4 Very Different but Brilliant Jane Austen Adaptations if You've Seen Pride and Prejudice
Timeless topics, feminist motifs and, of course, charming characters are all part of the Jane Austen adaptations.
The Regency era is long gone, along with the era of the corset, the old morals erased by the whirlwind of centuries, but fortunately no one will stop reading and filming Jane Austen.
1. Emma., 2020
Jane Austen's fourth novel is one of the most filmed of all time. If you prefer the classic version, you can watch the movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow. If you are interested in a more modern view, then you should pay attention to Emma with a period.
Emma is indecently rich, lives with an eccentric father, and meddles in her friends' personal lives because she has no interest in her own marriage. Austen's heroine allowed herself to say openly that if you have money, there is no point in looking for a husband.
It was a revolutionary statement for the 19th century, when marriage was both a lifeline for young girls and a mandatory point in a biography.
2. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, 2016
More specifically, Burr Steers' zombie comedy is an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's book that parodies the classic novel.
The plot is the same as the original, except that in between dancing and drinking tea, five sisters are forced to fight a zombie invasion. It turns out that even with a full-blown war with the walking dead outside their windows, the young ladies still have to find a worthy husband.
3. Northanger Abbey, 2007
Austen's first novel, published after her death, has been overshadowed by other books and, it seems, is of less interest to filmmakers.
Jane Austen wrote the novel as a parody of the Gothic genre popular at the time. Her heroine is a young girl, Catherine Morland, who reads novels and dreams of solving dark mysteries.
When the neighbors invite Catherine to go with them to another town, the young lady immediately agrees and looks forward to new adventures. Meeting Isabella and Henry, visiting a mysterious castle – all this allows the girl to let her imagination run wild.
4. Clueless, 1995
When it comes to modernizing the language of Jane Austen, Clueless is the gold standard. Amy Heckerling took the basis of Emma – an overly confident young woman who is a professional matchmaker – and set the story in the 1990s.
The village in the south of England gives way to an American town, where Emma is a spoiled high school student and Mr. Knightley is her stepbrother.
Viewers familiar with the original plot will recognize the references to the book, but the movie stands on its own.