2 posts tagged “wives and daughters”

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Cranford

Cranford
Cranford
Elizabeth Gaskell keeps getting better and better. She knows how to write of the heart without idolizing romance. She is a moral, yet optimistic realist. I don't feel manipulated by guilt trips, sensuality, vilifications or idealism when watching these BBC productions of her works. Daughter Rachel read North and South and said the miniseries is pretty true to the book, but the book fills in more detail, which she enjoyed. Gaskell has an anti-dialectical approach even though some of her characters don't - at first.

Thanks Ana for letting me watch this previously unopened DVD while you are at camp. I think you will enjoy this as much as the other two!
3 comments Tags: romance, books, movie, video, cranford, north and south, gaskell, wives and daughters …

Wives and Daughters

Wives and Daughters
Wives and Daughters

Wives and Daughters, based on the 19th  century novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, who got passed my radar until Matushka Elizabeth's daughters introduced her to me a couple of years ago, impressed me more after viewing it again recently. The first time I saw it I was angrier at the not so respectable characters. This time I saw how her characters are very complex and I noticed subtle redeeming behaviors, such as the development of self control and unselfish motivations that I missed the first time. I find her characters much deeper and well-rounded than Jane Austen's, who can be  caricature-ish and cartoony, but there are similarities in the heroes and heroins. The BBC did a beautiful job making two extended versions of her novels, the other being North and South which to me is a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Dickens' Oliver Twist.

North & South
North & South
I'll be more specific. When Elizabeth Gaskell's characters visit the sick, infirm and poor, they do it out of genuine, respectful mutual friendship with them. When Emma, for example, visits "those less fortunate than herself" it is out of a sense of condescending moral obligation. The latter motivation has started to get on my nerves because not only is it patronizing, but it will burn out the guilt-driven giver  and build resentment which I do not think does anyone any good.

7 comments Tags: victorian, romance, books, england, movies, novels, elizabeth gaskell, north and south …