Bride and Prejudice

August 28, 2008
Melissa Brooks
Bride and Prejudice
Director Gurinder Chadha

As I was watching Bride and Prejudice (B & P), I kept picking out its similarities to Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Some of the names are consistent between the two, such as Darcy and Wickham, and every main character in B & P is closely modeled after a character in the novel. Lalita, of course, is based on Elizabeth Bennet, and her sister Lakhi is based on Elizabeth's sister Lydia. Lakhi and Lydia both fawn over a deceptive Wickham, although both Wickhams initially take interest in Lalita and Elizabeth. Lakhi and Lydia both also run off with their respective Wickams. Noticing the ongoing similarities, I never forgot I was watching a movie. Films that aren't spoofs off popular novels, such as American History X, allow me to forget I'm watching a film and allow me to accept the characters as real people. Parroting lines and circumstances from Pride and Prejudice, B & P constantly reminds us that the film isn't real. We can't suspend our disbelief because B & P's intertexuality irrevocably links the film to a fictitious text in our culture.