Jane Austen on Film and Television: A Critical Study of the Adaptations

231 Pages·2002·6.45 MB·English

by  Sue Parrill

Jane Austen on
Film and Television
A Critical Study of the Adaptations
I
t is a truth universally acknowledged that a good novel in
possession of a good love story must be in want of a screen
adaptation. Yet no work of Jane Austen reached the big screen
before 1940's Pride and Prejudice—which, though highly popular,
was the last Austen film for many years. Between 1948 and 1994,
television was the chief medium for adaptations of Austen's novels.
Then, suddenly, six important film and television adaptations
appeared in the space of two years. Following the 1995 Clueless—^
loosely adapted but recognizable Emma—came Persuasion, Pride
and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and two more Emmas, all before
the end of 1996. At the end of the twentieth century, a
nineteenth-century novelist had become a hot media property.
This book traces the history of film and television adaptations
(nearly 30 to date) of six novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and
Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey.
Author Sue Parrill compares the adaptations to the novels and to
each other, and analyzes the adaptations as cinematic art.
Sue Parrill, head of the English department at Southeastern
Louisiana University, lives in Hammond, Louisiana.
ft* McFarland
ISBN 0-7864-1349-2
Cover photograph: Elizabeth Bennct
(Greer Garson) and Mr. I);uv\
(Laurence Olivier) from the I94Û
film Pride and Prejudice (MOMA)
Jane Austen on Film and Television

Jane Austen on
Film and Television
A Critical Study of the Adaptations
by SUE PARRILL
McFarland &. Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Parrill, Sue, 1935-
Jane Austen on film and television : a critical study of the
adaptations / by Sue Parrill.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index. ^-^
ISBN 0-7864-1349-2 (softcover : 50# alkaline paper) ^9
1. Austen, Jane, 1775-1817—Film and video adaptations.
2. English fiction—Film and video adaptations.
3. England—In motion pictures. 4. Women in motion
pictures. 5. Love in motion pictures. I. Title.
PR4038.F55P37 2002
791.43'6-dc21 2002000752
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2002 Sue Parrill. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
•without permission in writing from the publisher.
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www. mcfarlandpub. com
To Bill for his love and loyalty

Contents
Preface
I. Why Jane Austen? 3
II. Sense and Sensibility 16
III. Pride and Prejudice 45
IV. Mansfield Park 80
V. Emma 107
VI. Persuasion 148
VII. North anger Abbey 169
Appendix: Filmography of Austen Adaptations 189
205
Bibliography
Index 215