Why I fail as an Austenite

[litlover12]

I've finished another viewing of the 1995 P&P, which I love. But oh, how the second proposal scene bugs me. And it bugs me that it bugs me. Because I don't want it to bug me. It's very sweet and the actors are terrific and their facial expressions are all that could be desired. But they don't kiss, and they don't touch -- they look away from each other and keep walking! It drives me NUTS! I'm going "Kiss her! Kiss her!!" like that nosy old man in It's a Wonderful Life. I know this is Austen and she's prim and proper to the nth degree, and the whole thing is true to her vision, but for heaven's sake. . . . couldn't they at least hold hands?

Of course, it's not much better than what happens in the book. I love Austen, I really do. She was a genius and many of her books are right up there among my favorites. But her love scenes are just so . . . unsatisfying.

Comments

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I must also align myself against you... I like the severe restraint. I don't pretend to know enough about history to say whether it's accurate, but it's a fascinating glimpse into another version of romance.

Have you ever read Louisa May Alcott's evasion of a love scene in An Old-Fashioned Girl?

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love "An Old-Fashioned Girl"!! It was one of my favorite books growing up. I don't remember that love scene being quite as evasive as Austen, though my memory may be faulty. I'll have to go dig the book out again. (And when I was a kid, I was more squeamish about kissing scenes then I am now, so I probably didn't care if it WAS evasive. :-) )

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

Oh, Alcott is much more warm-blooded than Austen, it's more a tasteful fade-to-black than an evasion--when Tom declares himself he actually holds out his arms, and Polly falls into them "without a word." Still, I couldn't help thinking of what Alcott writes after that:

"Never mind what happened for a little bit. Love scenes, if genuine, are indescribable, for to those who have enacted them, the most elaborate description seems tame, and to those who have not, the simplest picture seems overdone. So romancers had better let imagination paint for them that which is above all art and leave their lovers to themselves during the happiest minutes of their lives."

Very wise, but unfortunately fiction as a whole can only use this disclaimer once, so the rest of us will have to muddle on without breaking the fourth wall. ;)

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I remember. Yes, there we at least get an embrace! And I remember something a little later in that scene about "a pause for refreshments," which is a rather fun way of putting it. :-)