Sanditon - General Discussion

[seasons]

I keep missing it - how did the fire start?

[dcalley]

3 minutes ago, seasons said:

I keep missing it - how did the fire start?

Old Stringer collapsed while holding a candle. I'm not entirely sure what he was doing before that, but he was on a ladder in the resort buildings stubbornly doing some work, alone, at night, with his bad leg and a bunch of lit candles up high. What could possibly go wrong?!

[shapeshifter]

12 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

I don't recall Tom's saving Sidney's financial rear end. IF TRUE, it totally explains Sidney's actions with money up to and including the ending

It was only mentioned once briefly.  
From episode 6:

Quote

[TOM TO CHARLOTTE] …Sidney can be hard to read, that is all. He is a conundrum.
[CHARLOTTE] But a conundrum can be solved. He seems so determined to keep the world at arm's length.
[TOM] That wasn't always the case. In his younger days, he was a very different man.
[CHARLOTTE] Mary has spoken of a broken engagement?
[TOM] Yes. Eliza. They were very much in love. But at the last moment, she passed him over in favour of an older, and wealthier man. He set out on a rather self-destructive path. We were all greatly concerned. In the end, I paid his debts and he sailed to Antigua in a bid to forget her. I fear the man he was never quite returned.  

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by shapeshifter
line break

[LennieBriscoe]

Well, well, well. So Sidney had, in his darkest emotional time, been financially rescued by TOM. 

Thank you for catching that, shapeshifter. Upon re-watching, I discovered I somehow missed that entire scene.

I must ponder now!

[Roseanna]

16 minutes ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Well, well, well. So Sidney had, in his darkest emotional time, been financially rescued by TOM. 

Although that is meant to explain why Sidney wanted to rescue Tom by marrying for money,  becoming self-destructive after losing his love shows that his character is weak. 

Instead, heroes in Austen's novels continue to do their duty and are generally respected (Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility, Captain Wentworth in Persuasion). After all, men have a lot in life besides love. 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Well, well, well. So Sidney had, in his darkest emotional time, been financially rescued by TOM. 

Thank you for catching that, shapeshifter. Upon re-watching, I discovered I somehow missed that entire scene.

I must ponder now!

I will stay tuned!

1 hour ago, Roseanna said:

Although that is meant to explain why Sidney wanted to rescue Tom by marrying for money,  becoming self-destructive after losing his love shows that his character is weak. 

Instead, heroes in Austen's novels continue to do their duty and are generally respected (Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility, Captain Wentworth in Persuasion). After all, men have a lot in life besides love. 

Yes, just because Davies (and perhaps Austen) wanted this to be a slightly more modern story than Austen's previous novels --especially with regards to race, gender, and class-- this does not mean that Austen's representation/archetype of an exemplary character needs to be thrown out in the name of psychological or sociological complexity or whatever. These lines:

Quote

[TOM TO CHARLOTTE] …Sidney can be hard to read, that is all. He is a conundrum.
[CHARLOTTE] But a conundrum can be solved.

seem to express where Davies got bogged down, and seemingly never escaped from, although maybe a second season would have solved the "conundrum" that was Sydney, but I doubt it.

Edited February 28, 2020 by shapeshifter

[Roseanna]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, just because Davies (and perhaps Austen) wanted this to be a slightly more modern story than Austen's previous novels --especially with regards to race, gender, and class-- this does not mean that Austen's representation/archetype of an exemplary character needs to be thrown out in the name of psychological or sociological complexity or whatever.

I don't know if Austen's heroes could be called "examplary characters" in the sense that they were perfect, but they were men of honor and integrity. Edward Ferrars was perhaps the least interesting, but if he had been forced to give up Elinor whom he loved, and marry Lycy because he couldn't break their engagement, especially in the situation where her mother wanted him to marry for money, he wouldn't "become self-destructive" but tried to behave stoically.

I think the script by Emma Thompson to Sense and Sensibility is a good example of modernisation that makes heroes more interesting to the modern audience without taking the  basic Austenian values from the movie. Edward is given a sense of humor and a bond with the youngest sister, Margaret, besides, like in the novel, having different values than his horrible sister Fanny. Colonel Brandon is shown a lover of poetry and birds, besides, like in the novel, valueing Marianne as she is when even Elinor criticizes her habit to show her feelings openly and while loving her without hope, still making anything to help her.    

[chitowngirl]

Maybe in a few years someone else will take the unfinished novel and tackle it and really do it justice. I’d love Emma Thompson to take a crack at it.

[Shanna Marie]

I have the edition of the novel that has been completed "by another lady." I haven't read past the Austen part, but now I'm curious to see what that author did with the story. I held off until after watching the series because I didn't want to get the plots muddled.

[Kyanight]

39 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

I have the edition of the novel that has been completed "by another lady." I haven't read past the Austen part, but now I'm curious to see what that author did with the story. I held off until after watching the series because I didn't want to get the plots muddled.

I bought that book recently.  The ending is VERY different.

[oceanview]

1 hour ago, Kyanight said:

I bought that book recently.  The ending is VERY different.

Ending was different, you say.   Did you like it?    The Book and the Ending?  What is the name of that book and author, if known.  Thank you

[Kyanight]

6 minutes ago, oceanview said:

Ending was different, you say.   Did you like it?    The Book and the Ending?  What is the name of that book and author, if known.  Thank you

 I haven't read the book yet - just HAD to read how it ended, so just read the last page or two.  Now I will go back and read the entire thing.  I bought this on Ebay for $6.64 and free shipping - didn't want to pay too much in case it was awful!  lol

[shapeshifter]

I read a couple of versions of Sanditon decades ago but only recall that they weren’t satisfying enough to warrant re-reading, whereas I read her others about half a dozen times each —although not recently. 

[Shanna Marie]

That's exactly the book I have, same cover and everything. My mom had it from ages ago, possibly from when it was new. It's been on my shelf forever but I hadn't read it because I liked the idea of there being Austen I hadn't yet read (I didn't realize how little of it she actually wrote -- it's barely an introduction, just setting up the main characters and situation).

[oceanview]

1 hour ago, Kyanight said:

 I haven't read the book yet - just HAD to read how it ended, so just read the last page or two.  Now I will go back and read the entire thing.  I bought this on Ebay for $6.64 and free shipping - didn't want to pay too much in case it was awful!  lol

So interesting!     You were not kidding when you said it was by Jane Austen  and  ANOTHER LADY.  What a hoot.  Wonder what  date it was published and who the other lady (or man) could have been,   Mystery for sure .  Thanks for the update

[LennieBriscoe]

Perhaps it was always intended that Sidney ends up with the woman who had jilted him for money and whom he does not love, and must bid farewell to the young woman who deserves a man of honor and integrity.

That is, two people who subscribe to a  value system that countenances marrying for money, end up together; two people who see beyond money and looks, end up together; and Our Heroine escapes a life with a brooding, taciturn man of latent "self-destructive" behaviors. 

If only we could have had one more scene, maybe of Young Stringer riding from somewhere towards Sanditon, encountering Charlotte's carriage and being able to exchange a few words with her, allowing Charlotte and us to hope......😊

Edited February 29, 2020 by LennieBriscoe

[Shanna Marie]

1 hour ago, oceanview said:

Wonder what  date it was published and who the other lady (or man) could have been,   Mystery for sure . 

The copyright is 1975, and it's assigned to the publishing company, not any particular author. According to Wikipedia, "another lady" seems to be Anne Telscombe, as the ISBN for the completion where she's said to be "another lady" links to an Amazon listing with the same cover as the book I have, and the Amazon listing for that book credits her as co-author. It looks like she wrote a couple of novels during the 60s, in addition to this one.

There's "An Apology from the Collaborator" as an afterword that goes into her rationale for the choices she made. She decided that Charlotte and Sidney would be the hero and heroine based on indications in the text and how they fit the patterns of Austen's writing. Sidney's barely in the Austen fragment, so his character isn't really established. This author just figures he'll be the romantic hero because he's the single and wealthy guy mentioned early in the book, and there's a scene in which Tom tells Charlotte how great he is.

It may be a month or so before I get a chance to read it because I have a deadline for getting a bunch of other stuff read.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Shanna Marie said:

The copyright is 1975, and it's assigned to the publishing company, not any particular author. According to Wikipedia, "another lady" seems to be Anne Telscombe, as the ISBN for the completion where she's said to be "another lady" links to an Amazon listing with the same cover as the book I have, and the Amazon listing for that book credits her as co-author. It looks like she wrote a couple of novels during the 60s, in addition to this one.

There's "An Apology from the Collaborator" as an afterword that goes into her rationale for the choices she made. She decided that Charlotte and Sidney would be the hero and heroine based on indications in the text and how they fit the patterns of Austen's writing. Sidney's barely in the Austen fragment, so his character isn't really established. This author just figures he'll be the romantic hero because he's the single and wealthy guy mentioned early in the book, and there's a scene in which Tom tells Charlotte how great he is.

It may be a month or so before I get a chance to read it because I have a deadline for getting a bunch of other stuff read.

That makes sense since I'm pretty sure I read the "another lady" version of Sanditon around 1977, checking it out from the library. A new edition was published in the mid 90s.

I just looked at the epub version of Austen's Sanditon chapters via my library. It ends with the arrival of Sidney Porter, which is kind of amusing to me.

 

 

[Roseanna]

4 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

There's "An Apology from the Collaborator" as an afterword that goes into her rationale for the choices she made. She decided that Charlotte and Sidney would be the hero and heroine based on indications in the text and how they fit the patterns of Austen's writing. Sidney's barely in the Austen fragment, so his character isn't really established. This author just figures he'll be the romantic hero because he's the single and wealthy guy mentioned early in the book, and there's a scene in which Tom tells Charlotte how great he is.

I have read the book. Charlotte is decribed as a sensible young women who against all her principles falls in love with Sidney but although he openly flirts with her, she can't believe he loves her because his sister has said that he is never in earnest. She is abducted by another man but manages to flee and returns home. He comes there to tell her parents she has been abducted and after learning that she is safe seems so revealed that she realizes that he loves her too. He suggests that they elope and when she admits, he says that he isn't in earnest and only wanted to know that she loved him without any reasonable thought in her head. Not a great novel and Austen wouldn't make the hero even suggest eloping but at least it's written according to the romance genre.

It's Sidney who in their first scene criticizes his family and when he asks her opinion, Charlotte says that although as family member he may have a right to say such things, the same can't apply to her who is their guest. He understands her cautious but weiled reproach about his behavior and accepts it goodnaturedly. He never behaves rudely, not even inpoletely towards Charlotte, he only likes to scheme (there is a real elopment where he helps) and during courtship he wants to hide his feelings toward Charlotte from his family's too curious eyes, thus also leading also her astray,

[Roseanna]

It wasn't told how Sidney got his debts after Eliza broke their engagement. We were shown that he had formerly been a regular visitor in the brothel, but one scarelely gets huge debts for paying for usual prostitutes. He must either have kept one of the most expensive mistress of London or (like Lady Susan, the mistress of Prince Regent), or, most likely, he used to gamble, wrote uncovered bonds checks and lost. After all, for some reason gambling debts were considered "debts of honor" by gentlemen whereas debts to f.ex. shops weren't although as we have seen when Tom couldn't affor to pay to his workers, ordinary people had to worked hard for their living were made to suffer.   

[shapeshifter]

14 minutes ago, Roseanna said:

It wasn't told how Sidney got his debts after Eliza broke their engagement. We were shown that he had formerly been a regular visitor in the brothel

Maybe Sydney and Eliza’s future included being afflicted by syphilis.   
Or, given that the Parkers all tended to spend money foolishly, perhaps in the future Charlotte, who is established as a fine lady, is ministering to the poor and comes across homeless Sidney, Eliza, and a child. Sidney and Eliza die of tuberculosis and Charlotte, who lives independent of any man (perhaps with Lady Susan) adopts the child. 

[Kyanight]

7 hours ago, Roseanna said:

I have read the book. Charlotte is decribed as a sensible young women who against all her principles falls in love with Sidney but although he openly flirts with her, she can't believe he loves her because his sister has said that he is never in earnest. She is abducted by another man but manages to flee and returns home. He comes there to tell her parents she has been abducted and after learning that she is safe seems so revealed that she realizes that he loves her too. He suggests that they elope and when she admits, he says that he isn't in earnest and only wanted to know that she loved him without any reasonable thought in her head. Not a great novel and Austen wouldn't make the hero even suggest eloping but at least it's written according to the romance genre.

It's Sidney who in their first scene criticizes his family and when he asks her opinion, Charlotte says that although as family member he may have a right to say such things, the same can't apply to her who is their guest. He understands her cautious but weiled reproach about his behavior and accepts it goodnaturedly. He never behaves rudely, not even inpoletely towards Charlotte, he only likes to scheme (there is a real elopment where he helps) and during courtship he wants to hide his feelings toward Charlotte from his family's too curious eyes, thus also leading also her astray,

Meh.  Thanks for saving me the trouble of reading it.  One of the reasons Austen's books are so good is because SHE actually lived in that era and knows the times and people.  I gave up most romance novels YEARS ago, because I was so sick of the abductions (like they happened to every third woman back then!) and the extreme drama.  It figures that someone would come along and toss that stuff in her book.  Sorry if that offends anyone - it's not my intention.

Edited February 29, 2020 by Kyanight

[shapeshifter]

52 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

Meh.  Thanks for saving me the trouble of reading it.  One of the reasons Austen's books are so good is because SHE actually lived in that era and knows the times and people.  I gave up most romance novels YEARS ago, because I was so sick of the abductions (like they happened to every third woman back then!) and the extreme drama.  It figures that someone would come along and toss that stuff in her book.  Sorry if that offends anyone - it's not my intention.

Me too. I loathe the requisite, gratuitous, mostly-female abductions in so much fiction in all media. I was offended by Charlotte's near rape in this series because Austen would never have described it, had it happened.

[Shanna Marie]

5 hours ago, Kyanight said:

I gave up most romance novels YEARS ago, because I was so sick of the abductions (like they happened to every third woman back then!) and the extreme drama.

I guess in the TV version, they went with Miss Lambe being abducted, so they still got one in. It is a very Georgette Heyer plot.

If the TV series had been one of those Regency romances from the 70s-80s, Charlotte would have been considered "compromised" from being alone with Sidney as much as she was while rescuing Miss Lambe, so he would have been required to do the honorable thing and marry her. Sometimes those plots involved a near-abduction, where the guy did it on purpose, but sometimes it was an accident that created a friends-to-lovers situation -- they had a good reason to be together like that, but it ended up looking bad, so the guy was honorable and offered to marry her, and they ended up falling in love.

[Wonkabar5]

Since we are talking about the attempts at finishing the novel, the one that intrigues me the most is the one which was *attempted* by Austen's niece, Anna Austen Lefroy.

Has anyone read it? At just 500 copies printed in 1983, look at the price!!  😱

https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Austens-Sanditon-Austen-Lefroy/dp/0942506049/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sanditon%2B+anna+austen+lefroy&qid=1583018547&s=books&sr=1-1

The 2 reviews posted on amazon are interesting.

[oceanview]

21 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

The copyright is 1975, and it's assigned to the publishing company, not any particular author. According to Wikipedia, "another lady" seems to be Anne Telscombe, as the ISBN for the completion where she's said to be "another lady" links to an Amazon listing with the same cover as the book I have, and the Amazon listing for that book credits her as co-author. It looks like she wrote a couple of novels during the 60s, in addition to this one.

There's "An Apology from the Collaborator" as an afterword that goes into her rationale for the choices she made. She decided that Charlotte and Sidney would be the hero and heroine based on indications in the text and how they fit the patterns of Austen's writing. Sidney's barely in the Austen fragment, so his character isn't really established. This author just figures he'll be the romantic hero because he's the single and wealthy guy mentioned early in the book, and there's a scene in which Tom tells Charlotte how great he is.

It may be a month or so before I get a chance to read it because I have a deadline for getting a bunch of other stuff read.

That was nice of you to do all that research for us.   Very interesting.  I hope all your required reading is for pleasure (book club etc.), not work or school.    I really want to see a second season and a couple of people upthread have given some good ideas for an ending or two.   I like the ones that recommended  Young Stringer and Charlotte get together and go to the USA after his work in London.   Then that churlish Sidney can take his great looks and go back to his girlfriend who tossed him over for money.   I don't care what the rules were then about marrying for money, property  and position, it is hard to accept from this day and age look back.     I do admire Sidney, I guess, for sticking by his family, particularly his horrible businessman brother, as that could be admirable, as they have helped his other.  But his debt is paid  to his brother now AND it is just throwing good money after bad after this. 

[oceanview]

2 hours ago, Wonkabar5 said:

Since we are talking about the attempts at finishing the novel, the one that intrigues me the most is the one which was *attempted* by Austen's niece, Anna Austen Lefroy.

Has anyone read it? At just 500 copies printed in 1983, look at the price!!  😱

https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Austens-Sanditon-Austen-Lefroy/dp/0942506049/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sanditon%2B+anna+austen+lefroy&qid=1583018547&s=books&sr=1-1

The 2 reviews posted on amazon are interesting.

That was  very interesting reading.   Imagine if one of your relatives had one of the originals.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, oceanview said:

    I do admire Sidney, I guess, for sticking by his family, particularly his horrible businessman brother, as that could be admirable, as they have helped his other.  But his debt is paid  to his brother now AND it is just throwing good money after bad after this. 

Yes, this most irked me about the ending. It truly would be “just throwing good money after bad,” and frickin’ grief-stricken Stringer was also following Tom, the Pied Piper, Parker into the next inevitable disaster rather than going to London for a truly life-altering, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become an architect’s apprentice. Gah!

 

 

3 hours ago, Wonkabar5 said:

Since we are talking about the attempts at finishing the novel, the one that intrigues me the most is the one which was *attempted* by Austen's niece, Anna Austen Lefroy.

Has anyone read it? At just 500 copies printed in 1983, look at the price!!  😱

https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Austens-Sanditon-Austen-Lefroy/dp/0942506049/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=sanditon%2B+anna+austen+lefroy&qid=1583018547&s=books&sr=1-1

The 2 reviews posted on amazon are interesting.

Yes, especially:

Quote

Note though that Anna did not finish her "Continuation" either but her last chapters, although not edited or revised, do give an satifactory conclusion to "Sanditon." Anna even introduces several of her own characters to the book.

There are copies at 2 libraries within 30 miles of me which require special access which I probably still have, but it would require more time, energy, and effort than I have at the moment.  If I knew the page numbers of those “last chapters,” I could probably get scans via interlibrary loan. I might at least see if I can find citations with the page numbers. 

[Ilovepie]

On 2/24/2020 at 4:24 PM, JenMD said:

As for the show itself, Lord Babington and Esther saved it for me in a big way.   I would never have suspected I would be so invested in them at the start, but I was rooting for them hard.  And they had such a lovely wedding. 

This. Little did I know that Esther was the hero of this story, but with that ending, she is the big winner here. Personally, in hindsight, I wish Esther WAS the main character. She is infinitely more interesting than Charlotte. What a sucky ending this was. My favorite moment in the entire story with Charlotte was when she was making fun of Sydney and he caught her.....

I feel like this story is cursed. Jane Austen didn't finish it, and neither did Julian Fellowes......

[Kyanight]

1 minute ago, Ilovepie said:

This. Little did I know that Esther was the hero of this story, but with that ending, she is the big winner here. Personally, in hindsight, I wish Esther WAS the main character. She is infinitely more interesting than Charlotte.

Is it just me... or did Charlotte seem like a teenager while Sydney was a grown/experienced adult.  They were kind of a mismatch for me.

[Kohola3]

29 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

Is it just me... or did Charlotte seem like a teenager while Sydney was a grown/experienced adult.  They were kind of a mismatch for me.

Totally.  Charlotte had probably lived her whole life with her family on their farm whilst Sidney was off to exotic places blowing his money and pining after his lost love.  They really had nothing in common at all.

I guess we were supposed to think that Charlotte was precocious and intelligent and able to fit into all situations. Doubt that would really be the case in "real life".  I know I've been out and about in my life but I doubt I could suddenly join high society at a ball without screwing something up.  And where did she learn to dance all of those intricate dances (which, I confess, I find fascinating),

[treeofdreams]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

And where did she learn to dance all of those intricate dances (which, I confess, I find fascinating),

I was wondering the same thing myself.  For a "farm girl" who had never been anywhere, she certainly fit into society Life.

[Kyanight]

1 hour ago, treeofdreams said:

2 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

And where did she learn to dance all of those intricate dances (which, I confess, I find fascinating),

I was wondering the same thing myself.  For a "farm girl" who had never been anywhere, she certainly fit into society Life.

And while we are questioning things here.... where did she get all of the different dresses? This same farm girl we are talking about with 11 brothers and sisters had a lot of nice dresses including ball gowns.  Unless we are to assume her hosts purchased her all of that clothing?  When she bought those blue shoes for the ball, I found myself wondering who was paying for them.  You can't help but wonder how much spending money Charlotte brought with her to Sanditon!

[Ilovepie]

2 hours ago, Kyanight said:

Is it just me... or did Charlotte seem like a teenager while Sydney was a grown/experienced adult.  They were kind of a mismatch for me.

Yes, and I felt his change of heart was very abrupt. I really didn't feel any chemistry between them, other than when they were arguing.

Another minor quibble, and I know not all siblings look alike, but the four Parker sibs really, really, do not look like they came from the same family. Couldn't they have cast people that bearing a passing resemblance to each other? Edward looks more like Tom than Sydney......

[Kohola3]

55 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

You can't help but wonder how much spending money Charlotte brought with her to Sanditon!

I think that was all paid for by Tim and wife since they were hosting her.  They invited her there so I suppose it might be expected that they would do something like that in response to her "live saving" activities with the carriage accident. 

But them's the olden times so who knows....

[Roseanna]

12 hours ago, Kyanight said:

Is it just me... or did Charlotte seem like a teenager while Sydney was a grown/experienced adult.  They were kind of a mismatch for me.

The difference in age wasn't unusual at that time as men who didn't inherit had first earn enough money to support a family.

Also Austen has two couples with great difference of age: Emma and Mr Knightley, Marianne and Colonel Brandon. 

11 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Totally.  Charlotte had probably lived her whole life with her family on their farm whilst Sidney was off to exotic places blowing his money and pining after his lost love.  They really had nothing in common at all.

Well, that's the standard of romance novels: a man of world on his knees before an youg, inexperienced girl.

 

[Roseanna]

Andrew Davies got so much praise about Darcy's "wet shirt" that he forgot Darcy had also other qualities than sex appeal and, most of all, sex wasn't the top quality on the basis of Austen's heroines chose their husband. Willoughy is sexier than Colonel Brandon, Henry Crawford is sexier than Edmund Bertram, Frank Churchill is sexier than Mr Knightley, and also Wickham is meant to be sexier than Darcy as he is attractive to many women (Elizabeth, Miss King, Lydia).

Also in her older couples Austen showed how a man who choose her wife solely on the basis of beauty and sex are disappointed: Mr and Mrs Bennet, Sir Thomas and Lady Berrtam. 

[Kyanight]

7 hours ago, Roseanna said:

The difference in age wasn't unusual at that time as men who didn't inherit had first earn enough money to support a family.

Also Austen has two couples with great difference of age: Emma and Mr Knightley, Marianne and Colonel Brandon. 

Right!  But in THIS pairing - the attraction just seemed odd.  Emma and Marianne didn't seem like teenagers, despite the fact that they were much younger than the gentlemen.  You could have two 17 year old girls stand in front of you - one is more a woman and one is more still a child.  I was able to see the attraction for Mr. Knightley (who had a considerable amount of time to learn to love who Emma was, since he had watched her grow up) and Colonel Brandon - who admired Marianne's vitality and love for life and sense of joy.  I just could not see what either Charlotte OR Sidney saw in each other.  I'm not sure if it was the writing or the lack of chemistry between the actors.

[shapeshifter]

6 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

I just could not see what either Charlotte OR Sidney saw in each other.  I'm not sure if it was the writing or the lack of chemistry between the actors.

I thought the dance scenes and the bumping-shoulders walk scene gave sufficient chemistry.
My first love at 15 with a 19-year-old was similarly based upon the firing of hormones in response to proximity and not at all upon commonalities. Isn't it like that for everyone (unfortunately), even now?
I think the physical attraction sans any meeting of the minds worked just fine in the era of Sanditon given that (a) life expectancy was much shorter even discounting early-childhood mortality rates, (b) people tended to live within small social circles so soon they did share everything, and (c) they accepted the financial reasons of marriage.

[Roseanna]

On 3/4/2020 at 4:16 PM, shapeshifter said:

I thought the dance scenes and the bumping-shoulders walk scene gave sufficient chemistry.
My first love at 15 with a 19-year-old was similarly based upon the firing of hormones in response to proximity and not at all upon commonalities. Isn't it like that for everyone (unfortunately), even now?
I think the physical attraction sans any meeting of the minds worked just fine in the era of Sanditon given that (a) life expectancy was much shorter even discounting early-childhood mortality rates, (b) people tended to live within small social circles so soon they did share everything, and (c) they accepted the financial reasons of marriage.

One must remember that in the novels, movies and shows it's not only about the couple but there is also the third party: the audience that regards the relationship right or wrong, and in the former case anticipates their feelings before the couple does, wants them to be together and is happy for them when they finally do.

[Fireball]

On 1/20/2020 at 10:33 AM, iMonrey said:

I think we are meant to be rooting for Charlotte and Sidney but I much prefer Young Stringer for her. Or maybe it's just a classic triangle thing where we're supposed to be torn. 

On 1/27/2020 at 11:08 AM, HoodlumSheep said:

A bit on the racy side at some points (that's andrew davies for ya) but my mom and i are enjoying it. I'm team Stringer(?) even though there's probably less than a 1% chance of it happening. Sidney's a bit too grouchy and rude for my taste. 

I know I'm supposed to be rooting for Charlotte to marry above her station, but I'm completely on team Stringer. Of course Charlotte and Sidney are endgame...

I'm having a hard time wanting to keep watching this. Sidney is such an ass asking for her opinion and then telling her off for said opinion.  Being rude all the time. 

So please someone please lie to me and tell me Charlotte ends up with Mr. Stringer!

On 1/19/2020 at 10:41 PM, lucindabelle said:

WHY would her family let her go off with two people they’d literally just met? I half expected them to sell her into slavery or force her to be a governess at the least. They’ve turned out to be just what they seemed but that was reckless! And bizarre. 

This bothered me from episode 1. In other period piece shows the young women goes off with a relative or a good family friend. Here the parents send her off with complete strangers. And these strangers continue to house and feed Charlotte. It is the strangest thing. 

Edited March 28, 2020 by Fireball

[Kyanight]

2 minutes ago, Fireball said:

So please someone please lie to me and tell me Charlotte ends up with Mr. Stringer!

There, there!  It's all good - Charlotte ends up with Mr. Stringer!  😄

[Fireball]

1 minute ago, Kyanight said:

There, there!  It's all good - Charlotte ends up with Mr. Stringer!  😄

😂 I know you are lying, but thank you. 😄  I really am having a hard time with this show; I just really don't like any of the characters that much. 

[Kyanight]

1 minute ago, Fireball said:

😂 I know you are lying, but thank you. 😄  I really am having a hard time with this show; I just really don't like any of the characters that much. 

Well... lol.   I look at it this way.  First of all, you TOLD me to lie!  Secondly - I suppose you heard the season was cancelled?  So there really IS no ending.  We all get to make up our own ending.  So if you say that Charlotte ended up with Mr. Stringer, that is just as possible as the next person saying that Charlotte ends up with someone else.  You need to watch the entire show, though.  Then we can chat!

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, Fireball said:

So please someone please lie to me and tell me Charlotte ends up with Mr. Stringer!

I cannot lie, but I can tell you that Charlotte does not Not end up with Mr. Stringer. 😉

[Fireball]

22 hours ago, Kyanight said:

You need to watch the entire show, though.  Then we can chat!

Why can't I comment while I'm watching? Everyone else did. 😊If I have to wait to comment until I've finished watching I probably won't comment. 

[Kyanight]

13 minutes ago, Fireball said:

Why can't I comment while I'm watching? Everyone else did. 😊If I have to wait to comment until I've finished watching I probably won't comment. 

oh, lol!  I meant you need to finish watching so we can chat about the ENDING!  That IS what you were talking about in your post - who Charlotte ended up with at the end!  😄 

[Kabota]

I enjoyed this show...the seaside setting, the costumes, the commitment of the actors, but anachronism did begin to wear, at times. It had the potential, resort vacations and all, for continuing seasons, new and recurring characters, and continued through storylines, but I'm torn. I wouldn't be averse to a Christmas special type episode to wrap things up and give some viewers the HEA they so want, but I just wasn't that invested in Charlotte and Sidney together, so I'm not sure that I'd want to see another whole season of their "will they, won't they" dance. I was honestly more upset about how they left Young Stringer, forgoing opportunity out of guilt, and Georgiana  - she just sort of disappeared for most of the last 3 episodes. I did really love Esther's arc and subsequent wedding to Lord Babbington. And Anne Reid is always superb.

Edited April 17, 2020 by Kabota

[Jillibean]

I was initially so excited to watch this. I absolutely love Austen adaptations and I thought this was the perfect thing to watch while at home (in the epicenter, over here). I’m left feeling a sense of disappointment with the whole thing. I was hoping for a swoony romance, and this was sort of depressing. I know they were hoping for a second series, but it seems like a really weird and unsettling place to leave things. I hope they find a way to wrap this up in some way. This is not the ending the world needed right now! 😂

[shapeshifter]

On 4/22/2020 at 12:43 PM, Jillibean said:

I was initially so excited to watch this. I absolutely love Austen adaptations and I thought this was the perfect thing to watch while at home (in the epicenter, over here). I’m left feeling a sense of disappointment with the whole thing. I was hoping for a swoony romance, and this was sort of depressing. I know they were hoping for a second series, but it seems like a really weird and unsettling place to leave things. I hope they find a way to wrap this up in some way. This is not the ending the world needed right now! 😂

Reading your post, @Jillibean, I am so glad I watched this before the world ended as we know it. 😞 

But now I'm thinking I might re-read an Austen book.