“. . .mama sends me word they are very pretty”
Alert Janeite Carmen sent us a photo of Miss Dashwood and Miss Marianne from the upcoming BBC adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.
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August 8th, 2007 at 3:26 am
Hmmm… P&P 2005-style costumes. Interesting. And they are wearing mourning colors (purple and black), which the 90’s version of S&S didn’t really bother with. So, kudos for attention to detail!
Why won’t this come out in the US sooner?
August 8th, 2007 at 4:06 am
Yes, but the effect of the mourning black is somewhat undone by the bosoms *winks*. But I don’t even really mean that as criticism. They both look just great. And please, please, PLEASE make them put more time, dedication and respect into crafting this one than they did the other three in the ‘Austen Season’.
August 8th, 2007 at 5:04 am
I think this series will be a lot better than the ones from the Austen Season, Karenlee! The BBC’s productions are almost always very good.
Marianne looks a bit modern on this picture, in my opinion.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:09 am
Is it just me, or does Elinor look like she’s been goosed in this picture!
August 8th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I agree totally with Franka, specially about Marianne’s looks, too modern, too Billie Piper style in the dress
Anyway, they seem to be right, I’m sure we will see some more photos soon.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:23 am
They don’t look related — or is that just me?
August 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Ooooh! They look wonderful! Marianne’s dress looks incredibly like Keira’s Pemberley dress that she wears when meeting Georgie, although there is distinctly more bosom here. Marianne does look rather modern, but it’s only picture #1–maybe it’s because she has no bangs. She certainly has the look of a Marianne–young, pretty. Elinor has the look of quiet, composed and contained.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Yes, quite promising, but Franka is right about there being a modern look. I will make one complaint: don’t you think Elinor should be a bit prettier? Is she not described as pretty, taller than Marianne and not as dark but still pretty? Here it is:
“Miss Dashwood had a delicate complexion, regular features, and a remarkably pretty figure. Marianne was still handsomer. Her form, though not so correct as her sister’s, in having the advantage of height, was more striking”
Well I guess that is close.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:39 am
I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder because I think they are both very pretty. Seeing this picture, I can easily imagine them in the roles of Elinor and Marianne. The ensamble that Elinor is wearing in the picture is a lot like the costumes from Emma Thompson’s S&S, which I thought were beautiful. I will admit the dress that Marianne is wearing looks almost identical to the one Kiera Knightly wore in P&P 2005 at Pemberley. A bit more filled out though!
August 9th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Yes, I agree that Elinor should be prettier. I was thinking she was a bit too Mary Bennet.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Marianne lools modern and sweet.What said by Tamara is right.
August 9th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
The passage from the book in Comment 8 actually states that Marianne is taller than Elinor, when you follow the pronouns. It’s from the beginning of Chapter 10.
My impression from the picture is that Elinor is a spinster, S&S 1995 style, rather than the eligible young woman she is in the book.
Austen described Marianne as “sensible” in the first chapter and elsewhere, and as so modest that she couldn’t even look at Willoughby after he carried her home. The neckline on the Marianne actress, to say the least, doesn’t fit with her character.
August 9th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
The daytime boob-age is a little surprising on a well bred character such as Marianne but I dare say it’s possible that it’s only for the publicity shots.
They are both lovely and the actress playing Elinor looks very pretty and elegant, very delicate and English.
August 10th, 2007 at 6:42 am
I get the impression they’re going to NA07 characterisation. Low cut dress equals low morals. What a shame considering that Marianne is not Isabella.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Mmm. Maybe you’re right Rosalind. I don’t mind it on Isabella Thorpe, I mean, it was Isabella Thorpe, but on Marianne Dashwood it would be poorly representative, a mis-costuming of the character.
Course, it could just be to get some male audience tuning in.
August 11th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
very excited about this adaptation. I hope it fares better with me than the new Mansfield Park did
August 13th, 2007 at 7:51 am
What sort of gets me is that Elinor is always portrayed so grimly. Sure, she was the sensible sister, but she was still beautiful and only 19. Giver her a dress that fits
August 18th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Would not “Their Look” be not only modern but fashionable for the Regency?
August 18th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
The hair is very modern, I think. It’s sort of generic faux Regency, like the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma. It’s not specific to a year. (S&S95, Persuasion 95 and the Kate Beckinsale Emma do a really good job with that; P&P95 does sort of, but gets some of the details wrong, like too much daytime decolletage.) These gowns aren’t bad, I would have to see more of them, but it’s interesting they picked up on the mourning colors, as has been pointed out. They do look more like evening ensembles, though.