The Curious Gothic in Jane Austen’s ‘Sanditon’
By: Charlene Dekalb
Tags: Jane Austen, Features, Culture, TV, Television

Incest

The first and most shocking addition is the nature of Sir Edward and Esther Denham’s relationship. These two siblings-in-law live alone (with servants) in the decrepit manor home left to them by their parents. The house itself has a gothic touch to it, with its sense of lavish decay and isolation. And Edward and Esther are closer than strictly proper — in fact, they’re in love. The sense of unease in their interactions builds in the first episode, as their closeness seems inappropriate. Incest is not a theme that would be touched on by Austen but is not uncommon in Gothic literature. It is part of the taboo nature of Gothic stories and while creating drama in Sanditon, it feels very out of place and unnecessary.

Death

Another topic relatively untouched by Austen is that of death. The cantankerous Lady Denham constantly belittles and criticizes the people around her, so that when she is facing death her relatives are most concerned with finding out who will inherit her fortune. Most of the first half of the miniseries concerns the machinations of Clara, Esther, and Sir Edward. This is not a new idea in Austen’s world, but Davies manages to dwell on the possibility of Lady Denham’s death in a particularly morbid way. This grim aspect of the story fits the Gothic tone perfectly.

The miniseries also ends with the death of a minor character — unfortunately he dies in a fire — another dramatic and fitting ending in a Gothic story. Fire often comes up in these tales as natural catastrophes add more horror and suspense to the story.

The Menacing Older Man

Charlotte’s love interest, Sidney Parker, is at first a typical kind of Austen hero: reserved, brooding, and attractive. Sidney also gets off on the wrong foot with Charlotte during their first conversation. When she becomes friends with Sidney’s ward, Georgiana, Charlotte becomes complicit in trying to hide Georgiana’s love affair with a respectable, but poor man. In effect, Sidney becomes a villain, especially when he dismisses Georgiana’s feelings outright, and does not care to explain his actions to Charlotte.

The adaptation paints Sidney in a far more threatening light because he is an obstacle to Georgiana’s happiness and Charlotte’s relationship with him is contentious at first. The romance between Sidney and Charlotte comes later and only after they have come to see the worth in each other. The adaptation also does a good job of setting up another potential love interest for Charlotte in Young Stringer (Leo Suter), the steadfast labourer who hopes to become an architect. This potential love match ensures that Sidney can play the villainous part for a few episodes in this miniseries.

Imperialism

Gothic stories highlight human anxieties, and one point of unease common in the early 1800s was the incongruity between British imperialism and English prejudice. It’s not clear whether Jane Austen’s creation of an heiress from the West Indies in the story was meant to be a commentary on racism at the time, but this adaptation highlights imperialist fears.

The portrayal of Georgiana is a sensitive one, with her discomfort in English society and her reluctance to befriend anyone making her a sympathetic outcast. She chafes under the restrictions placed on her, especially because she is not allowed to continue correspondence with the man she loves — another man of African descent. The resolution to that romance is not a happy one for her as her English guardian is proved right, and Georgiana learns that his wishes for her are in her best interest. Perhaps a commentary on British imperialism as a necessary evil at the time? Georgiana’s angst and the barely concealed racism in some of the characters highlight another unexpectedly Gothic turn to the story.

This recent adaptation of Sanditon breathed life into the character sketches Jane Austen created. Fans of her work may have wanted a more conventional approach to completing the story, but Andrew Davies delivered something a little different. Something inspired by the popular sensationalist novels of Austen’s era, and the undercurrent of passion and human anxieties in her stories. It doesn’t always work for Sanditon and it might’ve resulted in disappointment for an expectant audience, but the result was an intriguing approach to the story.