series, and has the perfect combination of social awkwardness and eventual charm for the role.
They add diversity to the characters to make it applicable to the new setting
The Bingley siblings become Bing and Caroline Lee (the elder sister and her husband are cut), Charlotte Lucas becomes Charlotte Lu, and Colonel Fitzwilliams becomes Fitz Williams, a gay black man. These are all simple changes, but are key in making the story feel true to its new setting.
All of the minor characters get more depth and focus, and are given their own perspectives and story arcs
This is the most important with Lydia, whose character in the original book is essentially completely unlikeable and one-dimensional. That is obviously changed in the series, and she has a lot more depth and chance to show her perspective of the story. Charlotte Lu has a lot more screen-time than she gets in the book, and both she and Jane have more of a defined character arc than they have in the original book. They also managed to make Bing Lee an interesting character, which is a feat that I didn’t think would ever be possible.
It’s really funny!
Mary Kate Wiles is fantastic as an over-energetic and enthusiastic Lydia. Additionally, Lizzie often makes use of “costume theatre” where she and others dress up in simplified costumes, such as a bow tie and newsie hat for Darcy, and flower for Jane, or a ridiculous hat and shawl for Mrs. Bennet, to reenact situations that don’t happen on camera, and these reenactments are often hilarious, particularly those involving her parents.
The episodes are very short, ranging from 4-8 minutes, so it’s easy to watch the series in short bursts.
I can’t promise you won’t get sucked into binge-watching the series for about 7 hours, but if you have the self control to stop, than the episodes are the perfect length for watching in between doing things, so it doesn’t feel like as much of a commitment as a TV series would.
There are many auxiliary components to the universe beyond just the 100 videos on Lizzie’s channel
The most important and interesting components are the other YouTube channels run by other characters. Lydia runs a blog during certain sections of the series that is key to understanding her perspective and to showing the reasoning behind her actions. Additionally, Maria Lu (Charlotte’s younger sister), and Gigi (Georgiana) Darcy have videos during certain parts of the series that help to show what is going on with other characters. All of the characters also ran social media accounts during the run of the series, and you can still go back and read them in order with where they fell in the videos to better understand what they were all doing while not on screen.
There are also companion books! The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet follows diary entries from Lizzie throughout the run of the videos and provides background into certain things that aren’t covered in the main series. I only just read it last month, even though I’d watched the series 4-5 times previously, and it definitely added more depth to my view of the series. There’s also The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet, which follows her after the events of the series, which I have not read but am planning to at some point.
Beyond just The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, other series take place in the same universe!
The same company that made The Lizzie Bennet Diaries also made Emma Approved and Welcome to Sanditon, which are adaptations of Emma and Sanditon respectively, and both series have crossover appearances from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Emma Approved has appearances from Caroline Lee and Mr. Collins, and Welcome to Sanditon features Gigi (Georgiana) Darcy prominently.
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