I Apparently Can't Get Enough Jane Austen

I am a sucker for period piece movies.  Pride and Prejudice is certainly a favorite...whether it be the BBC version or the Keira Knightly version (though the latter had to fit into regular movie length so at times it seemed a bit rushed).  Jane Eyre is probably the only book I have ever read twice, and once I knew that the Michael Fassbender version had been released, I had to see it.  Last night I found on Netflix streaming a BBC 4-episode mini-series of Emma.  I never read Emma, but I remembered enjoying the Gwenyth Paltrow version back in the day.  (It's hard to believe that was over a decade ago.)  I started at about 11pm and thought I would just watch the first episode and go to bed.  Of course I could not help it and ended up watching all 3 hours and 20 minutes in a row and went to bed at 2:30am.  Ouch.  I thought it was well paced and Jonny Lee Miller was quite good as the gentle and handsome Mr. Knightly.  The only thing that bothers me about the story is the act that Frank Churchill had put on.  It doesn't quite make sense to me, and and seemed like simply a forced device Ms. Austen to make Emma look foolish.  There didn't really seem to be a need for him to go so far in his antics.  I wonder whether reading the book would shed any light on this or whether it was more subtle when written.  Regardless, you still feel giddy at the end even though you can tell what is coming from a mile away, as you should...that's why we love these stories after all.