Masterpiece in January

This month PBS stations across the country brought us a new season of Masterpiece Classic. The features presented in January were Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Wuthering Heights. Both are generally considered classic pieces of English literature, making them perfect candidates for Masterpiece on PBS.

I have read both books, or at least made a valiant attempt in the WH case, in the "classic slot" for our book club over the years. Tess made me very upset--the injustice of it all! And I never made it past the wind on the moor for eternity at the Heights. Of course, I tried to read it in January, mid-inversion, so you know how I must have been feeling about it. I had high hopes for the Masterpiece presentations this month.

It would be rather biased of me to talk in any detail about Masterpiece without formally disclosing that last year's Classic season was essentially a Jane Austen love fest. I believe that brought me through the winter in much higher spirits than one would expect. Each week I would watch, TiVo and then rewatch the Bertrams, the Tilneys, the Bennets, the Woodhouses, the Dashwoods and the Elliots along with all their characteristically telling ensembles. I still have three versions in the DVR that can pleasingly fill a Sunday afternoon for me.

So, I had high hopes for this season. Knowing I would not visit with my Austen favorites (until this weekend, however, as they are presenting an encore of Sense and Sensibility), I braced myself to other authors' works.

Tess, a classic novel by Thomas Hardy, was highly scandalous when it was first printed in a serialized form. Mr. Hardy was devoted to his characters and the social commentary they depicted. He would not edit out the particularly "upsetting" chapters that might offend some of his more gentle readers--as demanded by his planned publisher--so he took his novel and walked, eventually publishing it elsewhere.

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights was first published under a pseudonym and was horrifying for the mental and physical abuse it depicted. Even more shocking to the readers, critics and closeted devotees, was when it was revealed that Miss Bronte was a clergyman's daughter! Shock! Awe! Her novel, shocking and disturbing as ever, has never been out of print.

OK, English literature lesson over. I had really wanted to like both of these filmed adaptations. If I were a reviewer of such films, I would have to say that I liked Tess much better than the Heights, but neither of them made me feel warm and fuzzy. Maybe that is where my expectations were unreasonable.

If you have never read the books, then by all means see these Masterpiece adaptations. They are not strictly "by-the-book" but you get the overall feeling of the books and the spirit of the characters.

If, however, you are looking for a feel-good, all-works-out-in-the-end, the-good-guys-are-rewarded-for-their-goodness kind of Sunday afternoon or evening movie, then be sure to watch Masterpiece Classic this week (and the following 2 more Sunday evenings, I believe) and tune in to see Elinor and MaryAnn Dashwood overcome trouble and eventually find love on their own terms in Sense and Sensibility.

You can't tell it is my favorite Austen adaptation, can you? Even without Colin Firth!

I guess I am just glad that PBS still plays shows like Masterpiece regularly, as there is so much other junk and mindless drivel on TV. I'll keep watching it, even if it is Hardy or the Bronte sisters instaed of my dear Jane Austen. Beggars can't be choosers, right?