Good morning!

Hope you're doing well today. I've been reading an excellent book, Pamela Regis' Natural History of The Romance Novel, and thought you might like to read some of my favourite paragraphs. Then there is more on classic romances and classic literature. I hope it is a real treat for you.

Back to Pamela Regis. This woman is not messing around:

Because this charge claims that the form of the romance novel genre – its ending in marriage – extinguishes the heroine and binds the reader, every romance novel by virtue of its being a romance novel has these powers to extinguish and bind. If this argument is right, Pride and Prejudice, for instance, an acknowledged work of genius, must, because it is a romance novel, extinguish Elizabeth Bennet and bind its readers. I intend the whole of the present work to stand as a refutation of this claim.

Similarly:

If Pride and Prejudice alludes to, but does not explore in detail, Elizabeth's intellectual development through her reading and her study of music, then Moby-Dick alludes to, but does not explore in detail, Ahab's life on shore, where his sea-going skills, much in evidence in the novel, would be eclipsed by whatever lands-man's abilities he may or may not have possessed. Art is selective.

Tell us one more time Pamela:

The story of the courtship and betrothal of one or more heroines is, finally, about freedom and joy. In the twentieth century, for the most part, romances are stories written by women and read by women. They feature women who have achieved the ends fostered by affective individualism, control over their own property, and companionate marriage. In other words, romance heroines make their own decisions, make their own livings, and choose their own husbands. [...] to attack this very old genre, so stable in its form, so joyful in its celebration of freedom, is to discount, and perhaps even to deny, the most personal hopes of millions of women around the world.

Obviously having read that I just ran straight to the new film of Emma, and I was not disappointed. Obviously, the plot is that of Emma, so it has a headstart, but the production and sound design are something else entirely. Clashing pastels. Deep, bruised maroons. Moments when everyone is yelling at once and uncanny, impossible silences. Raw, joyful, uncontrolled bursts of hymns. The overall effect is as though you went to read Emma in a macaroon shop just as the hallucinations kicked in. It’s very good. Here's an interview about the visual style of the film with the director, superbly named Autumn de Wilde:

"I was really excited by how colorful the Regency period really was. Color was how you showed your wealth and your class rank," explains de Wilde, who encouraged the team to excitedly lean into the vibrant hues. "It does feel like a heightened world, but it is based on historical accuracy."

https://fashionista.com/2020/02/emma-movie-autumn-de-wilde-interview-costumes

Finally, it might have been ages since you last read Pride and Prejudice. It's still there waiting for you and just as good as it ever was, a perfect novel. What better weekend companion:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

“You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.”

This was invitation enough.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1342

I hope that this opening, for you too, is invitation enough. Lots of love,

Alex.