Adaptation from literature to film has always been a much criticized enterprise, with fidelity
criticism, or an attempt to discredit fidelity criticism, often driving the critical discussion.
However, this type of thinking is somewhat limited, becoming circular and going nowhere
productive. Instead, taking into account what has come before, this thesis attempts to settle
on a method of examination that moves away from fidelity criticism and towards an approach
that aligns itself with cultural studies. Adaptations, then, can be seen as products of the
historical, cultural, political and general socio-economic framework out of which they
emerge, owing perhaps more to their context of production than to their source material. In
order to provide a case study that reflects this idea, this paper looks to an author who has
been adapted on multiple occasions, Jane Austen, and examines her as a cultural construct.
Looking at Austen’s most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice, and using Robert Z. Leonard’s
Pride and Prejudice (1940), Cyril Coke’s Jane Austen ‘s Pride and Prejudice (1980), Simon
Langton’s Pride and Prejudice (1995), Andrew Black’s Pride and Prejudice: A Latter Day
Comedy (2003), Gurinder Chadha’s Bride and Prejudice (2004) and Joe Wright’s Pride &
Prejudice (2005), the thesis argues that the appeal of Austen is a result of her cult status and
economic viability, and also the malleability of her text, which allows filmmakers to use it in
a number of different contexts, while still embodying the source material.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/5152 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Barcsay, Katherine Eva |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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