Presumption

January 4, 1993
Aside from the intelligence native to its title, this continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has little to commend it. Barrett (the pseudonym of writers Julia Braun Kessler and Gabrielle Donnelly) essentially reassigns the plights of Austen's characters. Thus Darcy's sister, Georgiana--Barrett's heroine--prejudges an honorable fellow even as she is dazzled by the duplicitous, Wickham-like Captain Heywood. This dastardly fellow hooks up with Wickham himself in an extortion scheme whereby Elizabeth's aunt Philips is imprisoned on charges of shoplifting. Haughty Caroline Bingley, running off with Heywood, implausibly enacts the role previously assigned to Lydia, while Georgiana (of course) finds solace for her wounded heart with aforesaid honorable fellow. Elizabeth, almost a minor figure, is rarely allowed to simply speak: she ``cries, '' ``says smiling'' or even ``cries . . .with sparkling eyes'' her various utterances. Arch and cumbersomely worded pseudo-aphorisms take the place of Austen's witty comments. The real presumption here is not the attempt to reincarnate Elizabeth, Darcy et al., but the titling of the work ``an entertainment.'' Readers will more likely cringe.