“I have a stubbornness that can never bear to fear the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.” This epic excerpt from Pride and prejudicealong with many other memorable lines from the critically acclaimed novel, can still resonate and inspire individuals today.
Jane Austen, the world famous English author, completed only six works in her time and still manages to captivate a legion of fans around the world. Her timeless stories have been adapted into numerous films, TV shows and theater productions, as well as being translated into multiple languages around the world. Today, she remains as popular as ever and is as revered as any other literary figure in the history of the English language.
On that note, we’ve taken a closer look at why Austen’s book-to-movie adaptations typically work well on a critical and commercial scale. Netflix’s summer movie Persuasion may not have been a hit, but that won’t stop fans from eagerly awaiting future adaptations of Austen’s novels. View our analysis below.
The Life and Career of Jane Austen
The English writer, who lived to be just 41 years old, is perhaps solely responsible for giving novels a decidedly modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life. Austen published four novels during her lifetime: Sensation and sensitivity (1811), Pride and prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, meanwhile, were published together posthumously in 1817. In each, Austen vividly depicted the life of the English middle class in the early 19th century. Her work defined the morality novel of the era, but they also became timeless classics that remained successes for two centuries after her death.
Historians affirm that her vibrant and loving family circle provided a stimulating context for Austen’s writing. It was this world that she would use in the settings, characters, and subjects of her books. Austen’s concentration on character and personality, particularly the tensions between her heroines and their society, is more in keeping with modern society than with 18th-century traditions.
Why adaptations of Austen’s books work
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And that brings us to our next point. The much-loved modernity, humour, realism and timelessness of her prose style is what makes Austen’s novels so much fun to read today – not to mention why they’re also taught in schools everywhere. Modern critics remain fascinated by the impressive structure and organization of the novels. It’s common knowledge in Hollywood that any critically acclaimed novel featuring an introspective romantic heroine, strategic matchmaking, and silly supporting characters will eventually be brought to life on the big screen.
To get a sense of Austen’s influence, know this: At least nine movies have been based on it Pride and prejudiceincluding the 2005 movie starring Keira Knightley, and even Bridget Jones’ Diary, which spawned an entire franchise. Despite the huge gap in years between Austen’s era and our own, the situations – or shall we say predicaments – that Austen’s characters run into are fairly recognizable. Most of us have “been there” and suffered through seemingly well-mannered conversations about inheritance, marriage, and social status, albeit with loved ones of colleagues. These “modern” conditions can be found in Austen’s six published works.
“A lady’s imagination is very fast; it jumps in an instant from admiration to love, from love to marriage,” reads another line Pride and prejudice. Such recognizable “hot messes” as Elinor Dashwood, Emma Woodhouse and Fanny Price are some of the more coveted roles in Hollywood, so it’s no surprise that Austen’s novels have long been made into period dramas – the best of which combine perfect casting with exceptional costumes and dramatic staging of those iconic, endlessly quoted monologues.
Future Austen adaptations in development
The Netflix movie Convincingly, which hit masses over the summer, is Austen’s latest book-to-movie adaptation, and we hope to see more. And it seems Pride and prejudice just can’t be stopped – a Muppets movie version was recently pitched by Ted Lasso’s Emmy-winning star herself, Brett Goldstein (via Collider). Austen herself became a character in a recent novel by May McGoldrick titled Jane Austen can’t get married, which would certainly work as a big screen adaptation. The universes Austen has created in her novels are also adapted to the stage, such as a recent headline production in Houston, Texas. Check back here for updates on future Austen related projects in the works!