dear you,
It is a truth universally acknowledged that all rom-coms find their way back to Jane Austen. Even those who steer clear of costume dramas, Regency bust lines, and period movies will, at one point or another, be deeply affected by themes that Austen wrote about in the 17- to 1800s. We love Austen because she writes about people we know (we’ve all been as Clueless as Cher), families we’ve been born into (Mrs. Bennet of Pride and Prejudice stands for all the meddling titas we avoid during the holidays), and romantic heroes we’ve fallen for.
This year, ITV launched Sanditon, an eight-episode dramatization of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel. Sanditon is about a coastal resort town and the dynamics of class, pedigree, and status that keep it running. Any show or movie that aims to reinterpret Austen is pull enough for us, but sprinkle said series with a dash of dashing Theo James and we’re all in.
Sanditon may have had us regressing back into our Divergent infatuation for Theo (who plays wealthy, arrogant, and freaking handsome Sidney Parker). But the show has also—for eight consecutive weeks—allowed us to escape our boring, mundane, 21st century lives to live in the rich Regency world of our own heroine, Jane Austen.
The book, movie, and mini-series world is already chock-a-block with Austen adaptations, and yet this one managed to surprise us three…not just with its wonky ending, but with all the rom-com catharsis it spurred. Watch, read on, and you’ll find that with Sanditon, taking steps backward can actually mean moving forward, too.
love,
chinggay, macy, and patty
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Coming of Age
Confession: I am a sucker for the Regency Rake. Give me a dashing, irreverent, scheming, sometimes nefarious English gentleman in breeches and a waistcoat and you will have me swooning in no time. I have a Choose Your Own Adventure type Jane Austen book, where the author mashes up all of Austen’s romantic tropes, financial family catastrophes, and moral dilemmas. Nine out of 10 times, I end up choosing the Willoughbys, Wickhams, and Frank Churchills. My choice of husband-to-be would often lead me to the same ending: death by horse-drawn carriage.
So when the recent ITV adaptation (or best Austen fan fic of all times) Sanditon cast Theo James as romantic lead / antagonistic rich brute Sidney Parker, it was obvious that I would be rooting for him to get together with Charlotte Heywood all through the eight episodes. Not true.
Instead of choosing the one she was obviously going to end up with, I had a soft spot for second lead, aspiring architect but real-life foreman (slash karpintero) Stringer. He was the kind, working class romantic interest that you knew was only thrown in there because the writers wanted to make you WORK for that happy ending with Sidney Parker. Nevertheless, he appealed to me because he didn’t push Charlotte’s buttons, because he didn’t have Issues (capital I), and because he was kind.
The second they introduced Stringer and I found myself rooting for him despite Theo James walking onto Sanditon’s shores in glistening glory, I knew I had found my redemption arc. I had finally gotten over the childish proclivity towards the Regency Rake and had made a “mature” choice. I chose the good guy and there will never be a horse-drawn carriage death for me again.
Spoiler alert: Instead of death, Sanditon did still deal me a blow with its stupid ending. And no matter how much I wanted Stringer (for myself), I was still, obviously engulfed in the useless Sidney Parker thirst trap the show’s creators had set up for us. Ultimately, it was them who were the biggest villains of the show.
—C.
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Heartbeats and heartbreak
When I started Jane Austen’s Sanditon, it wasn’t because I was an Austen fan. It was because Theo James was in it. I remember being completely obsessed with him when he starred as Four in the Divergent series. I would spend a ridiculous amount of time on YouTube, watching all of the videos from the press tour. It certainly didn’t help that he had such amazing chemistry with his co-star Shailene Woodley. I even watched Bedlam (and risked getting nightmares, lol) so I could see more of him onscreen.
In Sanditon, Theo plays Sidney Parker, who from his very first appearance onscreen acts quite brash with Charlotte Heywood played by Reign’s Rose Williams. And oh how Theo plays masungit na mayabang pa so well. The 8-part series is based off Austen’s unfinished manuscript about a young woman heading to the seaside resort in the South Coast of England and discovering the ways of the world. There are only 11 chapters in Austen’s manuscript, so most of the series is adapted by Andrew Davies for the small screen. And if you’ve seen the show, you’ll know a lot of it is indeed very un-Austen-like.
Unlike my usual binge-watches, I had to wait for each episode to air before I could watch it. I watched the series every week, looking forward to Mondays, because it meant I could treat myself to a new episode. I now have a saved collection on Instagram with clips from the series (bless ITV’s very capable social media manager). Leading up to the finale, my friends and I were sending each other heart emojis and every kind of message to express different levels of kilig. Imagine our disappointment with that heartbreaking ending. I had to watch the finale a second time right after only to stop after the first 10 minutes, so I could forget about the horrible end. And yet, full disclosure: I re-watched the entire series, so I could write this.
I wanted to remember what it was like to see Sidney and Charlotte’s relationship turn from unpleasant to almost a happy ending. Was it when they danced the first time? Was it when she stepped up to the plate at the cricket game? Maybe when she told him she thought he didn’t want anyone to be in love? Or when she chanced upon him at the beach? Maybe that exact moment when he touched the small of her back while teaching her how to handle the oars? And even if I’ve re-watched the last few minutes of the seventh episode countless times, I still felt my heart swell with joy for Miss Heywood like I was hearing Sidney's speech for the first time. Yes, even if I knew what would happen in the finale. Pray tell, why do I do this to myself?
What is it about stories that make your heart beat and ache at the same time? Is it a strange obsession to want to torture yourself this way? Or is it some kind of salve for the reality that not everyone has a happy ending, and maybe that’s okay? I don’t have an answer just yet, but excuse me while I nurse the heartbreak I willingly subjected myself to again.
—M.
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Happily Never After
I’m a self-proclaimed Austen fanatic. Having consumed all her books throughout my youth, I always saw myself as her heroines—be it strong-willed Elizabeth or hard-headed Emma or the more sedate Elinor and Anne and even the often ignored Fanny or Catherine. I felt they were my friends.
On my first trip to Europe, I made sure to visit Bath, Jane Austen’s stomping grounds and where she found a lot of her inspiration. Name the TV, movie, or web series adaptation and I’ve seen it more than I care to count. They’ve seen me through ups and downs.
I was not however as familiar with her unfinished work and so when the ITV adaptation of Sanditon came rolling around, I wasn’t the first to see it. My 6-novel canon was great in my head, but then peer pressure and a certain Theo James (I got obsessed during the Divergent era of my life) was thrown into the mix and I was enthralled.
I was thrown in like Charlotte was into the beach town of Sanditon and all the drama that came with it. This felt more mature than Austen’s other work—having more comedy and more social commentary than I’m used to. It had a really lovely ‘second guy’ in the form of Stringer—when usually her second choices were horrific characters.
It had the balls and the professions of love and the ex-lovers coming into the picture, but this time it also had almost incestuous relationships and sideplots on race and slavery. It also ended in a very non-Austen way—*SPOILER ALERT*—not quite the happily ever after you’d expect from Austen. And this did not sit well with fans—including myself (for the most part).
But then as I re-watched the last episode (too many times to count), always just stopping right before they disappointed me with the open ending, it kind of made me love it more. Here I am, a good 15 years older than when I first discovered Austen’s heroines and with 15 years more experience than the teen I was whose head was filled with fantasy and whose heart was spoiled by her heroes.
In real life, you don’t always get that happy ending. You don’t always get the guy. Your heart gets trampled on. Promises are broken. This isn’t me being bitter, it’s me being real. Sanditon felt real. And the most real part was, that in the end, when they stayed a beat too long on Charlotte’s face as she left the town of her cruel summer, I knew she would be ok. She would survive this. She would be all the better for it. She would thrive.
And to me, knowing that Charlotte would be ok, means we’ll all be ok, no matter what.
—P.
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