Recently, I started reading “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen.
I’m a fan of classic literature through and through, but there are times I struggle to understand what is being said. That’s when I rely on researching to make sure I’m grasping what the book’s meaning is.
Usually, I use sites that come up when I search the book. This usually means things like SparkNotes and Wikipedia. Sometimes, I’ll go through these sites and make sure I understand what’s going on.
Then, there’s something that makes “Pride and Prejudice” stand out.
“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is a modern adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice.” This series has been adapted in order to fit modern times in many different ways— from what roles the Bennet sisters have in their story. Elizabeth, the main character of the novel, is a communications graduate student who still lives at home with her parents and two sisters, Jane and Lydia.
The new adaptation also has diversified the cast some by expanding the ethnicities portrayed, along with the roles of the women in the story, like Lizzie being a graduate student and her older sister, Jane, being a fashion designer.
But what makes this adaptation stand out even more compared to other adaptations is that it’s in the form of vlogs.
Vlogs or vlogging is video blogs and video blogging. Vlogs can be uploaded to YouTube for viewers to watch regularly. Vlogs are also accompanied by links that are related to the videos, along with text.
In three- to four-minute videos, Lizzie Bennet talks about what is going on her life, which is the main plot from “Pride and Prejudice,” along with the sideplots of her friends and family.
The videos follow along well with the book, if you’re both binge watching and reading. It doesn’t take much to get caught up in either.
It’s not like watching a novel being turned into a movie, where parts of the book are either taken out completely or altered to the point where it’s not an actual part of the novel. It’s like reading the book, but with a modern twist to it.
With other mediums like this that follow the book well, don’t hesitate to read a classic novel. Not understanding a novel shouldn’t happen when we have the ability to get the tools to understand online. It’s even better when it’s something as good as a novel turned into 100 three-minute-long vlogs. Do a little research, see what you can find online. It’s pretty worth it.
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