Jane Austen Novels Adaptations

For years, Jane Austen’s appeal dazzled the hearts of many and quite more interesting a fact is that she continues to allure different kinds of readers from all dimensions of life that if she were alive today, she would be one of the richest persons on earth having known that her novels are freely adapted here and there, from books to movies, to ridiculous TV series and other fancy things of commercial value.

I’ve read and reread all her novels except for Sanditon and this summer, I’m having quite an experience watching the BBC adaptations of her works. I’m amaze how impatient I have been for weeks and how this impatience is positively gratified by her wits and tongue lashing, her complex yet remarkable characters and the pertinent charm of dancing to awaken the affectionate heart.

Oh yes, I’ve had an overdose of all the goodness and what is more delightful is to divulge some of that goodness here. This would be a tiresome post but what’s that to matter now.









Persuasion 2007 BBC

This adaptation perfectly captured the melancholic nature of the novel. There are moments of complete dejection and a little less of the happy sorts. Sally Hawkins played the role quite incredibly especially during the moments where she stares at the camera, you can feel what she’s feeling. It’s as if she was piercing my heart, punctured little holes in its expanse. Her sad eyes, flowing tears and tremblinghands drives me to tears myself. As Anne Eliot, Sally Hawkins may not look quite pretty compared to how Jane Austen actually described in her novel but nonetheless there were moments that her inner beauty just shuns her rather unadorned appearance. Captain Wentworth played by Rupert Penry Jones is so close to how I imagined it from the novel. A sturdy yet gentle a man, with the pleasantness of character and eyes so dreamy. However, the intensity of his acting is not what I’ve anticipated. My favorite scenes in the movie were when they’ve met again for the first time for a very long time, in the Musgrove’s cottage. I’ve seen estrangement and broken hopes. Another was when Anne fell from a viaduct, where he came to her rescue despite their inner rupturestowards each other. That was an unmistakable indication of half agony, half hope. Lyme however is one tempestuous place made even more passionate with the exchange of conversations of the characters. And the concert, where their feeling became very evident to each other and finally Anne’s dash in Bath, in Campton Place, superb sensations running through me for the whole of that part.





Emma 2009 BBC

English gardens are indeed the paramount of all the gardens in the world, or at least in Emma. This is perhaps the most accomplished work of Jane Austen and I truly enjoyed the novel. Emma is a very smart girl with a flair for matchmaking. However, she went out of hand with Mr. Elton and Harriet Smith. Harriet Smith looked like Taylor Swift in this series. Mr. Elton was rather creepyish. RamolaGarai’s acting is impeccable. Her face performs so many expressions in a very pleasant way. Johny Lee Miller is quite the perfect man for the role of Mr. Knightly. His humbleness, his very upright manners, his scolding to Emma, his intuitive sentiments makes him a match with Mr. Darcy. This four part mini-series takes you to a friendship that turned into a romance, from childhood friends to lovers, from blind regard to a beautiful love story. The adaptation crafted a lively series and perhaps amplified the foolishness of Emma and elaborated her clever antics. My favorite parts were during the end where their feeling became evident and the confession begins with Mr. Knightly being so earnest and spoke just the right words to win Emma. Oh well, the scene where they were looking over the mountain holding hands just melt my heart.





Pride and Prejudice 2005 Universal Studios

I’ve watched the 1995 version and through it was very true to the novel, I think I loved the newer version better. Though Colin Firth looked so dashing in the older version, I preferred Matthew McFadyen’s dreamy eyes and gallantry. It is impossible to make a 2 hour movie from a 400 page novel but the screen writer made such a great job omitting some parts and crafting a briefer more comprehensive movie that will, I think, dazzle the earlier generations. Keira Knightley as Elizabeth was quite beautiful for the character. The plain Elizabeth was very ladylike and sharp and buoyant, not tomboyish just as how Keira characterized her. The English countryside is once again delightful. Pemberly is so much more than how I imagined it and the soundtrack in this movie does not let up, too. Favorite parts are the confession in the rain, very intense emotions there from Mcfadyen, Keira’s accent is so British that I found it very entertaining to follow; Judi Dench’s superb verbal abuses to Elizabeth makes me want to bitch slap her; Mr. Collin’s proposal was kind of amusing yet very exhilarating especially when he gave that flower to Elizabeth, it was as if he was presenting her a dagger instead by the look in her face. The proposal of Bingley where he uttered the phrase ‘incomprehensive ass’ that made me smile that such a word actually widely used in that century; and lastly when Mr. Darcy was walking towards Elizabeth one dawn in the meadows, he was mesmerizing.

The beauty of Jane Austen novels are in their language, in their remarks, witty banters and satire of the domestic lives and social norms of the Victorian era. Though these adaptations are very much close to the books, they’ve no say to it. Reading the books is like dipping a tortilla chip to whatever dip there is – very tasty. Sure, the adaptations have the best settings and greatest actors but they are only perpetuations of the original, hand-written creations of the writer. I fell in love with adaptations though. They’ve kept me up all night – just so addicting I forget to sleep.