English 375 —British Romanticism 1770-1830

Professor
J. Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Regan

Professor Jones

English 375

December 7, 2005

Through Camera Lens and Pen:
Wordsworth and Austen on the Sanctuary of Nature

 In 1797, a young Jane Austen completed her first draft of the novel Pride and Prejudice. A year later, William Wordsworth wrote his famous poem “Lines from a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.” These two great literary minds most likely never compared stories over tea but seemed to have a certain connection to nature that came through in their works. In the past 60 years, several film adaptations of Pride and Prejudice have come to theater screens, but none have focused so intensely on Austen’s admiration of nature quite like the most recent version. This version, released in Fall of 2005, is directed by Joe Wright and uses the lush countryside of England as the backdrop for the romantic tale of Elizabeth Bennet and her Mr. Darcy. In both “Tintern Abbey” and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, the protagonists view nature as a sanctuary from society. Wordsworth’s poet in “Tintern Abbey” reflects upon the solitude and peacefulness nature can bring. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy consistently flee their social surroundings to find solace in their picturesque countryside. By using various camera angles, lighting techniques, and musical scores, Joe Wright is able to illustrate the emotional struggles of his protagonists. In this same way, using carefully chosen words, Wordsworth illustrates his narrator’s joy in nature.

In the very first moments of the film Pride and Prejudice, the sound of birds singing is all the audience can hear. The screen stays black for several seconds. As the music begins, the blackness gives way to a misty view of a field at dawn. Mist hovers over the green grass and a blueish darkness surrounds the trees. Slowly, the music grows louder and the mist seems to evaporate as the sun peers over the horizon. It is then that the title Pride and Prejudice appears on the screen. At this moment the audience is exposed to the gentle serenity of the land on which the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet lives. Immediately in the movie, it is established that nature will be a place of solitude and meditation. We meet Elizabeth as she strolls through the fields, nose pressed in a book. She is clearly in her own world. As she approaches her house the audience sees the common domesticity of her life. Her’s is a home filled with the noise of clanging pianoforte and giggling, fussy sisters. At that moment, Elizabeth is no longer enveloped in the serenity of the outdoors. Gone are the pleasing whistles of the birds, the soft glow of the sun. The audience understands that she has been removed from her sanctuary.

Like the protagonists in Pride and Prejudice, Wordsworth’s narrator speaks of obligation to city life, and the desired sanctuary of nature he lacks while there:

Though absent long,
These forms of beauty have not been to me,
As is a landscape to a blind mans eye
But oft, in lonely rooms, and amid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them,
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart,
And passing even into my purer mind
With tranquil restoration (Wordsworth 34-42)

The narrator of “Tintern Abbey” bespeaks a longing to be back in nature while stuck in the confines of society. Though he has not been away from nature long, he feels the loss deeply. The line, “But oft, in lonely rooms” holds a certain irony. Alone in a room and removed from nature, he feels alone. Yet, when in nature, the narrator expresses happiness in solitude, “Therefore let the moon shine on thee in thy solitary walk” (135). This feeling of isolation in the confines of society gives greater meaning to the importance of nature. In nature, Wordsworth’s narrator suggests, one feels whole. The juxtaposition of a cold lonely room in a building in the city and the vast open prospect of a field in the country allow for the reader to grasp the cruciality of nature. The use of the words, “felt in the blood, and felt along the heart” makes a particular impact due to their connection with life and love. To feel something deeply, a strong unification in the very core of the body and the inner workings of the heart harkens to a place of sublimity, and more importantly, a place of sanctuary. To be alone in nature solicits this intense reaction from the narrator. This unity of body and soul suggests a solid place of sanctuary, beneath the moonlight, in the untamed wilderness. The passage moves on to the line, “and passing into my purer mind, with tranquil restoration.” The entire passage crescendos towards a climax that ultimately expresses the sole purpose of nature to the narrator. This purpose, of course, its tranquility. The mere memory of nature restores the mind, the heart, and the blood.

The film establishes that both Mr.Darcy and Elizabeth have certain obligations to society. Attending balls and social events are considered mandatory, even if an individual finds little or no pleasure in those events. The business of daily life in the time that Jane Austen dreamt up our Mr.Darcy and Elizabeth was one of social expectation and social status. One seeks to flee the restrictions of lesser rank, while the other seeks to escape the restrictions of elevated rank. For Elizabeth , the pressure of dealing with the harsh reality of the lack of propriety of her family drives her to seek solace elsewhere. When we see Elizabeth removed from her familial surroundings, she is nearly always alone in the wilderness. Upon being invited by her beloved, (and socially elevated) Aunt and Uncle to tour England’s Lake District , we see Elizabeth truly enter a state of tranquility. A scene of staggering emotional impact shows Elizabeth as a figure alone on the top of a great cliff. The wind moves through her hair and the muted yellow color of the sun reflects off of her face. A soft focus lens is used to emphasize the dream-like state Elizabeth is in. She is portrayed in this scene as being strongly rooted to the rock on which she stands. Deep in thought, it is as if the audience is let in on the secret she keeps from those around her: Mr. Darcy has affected her. In turmoil, she seeks comfort from the only source of peace she knows: nature. Filmed from a distance initially, the camera sweeps across the landscape and eventually comes to settle focus on Elizabeth ’s face directly. This brings the audience from the outward calm of the hills and valleys below her to the inward flurry of emotions Elizabeth is feeling. A haunting piano solo accompanies this scene to drive the point of escape.

Tormented by his own shyness, Mr. Darcy seeks to flee the confines of his own aristocratic society. Seemingly misplaced in his rank, which requires of him excessive social appearances, Mr. Darcy turns himself inward when surrounded by others. In fact, Mr. Darcy only ever seems at ease when he is on horseback, mounted up and away from social interaction. One vivid scene in which Darcy leaves Elizabeth an important letter shows him galloping wildly through a darkened wood, completely immersed in his emotions.

When the audience first meets Mr. Darcy, his face is merely a blank canvas seemingly devoid of emotion. Director Joe Wright makes a point to illustrate that the ball in Meryton is lively and joyous. Loud colors, boisterous music, and a drunken rustic charm are all displayed. For Mr. Darcy, these happy things simply bring anxiety and discomfort. As the film progresses from the scene at the Meryton ball to the ball at Netherfield where Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy share a tense yet sensual dance, the audience watches as Mr. Darcy begins to lose his firm grasp on his feelings for Elizabeth. The infamous proposal scene where he first makes clear his unhappiness at Elizabeth ’s inadequate family and connections is traditionally set indoors. Director Joe Wright, however, chose to set this tumultuous confrontation in a unique setting that is outdoors yet within the structure of a large stone gazebo. By expressing his feelings, both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth take a step toward tranquility together. But they are not there yet. For the first time in the film, we do not see nature as a sanctuary. Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy face off under the protection of the roof while outside the countryside sustains the beating of harsh winds and pelting rain. While these two are not at peace, they struggle to find peace in nature as a pair

The ultimate harmony between individual and nature. aside from the achievement of sanctuary in solitude, is the ability to share this sanctuary with another person. For Wordsworth, the haven of the outdoors stays with him when he is away from the countryside as well as when he is submersed in the wilderness he so loves. He explains his own relationship to the country thoroughly throughout the first half of “Tintern Abbey.” In the second half, we find that he is speaking not only for the reader, but speaking directly to his sister, Dorothy. It is his intention that she too can achieve a sense of sanctuary from society in nature.

My dear, dear Sister! And this prayer I make,
Knowing that nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; ‘tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy: (Wordsworth 122-127)

Wordsworth calls out to his sister to fully understand that nature never turned its back on her brother, the “heart that loved her.” Wordsworth has a full understanding of what nature can do to restore the soul and deliver it from “evil tongues / Rash judgements, nor the sneers of selfish men” (130). Society, he says, may attempt to keep one from nature. He wishes for Dorothy to view nature as a privilege and a sacred treasure that she has every right to claim for herself. By saying “through all the years of this our life," Wordsworth illustrates that he wishes for both he and Dorothy to be able to find joy and sanctuary in nature together. He has already found great peace and happiness in nature alone. The only remaining thing to do that would allow nature to hold a place in his heart even greater than sanctuary in solitude is sanctuary shared. By using the word “prayer," Wordsworth seems to acknowledge that nature is a type of church. Religion tends to associate itself with an organized house of worship, a church, a temple. It cannot be overlooked that Tintern Abbey itself is the ruin of a great Abbey. In this passage, Wordsworth articulates that walls need not stand for one to find a sense of spirituality and sanctuary. Nature itself provides that.

Wordsworth finds a way to express his wishes to his sister through poetry, but director Joe Wright finds a way to unify Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth on screen using barely any words at all. After being visited at a late hour by Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Elizabeth spends a sleepless night contemplating how her social status has squashed any hope she had of love for Mr. Darcy. “Are the halls of Pemberley to be thus polluted?” accuses an outraged Lady Catherine after believing Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to be engaged. To Elizabeth, society has once again crushed her hopes. As dawn breaks Elizabeth steals away to her only comfort, the sprawling acreage outside her walls: nature. We are visually brought back to the very start of the film. It is early morning, the mist hangs over the grass, and the sky is steely blue. Elizabeth walks alone, slowly, and Joe Wright takes his time following her with the camera and she wanders, attempting to gain a sense of peace. The audience senses her heartbreak deeply, simply by the slow sorrowful melody of the music. Until this point in the film, we have only briefly seen both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in nature together, and that has only been in the partial outdoors of the proposal scene. The camera cuts across the misty field to a distant figure, our Mr. Darcy. A great deal of screen time is dedicated to his walk toward Elizabeth, the music swells, and when he finally reaches her, we can tell there is a harmony. Finally, they meet one another away from the society that nearly tore them apart forever. United in the sanctuary of nature, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are finally able to share their tranquility and love. As Wordsworth felt whole and complete through both heart and blood, so too are Mr.Darcy and Elizabeth made whole and complete.

In 1798, Wordsworth could not have possibly guessed that his poem would survive well into the year 2005. In 1797, Jane Austen could not have fathomed that her novel would endure as a classic tale of love as well as a biting and witty satire of her society. These individuals are now long dead; their words are all that is left behind. Just as a poem is open for interpretation, so too is a film. In comparing “Tintern Abbey” to the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice, it is made clear that similarities can be drawn from all angles. Sanctuary itself can take many forms. For the protagonists of these specific pieces, nature is a way to bring themselves a sense of calm in a whirlwind society. For society in 2005, an hour pouring over a poem by William Wordsworth can serve as a sanctuary from the consistent pulse of a tumultuous world. Two hours of escape into Jane Austen’s world through a film adaptation can keep a person sane. Perhaps at future screenings of Pride and Prejudice, a copy of “Tintern Abbey” could be handed to viewers as a companion piece. Perhaps Austen and Wordsworth would have made a harmonious companionship themselves. Both were living in the same era, depicting life as they saw it, despite confines of society, both bold and brave. They were simply a man and a woman finding sanctuary from society, not so very unlike Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth themselves.