Pride, Prejudice and Zombies
The idea of zombies always seems to spark the minds of everyone; the idea of zombies is wrong and sick. The idea of zombies is crazy and unreal. But then again the idea of zombies is also thrilling and dangerous, deadly and frightening. Curious people look up zombies on Google and rent zombie movies on Net-Flix. But crazy people take an old classic book by Jane Austen and somehow change the book title from, Pride and prejudice To Pride Prejudice and Zombies. Though the two books would have to be different since one of them is now filled with brain eating dead people, the two seem to be almost exactly the same, minus the zombie scenes. The original Pride and Prejudice novel by Jane Austen was and still is considered a classic. Although critics and other readers think Pride Prejudice and Zombies is a sham and that it ruins the original book, some think that the zombies are built into Jane Austen’s plot and social meaning of the book, and this helps people understand the way of the book better, and also gives the story a deeper meaning. Plus zombies add more thrill and danger into the original story. The book Pride Prejudice and Zombies is not just a, shameful way to boost sales, but a novel that uses the zombies in a way to create something as good, as the original novel by Jane Austen.
The first sentence in the original is, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The first sentence in the zombie version is, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” Looking at the two you can obviously see the differences; the original is more modest, and more traditional. Back then the women in England and in the world were meant to be the stay at home type of mothers. The wives were to be seen, not heard. It also seems to say that a man with money must have a wife. Now, the zombie version was very similar to the original, but it did not talk of men and their wives; it talked of zombies and, a zombies need to eat brains. The story is based in England so it means that everyone knows of the zombies and everyone knows that a zombie does not stop after one brain, they keep on going. It also seems to say that a zombie does not think like a normal person, they can’t just choose to eat someone because they hate them, then not eat someone that they love. If you look at the sentence and relate it to the world today, it would relate to the greed of people. The economy where so many people have nothing and some others have everything and more. Because they keep on going, they never want to stop, just as zombies cannot stop eating brains.
The ways that both stories are the same include several parts, though the first is when the Bennets first meet Mr. Bingley and Darcy. Bingley asks Darcy why he is not dancing, Darcy replies, saying there are no other pretty girls in the room than the girl Bingley is dancing with. Bingley suggests that he should dance with Elizabeth for she is also pretty; Darcy looks at Elizabeth and replies with, “She does not tempt me.” The several paragraphs in each book are exactly the same, word for word. There are also events in the zombie novel which have specific zombie battles and some characters are directly affected by the zombies. For example poor Charlotte, Elizabeth’s best friend gets infected by the great zombie plague and is put to death because she could have been dangerous to her spouse and or family members. In the original, Charlotte does not die nor does she get infected by anything, she simply lives her life untold in the background of the story. Though many would think that the story should have different parts, it seems to be that the only thing affected by the zombies is the plot and a select number of problems that occur throughout the length of the story.
Looking at the last sentence of the two books you can see the similarities and differences, easily between the two. In the original book, here is the last sentence in the novel: “Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.” Now here is the zombie version of Pride and Prejudice, “Servants of His Majesty, Protectors of Hertfordshire, beholders of the secrets of Shaolin, and brides of death- were now, three of them, brides of man, their swords quieted by that only force more powerful than any warrior.” Both sentences are really unlike each other, the original is more of a friendly easy going conclusion. For they are talking of their love for Elizabeth’s Uncle and Aunt, also it is saying that if her Uncle and Aunt had not have taken Elizabeth to Derbyshire. Then Elizabeth and Darcy would not have become married and brought together once again. As for the zombie version, you didn’t get a conclusion. For the zombie problem was not solved, there were still zombies eating and killing people. But then again you find that the final sentence of the zombie version was more, satisfying. Because you knew that the only thing standing between Elizabeth and her killing of zombies was love for Mr. Darcy. The same applies for Elizabeth and her duty to her town of Hertfordshire, for she is now married and must lay down her weapons to be with her husband.
In comparing the two stories, both in their differences and similarities, it can be seen that Pride Prejudice and Zombies has an even deeper meaning than first thought. All the evil in the world cannot stop the love between two people. The zombies made the story, instead of being about five sisters finding husbands in a world where woman are said to be less than men. The writer of Pride Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith made it be about five sisters trying to keep their lives as they search for husbands, and along the way one sister finds out the true meaning of the world, which is love. Anything can be beat by love. If Jane Austen was to read this book and read the parts where Seth Grahame-Smith mixed zombies into her beloved classic, I believe she would be proud. For the world is no longer completely unfair, woman have as many rights as men, and if Jane looked at our world today she would understand our need to change things like, books. The world changes, everyone can attest to that. Why can’t books change too?
Bibliography
"Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Search, Read, Study, Discuss." The Literature Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. Jalic.inc, 2000-2010. Web. 26 May 2010. <http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/>.
Austen, Jane, and Pat Rogers. "Chapter 1, First Paragraph." Pride and Prejudice. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. 1-2. Print.
Grahame-Smith, Seth, and Jane Austen. "Chapter 61 Last Sentence." 2009. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: the Classic Regency Romance--now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem. Philadelphia: Quirk, 2009. Print.
