As a matter of personal
opinion, Zombies are the second idea which comes to mind upon hearing the word
‘undead’. They cannot be on equal footing with the Vampire because of the
apparent differing characteristics, and most especially due to the races’ age
differences. Commonly, these two are figures of popular culture; and in
recognition of this, the question of who came first is based on who reached popular
mention before the other. Zombies are known to have a complicated literary
history, having been first mentioned in The
Epic of Gilgamesh, roughly dated 18th century before Christ. But it was only in 1936 that its
existence was acknowledged on H.G. Wells novel and film; and its full
recognition was not until 1968 with the George A. Romero redefinition which
carried on to this date. These are the zombies we know today. This was a 71-year
age difference with Bram Stoker’s Dracula which again, was popularly introduced
in 1897.
This is a discussion of Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride & Prejudice & Zombies read under the lens of comedy theory as well as (physical) anthropology.
Why
Do We Like Zombies?
We like them because of our subconscious fascination with
the grotesque. This is likely to be partly due to the thanatos instinct which
is naturally curious on the ideas of gore and mayhem. Zombies, as “Elvira”
says, are a cinematic creation, the first portrayals of man as an evil,
destructive force to be dealt with [20:10 Love/Lust and the Undead 2012].
According to Max Brooks, these were in themselves chaotic because they did not
have a master, and these were global [14:59 Love/Lust and the Undead 2012].
In the Romero typification, no one has an idea of how
these zombies came about. But the point underscored the idea of a more solid
otherization (compared to that of the vampire who are capable of mainstreaming
to the point of near perfect discreteness).
Zombies
in Netherfield
Despite the spread of some mysterious
disease which turns people into the “stricken” or “sorry stricken”, daily life
went on in Netherfield. Penny McGregor was still tasked to deliver oil to
various estates within thirty miles of Meryton until her death by ambush of the
stricken [Grahame Smith 2009: 50]. Balls were still held and attended as the
merriest possible diversion to temporarily escape the darkness the country
faced. There was Mrs. Bennet who did not allow her daily business of
(gossiping) to be affected. And she was still very much concerned with the act
of matchmaking; still having the same interest of finding the financially
appropriate men for her daughters. This, while Mr. Bennet as always was in the
company of his beloved books in the comfort of his Longbourn library. Their
five daughters, however, have been consistently busying themselves in the
skills of combat and martial arts. These were the influences of their father
who insisted they be socialized in this fashion, so as to become an honorable
mini-army of zombie hunters.
The Bennet sisters are portrayed as having a unique role
in this story as defenders of Hertfordshire, as commanded by the King
[Grahame-Smith: 2009: 214]. As typically this role would be masculine, this is
softened to an extent with the addition of the need to find love during the
most complicated of times, a time of death and chaos.
Breaking
the Skull
The whole
combination is comedic, and as there are a variety of themes waiting to be
discovered, hidden in folios and folios of text and pictures. This article
concentrates more on the idea of the types of bodies which were mentioned in
the novel as well as what they stand for.
Its
diligence to the canon as regards the idea of love and marriage during the time
of a zombie outbreak is fitting, especially if examined in the context of
physical anthropology paired with comedy theory. This is with specific mention
of the courtship of Elizabeth Bennet by Misters Collins and Darcy.
Mr.
Collins and the Comic Body. Grahame-Smith may have not intended it,
but he has literally shaped Collins in accordance to the structure of the comic
hero. Recent comedies
seemed to have left out
the subject of bodies, as there are thin and beautiful people trying their luck
at comic material. Is this transition a successful one? On certain occasions it
is, if the material is brilliant enough. But the classic approach never dies.
Following a traditional preference, Collins may not be the hero but a
supporting character; but it is his fatness that is of importance as a staple
of comedy in such a dark storyline.
If Collins was thin or average, it is highly doubtful
that there would be a comedic affect to his ridiculousness. Andrew Stott [2005]
mentioned Jerry Seinfeld who once said that conventionally attractive people do
not make good (stand-up) comedians. The audience distrusts beauty in comedy
and wants their clowns to be imperfect. An ideal of physicality must exist
against which the comedian can be found lacking, thereby reassuring an audience
that comic substance will be found in departure from those ideals [Stott 2005:
79].
As a permutation to Maurice Charney [1978
cited in Stott 2005: 79], Collins’ fatness shares in that of the comic hero
where it is the declaration of himself as the patron of everything real,
physical, material, enjoyable, and the enemy of abstractions and seriousness. The
comic body is exaggeratedly physical, a disproportionate, profane,
ill-disciplined, insatiate organism [Stott 2005: 79]. The character can be a disproportionate
caricature him or herself; and this is the same case with Mr. Collins who is
mentioned to be ‘uncommonly round’ [Grahame Smith 2009: 65]. And this portrayal
is perfect because the comic body privileges the facts of physicality over the
ideal of the physique, and its functions over poise [Stott 2005: 79].
As fans of the original Pride & Prejudice as well as
of the numerous canon-loyal, fan fiction will know, Mr. Collins as suitor came
about as a thought up remedy to the estate dispute. Perhaps Collins was guilty
about the Longbourn house and gardens passing directly to him instead of one of
the Bennet daughters. And so to marry Elizabeth would be the most legal
solution. On normal days, this would not only be a typical solution, but
stripped of its comical value.
As
Evolutionary Theory would have it, the act of finding love and marriage in the
time of zombies would primarily have to do with survival. In an interview with
fitness philosopher and weightlifting enthusiast Abner Bondoc [2012], he says:
People have been programmed to look for characteristics which would signify
health as well as clues hinting at the high survival rate of offspring if they
choose to have them. To take this and apply it in the case of PP&Z, there
was a relationship between the variables of physique as well as defense
capabilities. The humor in his act of
courtship towards Elizabeth has to do with irony because of orientations during
socialization. Society finds it strange for a man to be passive and unskilled
in any form of combat or defense. Society’s word for men lacking this knowledge
or capability is that they are ‘sissies’. It is therefore ironic that
Elizabeth, who has exceptional knowledge of these fields could be considerably
more manly than Mr. Collins; even more so when he hid behind Elizabeth
as she killed the
zombies during one of their walks [Grahame-Smith 2009: 49-51].
In PP & Z, concomitant with the idealization of
beauty is a cultural insistence on mastering the body, and making it conform to
ideas of deportment and appropriate behavior, regulating its functions and
odours according to what is considered acceptable, and what must be suppressed as crude or bestial [Stott 2005: 81]. This idea of the beauty and the body is
taken in the context of cultural refinement, just like in the canon, and this
is developed even more specifically in the PP & Z fan fic where
“accomplishedness” involves an excellent if not an exceptional mastery of the
“deadly arts” [Grahame-Smith 2009: 117].
The
variables of the round body and martial arts as played in the PP & Z
version are influenced by old fashioned martial arts films. There was the
tendency for the author to adhere to stereotypical images of the fat coward.
Notice how since Bruce Lee, the Chinese martial arts stars are thin. There is
habit to assume that a guy who could kick is automatically of thin built
[Bondoc: 2012], and this is speaking from a westernized perspective. This was
until 1979 where Sammo Hung became identified as the face of a new kind of kung
fu which challenged the ‘fat is slow and immobile’ equation. Still, Mr. Collins is no Sammo Hung.
Elizabeth
According to Critics. I
am honestly wondering what possessed Grahame-Smith to include a discussion guide
at the last two pages of his book. On the plus side, question number five would
be an interesting subject for this segment.
Elizabeth’s
fierce independence, devotion to exercise and her preference of wearing boots
has led her to be called the “first literary lesbian” by some critics. Whoever
shared that opinion has clearly no knowledge of gender categories. These
criteria mentioned do not suffice as basis for deciding the gender of any
character, living or dead, fictional or existing. As for the matter of her
“penchant for boots”, for this to be
said as a fashion of a lesbian is a chauvinistic statement. To select boots
over heels or doll shoes is a selection based on comfort and practicality.
The
anti-boots attitude the critics had are more or less based on some unofficial
shoe-buying psychology which maintains that women are particular with style
because of certain aesthetic properties being sought. What critics are overlooking is that aside
from loyalty to the canon, Elizabeth Bennet is one of the first recognized
nonconformists in the history of literature. She embodies agency.
Her sense
of independence stems from the fact that she has no known insecurities; she is
confident. Further, her zealous interest in exercise is beyond the normal
degree in comparison to other women. And the critics were able to use this to
describe her because most women are known to not have an eager attitude when it
comes to exercise [Bondoc: 2012]. As society labels the activity of workouts
and exercise through contact sports and the like as masculine, this would make any woman who is
interested in this stuff considered as tomboy, not lesbian [Bondoc: 2012]. This
is also in recognition of the fact that there are lesbians who do not like
masculine activities, and that there are lesbians who have feminine interests
such as wearing makeup. And this is perfectly valid with Elizabeth, because if
she was a lesbian, Grahame-Smith’s book would discuss her (discrete) merry wars
with Caroline Bingley; and not Fitzwilliam Darcy.
To my mind, critics were able to receive this impression
due to a great part of the psychology of the visual. The novel has portions
which show details in graphics, and I had been amused to find how masculine
Elizabeth’s face had been portrayed, especially during combat scenes. Page 15
exemplifies the definition of her chin area as well as her cheek bones. Her
brows also did not suit her eyes. This is repeated in page 150, and this time
the angle of her face further defined her jaw line; making her appear like a
combination of Jeffrey Bryan Davis and Christopher Walken wearing an up-do. Elizabeth
at her softest was on page 303 when she was holding hands with Darcy just
before they decided to behead a set of zombies. This page alone already negates
the whole lesbian label.
An insight from reading the fifth question is how people tend to forget that gender
categories do not necessarily have an age requirement. I was quite surprised with their forgetting
that Lady Catherine was just as extreme as Elizabeth was. In fact, she was
portrayed to be even more masculine. This was both implied in the text as well as
in picture [Grahame-Smith 2009: 291]. Lady Catherine’s portrayal on page 291 is
reminiscent of a Rustom Padilla dressed in drag with the added element of age.
I along with others who may agree with what I have to say of this can only
wonder why Lady Catherine was overlooked.
Was it because she’s an old lady?
Much
Ado About Darcy. In
contrast with Collins, Darcy is physically perfect with combat skills to match.
These traits guarantee the survival of his lineage, and considering this, makes
him without a doubt a wise choice.
The
Success Behind Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
It was against the ideals of beauty and manners that
physical comedy is produced. The perversion of the socially tolerable body
provokes laughter [Stott 2005: 82]. Abjection helps us understand the place of
the body in comedy, and to borrow from John Limon, there is the psychic
worrying of some of the aspects of oneself that one cannot be rid of that seem
but are not quite alienable --- for example blood, urine, feces… and the corpse
[Limon 2000 cited in Stott 2005: 82].
People’s fascination with zombies is a fascination with
pollution, something contradictory to society’s notions of civility and
culture. Abjection is one explanation as to how the sick and morbid, even
toilet humor; literary plotlines concerning violence and pain, how material of
these nature are popular. This makes the mash-up effective because Pride &
Prejudice is a definition of culture and propriety. And with the grotesque as
the embodiment of the abject [Stott 2005: 83], the zombies which are
ridiculous, horrifying and bizarre --- these when incorporated into the canon
presents the idea of the clash of the extreme opposites.
References:
Bondoc, Abner
A., Fitness Philosopher &
Weightlifting Enthusiast. Interview. 01 October 2012
Charney, Maurice,
Comedy High and Low, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Graham-Smith, Seth,
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2010
Love/Lust and the Undead, Sundance Channel
Stott, Andrew, Comedy
(The New Critical Idiom), Taylor & Francis E-Library, 2005.
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