Losing Lizzy in Lost in Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an Austen aficionado in possession of the ability to create her own Austen adventure, must want to analyze the many differences between her beloved Austen novel and the unusual adaptation in question. Emma Campbell Webster's Lost in Austen presents a unique perspective on Jane Austen's work that provides such a fan with ample opportunity to do so. She begins with the familiar story of Pride and Prejudice and alters it in such a way that the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, becomes a markedly different character, one made up of a combination of the original Lizzy Bennett and the reader herself. By so altering Lizzy, Campbell Webster changes the lens through which we perceive Pride and Prejudice and its characters.

In Pride and Prejudice, Austen uses an omniscient third-person narrator. Though she tells the story predominantly from Lizzy's perspective, we do "see" into the minds of many other characters. In Lost in Austen, however, the reader becomes Lizzy, enabling her to see only what Lizzy sees and perceive in others only what Lizzy perceives. This is particularly notable at the Netherfield ball because, in Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy's thoughts and feelings are exceedingly important in interpreting the scene. By removing perspectives other than Lizzy's, Campbell Webster changes the way we understand what happens in the scene. For example, the Lizzy that narrates Lost in Austen does not have the ability to "see" into Darcy's head. In Pride and Prejudice we learn that Darcy is in love with Lizzy, but in Lost in Austen, there is no omniscient narrator to tell us about it. Darcy's actions here do not show any particular affection for Lizzy, whereas in Pride and Prejudice, Austen makes Darcy's love for Lizzy abundantly clear:

She said no more, and they went down the other dance and parted in silence; on each side dissatisfied, though not to an equal degree, for in Darcy's breast there was a tolerable powerful feeling towards her, which soon procured her pardon, and directed all his anger against another. (126)

If we do not know that Darcy loves Elizabeth, it is much easier to sympathize with her when she criticizes his character and to assume that he is, in fact, exactly as she sees him. One of the most interesting and important things about Lizzy's character is that she persists in her prejudice against Darcy in spite of what the reader sees as obvious indications of her inaccuracy. In Lost in Austen, Campbell Webster deletes an exchange in which Darcy clearly proves that he is trying to make pleasant conversation with Lizzy:

'I do not think we were speaking at all. Sir William could not have interrupted any two people in the room who had less to say for themselves. ̶ We have tried two or three subjects already without success, and what we are to talk of next I cannot imagine.'

'What think you of books?' said he, smiling.

'Books ̶ Oh! no. ̶ I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same feelings.'

'I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, then there can at least be no want of subject. ̶ We may compare our different opinions.'

'No ̶ I cannot talk of books in a ball-room' (125)

This deletion of this exchange is particularly important because the exchange shows exactly how Lizzy's prejudice prevents Darcy from winning her over. She is predisposed to avoid any sort of conversation that might make her like him, as she points out in Pride and Prejudice when she says that "To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate" would be "the greatest misfortune of all" (123). By removing this, Campbell Webster forces the reader into the same pride-driven blindness that afflicts Lizzy, and in return, the reader brings her own prejudices.

Those who are familiar with Pride and Prejudice cannot read Lost in Austen from the same perspective as those who have not because they approach it with prejudices brought about by their knowledge of the events in Pride and Prejudice that take place subsequent to the Netherfield ball. This knowledge tends to prejudice us against Lizzy. We know that she is incorrect in believing Darcy's pride to be excessive and believing Wickham to be good. Campbell Webster keeps us in check, however, by criticizing us if we choose to point out that Darcy's pride might "do him credit":

Don't be stupid, his pride is extremely objectionable. If you can already appreciate the value of his pride, what can you possibly hope to learn from your interaction with Mr. Darcy? You are displaying an inappropriate level of psychological maturity.

Stop trying to be clever, and deduct 20 Intelligence points for your impertinence. (98)

Lizzy's ignorance is an integral part of her character, and the fact that we know about her ignorance is what makes it such an important characteristic. If we consider Lost in Austen on its own, assuming that we do not know the plot of Pride and Prejudice, Lizzy's character seems rightfully disgusted by Darcy's character. The dramatic irony Austen creates is lost. Because Campbell Webster discourages this sort of insight, however, we develop further prejudice against Lizzy. If we can exhibit this sort of "inappropriate level of psychological maturity," we wonder why she cannot (98).

Campbell Webster also deletes the exchanges Lizzy has with Miss Bingley and Jane regarding Wickham. Both women tell her that Darcy is not to blame for Wickham's misfortune, but Lizzy is intentionally blind to the truthfulness of their statements because of her pride. If we do not know that Lizzy heard these statements, though, we do not get the full effect of her self-inflicted ignorance. Though Miss Bingley may not be the most reliable source, Jane is unerringly honest, and Bingley is too kind and too in love with Jane to lie to her, so it can generally be assumed that what Jane and Bingley have to say on the subject is probably correct to the best of their knowledge. As Bingley is Darcy's closest friend, we can assume that Darcy would tell him the truth, so Bingley's story is especially important in proving that Lizzy's ignorance is intentional and her pride willful. She wants to believe that Darcy is wicked, so she ignores accounts that suggest otherwise. This does not happen in Lost in Austen. Campbell Webster does not highlight this aspect of Lizzy's character the way that Austen does, and it makes Lizzy's thoughts and actions seem less reprehensible than they do in Pride and Prejudice.

In addition to these deletions, Campbell Webster makes some major additions to Pride and Prejudice in Lost and Austen that greatly alter the meaning of the story. When Darcy asks Lizzy to dance in Lost in Austen, the reader has the option of choosing to dance with him or not, and Campbell Webster notes that the reader is "conscious of the very great dignity to which [she] will be raised by standing opposite so great a man" (84). This implies that Lizzy could potentially take the time to consider the pros and cons of dancing with Darcy rather than accepting his proposal out of surprise as she does in Pride and Prejudice. A Lizzy that would take the time to consider Darcy's proposal would have to be far less impulsive and more mature than the one in Pride and Prejudice. She would have to weigh the benefits of being a Darcy's known favorite against her hatred of him and loyalty to Wickham, and she would have to consider how refusing Darcy would be a violation of the rules of propriety.

When Elizabeth does accept Darcy, she begins to play a sort of game with him. Arguably the most important addition Campbell Webster makes to this scene is that she uses language reminiscent of video games and roleplaying to point out that Lizzy and Darcy's exchange is, in fact, a game. In this game, she explains that Lizzy's, and thus the reader's, purpose is to penetrate Darcy's "Shield of Pride" with "Impudence." It is clear in Pride and Prejudice, though, that Lizzy is playing for more than the knowledge that she can break Darcy's pride. She plays to show that she is equal or even superior to Darcy in character and to expose his faults. She wants to prove to herself that she is right in thinking Darcy a despicable character. If she can do this, she can also prove to herself that Wickham is good and a worthy husband.

As to what Darcy is playing for, one must consider again how we do not see Darcy's perspective in Lost in Austen the way we do in Pride and Prejudice. In Pride and Prejudice it is clear that Darcy is trying to win Lizzy over or, in the least, make out her character. As mentioned earlier, Darcy tries to make polite conversation about books and subsequently endeavors to use the knowledge that "[She] cannot talk of books in a ballroom; [her] head is always full of something else." to try to figure out whether the present always occupies her thoughts (125). In Lost in Austen, however, these motives are far from clear. He seems to act purely out of hatred toward Wickham and in defense of himself. Darcy's silence following Lizzy's exchange with him appears to be only a result of indignation with regard to Wickham rather than such indignation in addition to the embarrassment that would result from having the object of his affection think so ill of him.

According to Campbell Webster, Lizzy loses the game, "failing, for the second time, to penetrate Darcy's Shield of Pride." Perhaps, looking at the story solely from Lizzy's perspective, this seems to be true, but in Pride and Prejudice it is clear that this is not the case, as Lizzy believes herself to have won:

She was at least free from the offence of Mr. Darcy's farther notice; though often standing within a very short distance of her, quite disengaged, he never came near enough to speak. She felt it to be the probable consequence of her allusions to Mr. Wickham, and rejoiced in it. (134)

Lizzy's belief that Darcy avoids her because she alluded to Wickham is probably true. She wounded his pride and suggested that she, the woman he loves, prefers his enemy to him. If Campbell Webster's interpretation of the scene is to be believed, neither Elizabeth nor Darcy wins. Lizzy believes that she has not penetrated his "Shield of Pride," and Darcy has clearly not procured her good opinion. In Pride and Prejudice, however, Lizzy clearly dominates, having hurt Darcy's pride enough to ward him off for the rest of the evening and at the same time unknowingly obtaining his affection.

Upon further reading of Lost in Austen, one will find out that, in spite of Lizzy's apparent failure in the "game" between her and Darcy, dancing with and speaking to him is the only way to succeed. Should the reader decide to have Lizzy decline Darcy's offer, Darcy moves on and uncharacteristically decides to dance with Charlotte Lucas, and the next day Wickham appears at Longbourn to ask for Lizzy's hand in marriage. In spite of any desperate, silent, internal entreaties that the reader may make to the author, Lizzy accepts Wickham's proposal and runs away with him to Gretna Green. The Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice would never do this. Elizabeth has a strong sense of propriety, as evidenced by her reaction when Lydia does the same later on in Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy would have to be a stupid, gullible, desperate girl like Lydia in order for this to even be a plausible thing for her character to do. In the same vein, if the reader chooses for Lizzy to remain silent during her dance with Darcy, Lizzy goes outside, slips on a patch of ice, and breaks her neck. This overdramatic result of a relatively minor decision can only suit Marianne Dashwood and not Lizzy Bennett.

By changing the way we view Lizzy's character, Campbell Webster changes the way we view Pride and Prejudice as a whole. Rather than allowing the reader to pick up on Lizzy's failings the way Austen does, by gradually exposing them and pointing out the discrepancies between what Lizzy sees as true and what actually is true; Campbell Webster makes Lizzy's flaws our own and then bombards us with criticism for them. If we are Lizzy Bennett, we can be manipulated into wanting what Lizzy wants and, perhaps, this means that, like Lizzy, we become blind to anything that might get in the way of our desired perception. If Lizzy, in her determined hatred of Mr. Darcy, does not hear or internalize any favorable opinion of him, then, either through the work of the author or of our own self-inflicted blindness, we will not do so either.

If Lost in Austen, and thus Pride and Prejudice, is a game, we want Lizzy to win, but for each book "winning" means something different. In Lost in Austen, Campbell Webster defines Lizzy's goal for us: to "marry both prudently and for love." While this may be one of Elizabeth's goals in Pride and Prejudice, it is not her primary mission in life. She is not like Kitty or Lydia and does not throw herself in the way of men. Each time she does find a potential match, it appears to be by chance. Wickham, for example, she meets on a walk to Meryton. She believes her mother's and younger sisters' obsessions with finding husbands inappropriate and childish. By making a prudent and romantic marriage Lizzy's "mission" in Lost in Austen, Campbell Webster changes who Lizzy inherently is. The Lizzy Bennett of Pride and Prejudice can act as irreverently as she does because she is not constantly walking on eggshells in order to make herself pleasing to men.

When we consider Pride and Prejudice through the lens of Lost in Austen, we essentially learn what it is like to be in the mind of Lizzy Bennett. In spite of any knowledge we may have of Pride and Prejudice or any point of view we may have picked up from living in the twenty-first century rather than the nineteenth, we can do and "think" only what Lizzy does and thinks. This makes her even more central to the plot than she already is because she is the only character that we can truly identify with. When we can only see from Lizzy's perspective, we interpret both her and the other characters differently. Austen's narrator tends to be trustworthy when describing things from perspectives other than Elizabeth's, but passages told from Elizabeth's point of view are frequently skewed by the intentional stupidity that Austen imparts on her or the pride-driven blindness that she creates herself. When we cannot see what is going on around Lizzy, we are forced into being naïve and proud, and instead of criticizing Lizzy for her failings, we take them on as our own.

Though not everything Campbell Webster's Lizzy Bennett coincides with Austen's portrayal of her as a character, Campbell Webster's version does do one particularly important thing for readers of Lost in Austen that Pride and Prejudice cannot achieve. When the reader becomes Lizzy Bennett, she inherits her desire to "win." Ironically for a choose-your-own-adventure book, Lost in Austen makes Pride and Prejudice less a story of how Lizzy gets to her happy ending than it is a story of what that ending is.