Online webseries introduces modern generation to classic novel

Luckily, the Internet is not just good for Wikipedia. Video blogger Hank Green along with Bernie Su created the concept of video blogging Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” a modern day interpretation of Austen’s novel is the perfect mixture of modern media and classic literature.

“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” features Lizzie Bennet, played by Ashley Clements. Lizzie is funny, upbeat and down to earth girl living at home while seeking her masters in Communication. Her sisters, Jane and Lydia, are opposite sides of the spectrum. Jane, played by Laura Spencer, is an overly sweet, quiet girl working to pay off her college debt, while Lydia, played by Mary Kate Wiles, is a crazy party girl obsessed with boys and booze.

The story of the Bennet sisters kicks off right away when Bing Lee, played by Christopher Sean, moves into Netherfield, a house not far from the Bennets. Lizzie’s mother, who Lizzie mocks constantly, obsesses over trying to get one of her daughters married off to Bing. Jane quickly takes to Bing while Lizzie keeps her YouTube viewers caught up on their relationship. Meanwhile, Bing’s friend Darcy, played by Daniel Vincent Gordh, becomes Lizzie’s favorite thing to complain about.

If you’ve already read Pride and Prejudice, I won’t bore you with every detail of the plot. If you haven’t, you should know that there are some other characters, including the annoying Mr. Collins, the playboy George Wickham, Bing’s deceptively innocent sister Caroline, and Lizzie’s best friend Charlotte, all of whom play an important role in Lizzie’s diaries.

The formatting of the “Lizzie Bennet Diaries” brings an entirely new feel to “Pride and Prejudice.” Since her videos are public, it creates a whole new level of interaction. After Darcy surprises Lizzie by confessing his love to her, she explodes saying “You were unaware [of my feelings]? Then why don’t you watch my videos!” Darcy, finding out about Lizzie’s public YouTube videos, goes back and watches episodes in which Lizzie dresses up as him to mock him, calls him intolerable, and flirts with George, who dislikes Darcy as much as Darcy dislikes him. It adds a whole new emotional level to Lizzie’s situation with Darcy.

Lizzie’s vlogs are also everything a YouTube fan wants to see from a vlog. Sharp editing and a quick-paced script make each episode fun and easy to watch. Lizzie also role plays to tell her stories and dresses up as the characters in her life. Her outfits and props for each character are hilarious. As her mother, Lizzie wears an outrageous hat; as Darcy, a bow tie; and for her father she drags a plaid-shirt-wearing, pipe-smoking Charlotte in front of the camera.

Another wonderful thing about the web series format of “Pride and Prejudice” is that the viewer gets to know the characters at a different level. Lydia, a character who starts off as annoying, quickly became my favorite of the Bennet sisters. After Lizzie leaves to stay at Netherfield with Jane, Lydia starts her own vlog. In her videos, Lydia shows that despite her touch outer shell, she is just a scared, innocent girl trying her best to impress her two older sisters. Meanwhile, in the book, Lydia seems like a much flatter character.

There are also many ways that Lizzie’s videos draw in a modern day audience. The series brings together every possible social media aspect of today. Lizzie and Lydia both have their videos. Along with that, you can follow every character on Twitter. The story line isn’t just told through the videos, it’s told through Lydia’s tweets to George, and Darcy’s tweets about Lizzie’s videos.

In my opinion, “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” is today’s gateway drug to classic literature. With the same interesting plot as Austen’s novel and a great new twist on social media, it is the perfect way to become interested in this wonderful classic story. If you’re not interested in classic literature, but you’re interested in the media outlets of today, try checking out “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.” You might be surprised and find out that you want to actually try reading the book.