So why do fans care enough about this book/era/idea to transplate their ships there?
I honestly have no idea.
Realistically, it's not a lovey-dovey romance story, filled with all of the picnics and promises girls are supposed to dream of and boys are supposed to inherently offer.
But, as can be seen, fandoms, particularly well-established ones have their examples of this AU:
Supernatural: Destiel
Glee: Klaine
One way to look at it is that Lizzie and Darcy offer a more combative, fighting relationship that heightens sexual tension and allows our favorite character to duke it out with sarcasm and dance cards. It might also be the edge of titillation we get from seeing our beloved couples: most of whom are in a homosexual relationship, profess their love in a time where it means naught but danger and death.
Neither of those reasons really mean anything though. A Regency area romance, deemed trashy dollar books by polite/upper society, has all of that and more (actual sex) in a much faster read.
So yes I have to do proclaim that I am still not OK with this. Austen told a story with interesting people in a not so interesting time and yet still remains.
In the end, it's probably all of the English majors finding an outlet for their degrees while they work menial jobs to support themselves. "I may not have any valuable skills to offer society but I sure know my Austen!"
those pix are awesome and make me want to teach a whole class on P&P fandom!
ReplyDeleteI think it's the outfits, more than anything. I mean, look at Sasuke in that last pic.
ReplyDeleteSee, I have read a LOT of Pride and Prejudice AU fanfics before I read the source material and...okay, its a couple of things.
ReplyDeleteOne, The ones I read did nothing to help me know what Pride & Prejudice was. I mean, If anything it seems to smack of the arranged marriage trope in fanfic.
Two. I think that there is an upside and a downside to P&P being an AU. We shall call this the "upside-down Dilemma". For the most part I totally love fanfiction and it brings a bit more spice to the P&P world. It is fun to watch characters that you like (maybe even like more than the actual characters of P&P) navigate the problems that Elizabeth and Darcy face.
The other side is, for all the bitching that I did about this book, it was a good read. I mean just in a literary since I've got to give mad props to Jane Austen for how she writes. I think that a lot of fanfcition writers don't have that je ne sais quoi to their writing. I mean, don't get me wrong, they bring the realness but some (NOT ALL) don't really match the writing level of Jane Austen.
I SOUND LIKE SUCH A HATER BUT I'M NOT! I LOVE FANFICTION MORE THAN I LOVE MANY OTHER THINGS!