‘My Lady Jane’ Knows Exactly What We Want to See, and Boy Does It Deliver
This show just GETS us!
It seems like slowly but surely everyone on BookTok and around fandom spaces is catching up on My Lady Jane, Prime Video’s very loose retelling of the life of Lady Jane Grey, who was England’s Queen for nine days in 1553. And honestly, with good reason.
My Lady Jane truly has everything that anyone could possibly need—incredible chemistry between its leads, a beautiful romance based on the tropes we all love the most, witty exchanges, excellent costumes, and an underground resistance of people who can shapeshift into animals. As I said, everything.
Among the many things I loved about My Lady Jane is that its showrunners knew perfectly who their target audience was and embraced it rather than shying away from it as it sometimes happens. So it’s no surprise that among the many delightful decisions they took when adapting this story from the novel of the same name written by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton, they also decided to reference what is hands down the period romance of all times.
Yes, I am indeed talking about the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy. My beloved.
Pride & Prejudice’s famous, showstopping, spectacular final big scene happens just as dawn is breaking. Lizzie, who is still dealing with the aftermath of Lady Catherine storming through her home and also with the fact that she rejected Mr Darcy’s first proposal when she has in the meantime realized she loves him, is wandering through the fields around her family’s house. And who does she see, walking towards her in a deadly combo of poet’s shirt and billowy coat, as the sun is rising, and with Dario Marinelli’s soundtrack swelling in the background? Mr Darcy, exactly.
In what is their final dialogue of the movie, the two clear the air between them, and then Darcy proposes again—telling Lizzie that she has “bewitched him body and soul” and that he “loves, loves, loves her”. Lizzie accepts his proposal this time, and they lean their foreheads against each other with the early morning sun shining down on them.
And I refuse to believe that My Lady Jane’s final scene isn’t echoing that. After having successfully escaped the palace and their respective executions, we see Jane and a now-also-human-by-day Guildford in a field with the rising sun glowing behind them. They discuss their future and whether they should run away or stay and help dethrone Mary, before sealing off what is hopefully going to be the show’s first season of many with a kiss.
Besides, there’s another piece of evidence that proves Pride & Prejudice definitely was on the minds of the people on the My Lady Jane set. During an interview with AP Entertainment, lead actress Emily Bader—who plays Jane—said that to switch from her native American accent to an English she would recite some of Knightley’s Pride & Prejudice lines to herself. And Edward Bluemel—who plays Guildford—promptly responded by quoting Mr Darcy’s swoon-worthy second proposal.
What else is there to say? I can’t stress enough just how much this is what we want to see.
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