01.14.08
Jane Austen’s Persuasion
I haven’t written a post in quite a while, what with the girls wrapping up Oliver, my own choral concerts and the holidays, but I am motivated immediately to post about tonight’s PBS airing of Jane Austen’s Persuasion in a new adaptation for Masterpiece Theatre. What an amazing production! 90 minutes of sheer bliss as Anne Elliot encounters her rejected suitor and they discover their love still burns. As much as I adore Pride & Prejudice, both the novel and of course the BBC miniseries with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, I think Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel. The 1995 BBC production of Persuasion starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds is exquisitely done, and this new one, staring Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones, is a beautiful rendition as well. I think one of the reasons I love Persuasion so much is that Anne Elliot is a mature heroine; on top of that, I think that for an old married lady like myself the theme of love rejuvenated is more resonant than the first-love themes in the other books.
In any case, Masterpiece Theatre is running a “Complete Jane Austen” in the coming weeks, featuring new productions of four books and rebroadcasting the Ehle/Firth Pride and Prejudice and the Kate Beckinsale Emma. I encourage you to curl up on Sunday evenings with what looks to be a terrific set of Austen films!