This week marks the 200th Anniversary of Jane Austens classic novel, Pride and Prejudice. To celebrate we spoke to Scholastic author and diehard Austen fan Elizabeth Eulberg, who gave the beloved story a fresh, funny, new spin in her novel Prom & Prejudice (ages 13 and up). In a very special guest post, Eulberg shares why she decided to take on Pride and Prejudice and how an author updates a classic. Take it away, Elizabeth!
Like a fine wine or George Clooney, Pride & Prejudice keeps getting better with age. What is it about Jane Austens novel that makes it so timeless? Ive always been a fan of Miss Austen and her work, but it wasnt until I set off to do Prom & Prejudice, a modern retelling, that I truly realized how brilliant Pride & Prejudice is.
When doing a retelling you have to break the original book down to its core and then build it back up again with your own take on the characters and twists. I enjoyed immersing myself so much into her world that it wasnt until the eve of Prom & Prejudices publication that I thought, You idiot! Why would you tackle one of the most beloved novels of all time? Im not the first (or even the hundredth) person to do a retelling of Pride & Prejudice, but the groundwork that Miss Austen laid for novelists is at the core of why I believe her novel is still so beloved two hundred years after its publication.
Love: As the Beatles once said, All You Need Is Love and Pride & Prejudice has arguably one of the greatest love stories of all time. Its part of human nature to want to be loved. To find that one person who completes you as a person. But back the early 1800s England, marriage most often was a business arrangement. Then comes Elizabeth Bennet who isnt willing to marry for the sake of a dowry. She wants love, and I dont think theres a single reader who isnt cheering for her.
Humor: While Pride & Prejudice is a romantic book, its also very, very funny. The exchanges between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are better than most sitcom banter. Weve all had that one family member who just cant stop embarrassing you in public (Im now wondering as I type if Im my familys Lydia). And then theres Mr. Collins. Who hasnt been stuck in a conversation at a party with someone who just drones on and on (and on
)? Its these been there moments that also make the book extremely relatable, even though we live avery differentlife than in Austens day.
Elizabeth Eulberg, courtesy of Liz Ligon
Two words: Mr. Darcy The stiff, humorless guy who turns out to have the biggest of hearts. Ill admit to being turned off by a guy within the first few minutes of a date and think, give him another chance, he might be a Darcy. (Spoiler alert: hes not.) But Miss Austen has given women the greatest gift of hoping for someone like Darcy: someone loyal and kind. And good looking (Helloooooo Colin Firth). He will forever be the standard to which all fictional suitors are based on. Oh, okay, real ones as well.
Its been three years since I tackled this classic novel, and every time I talk about it or write about it, Im once again astonished about the new insights that come from it. People will still be talking about Pride & Prejudice in two hundred years, and two hundred after that. Its the gift that keeps on giving. That is the greatest compliment any author could get. And Miss Austen is one of the best.
So on behalf of readers everywhere, happy 200th anniversary, Miss Austen! Thank you for writing such a brilliant, funny, charming book. Thank you creating such real characters, especially Mr. Darcy. Because it always, always comes back to Darcy.
Elizabeth Eulberg is the author of The Lonely Hearts Club,Prom & Prejudice, a retelling of Pride & Prejudice, and Take a Bow. Her newest novel The Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality will publish in March 2013. Eulberg lives in Hoboken, New Jersey. You can find her online at www.elizabetheulberg.com and on Twitter @ElizEulberg.
