Universally Acknowledged Truth

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

-Opening line to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"

Also the opening line to "The Lizzie Bennet Diaries"...presented to Lizzie on a t-shirt

Last year when Hank Green said that there was going to be a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice I will admit I was excited. The story has always been one of my favorites and is one of the books I find myself reading over and over again. I took a class in undergrad on Jane Austen novels, and of course this was one of the novels featured. I've always loved the story...not because it's perfect. But because it's NOT. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are flawed characters, he with too much pride, and she with too much prejudice. Their story is one of growth and realization that perhaps they need to tame these parts of their personality...and realizing that despite their initial dislike of one another, there's something there. And they fall in love.

There have been MANY different movies and other adaptations of this story. But none quite like the one that just finished today, with episode #100.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries have been an amazing journey. It's a modern adaptation, yes, but it's also SO MUCH MORE. The story became about the three sisters...Lizzie, Jane, and Lydia...instead of about the love story. Secondary characters were given SO much more depth than they ever got in the original novel. Gigi Darcy (Darcy's sister) got her own spin off series. Lydia Bennet had her own story line and we got to see her interactions with George Wickham. These are things we NEVER got to see in the original novel. And for a modern adaptation, they were needed. They gave the story depth...they made it seem so much more REAL.

And then there's the "updates" to the story...for example, Mr. Collins's marriage proposal from the novel becomes a business proposal in the LBD universe. Lydia's marriage scandal becomes a sex tape scandal. Characters have updated names and occupations...all while staying true to the original source, and sometimes even throwing little jokes and bits in from the source so that long time fans of the story can have their fun as well.

So I ask that you take a few moments and watch that first video. And then find time to watch the rest of the series...and side parts to the series such as Lydia's vlogs, The Pemberly Digital Domino Application Demo videos...and immerse yourself in the universe that is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It might make you fall in love with the story all over again.

I know I did.