The Best Jane Austen Film Adaptations Of All Time
The author’s works of romantic fiction have the power to transport us to a Downton Abbeyesque world. Bazaar shares a few of our favourite film adaptations here…
There’s no doubt about it: Jane Austen’s novels critique and interpret the landed British gentry and their aristocratic lifestyles in equal measure, which makes for great television. Curl up on the sofa and get ready to enjoy five of her best film adaptations, listed here…
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
The story of the Bennet sisters and their mother’s relentless pursuit for potential suiters. Shamelessly hoping to secure favourable social standing and economic security for her daughters is a criticism of 18th century British society and a love story all in one. The relationship between a witty yet stubborn Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and an introverted and reserved Mr Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) is written with charm and humour, which culminates in a heartwarming final scene.
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Sense and Sensibility focuses on how women in upper-class England, though privileged, had relatively few choices in life. Sisters Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Elinor (Emma Thompson) learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.
Emma (1996)
Austen famously remarked that Emma Woodhouse was “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” The idleness in Emma’s (Gwyneth Paltrow) life turns her into a snobbish busybody who, bored by 19th-century village life, decides to find a husband for one of her friends. Austen’s literary genius makes us root for Emma instead of despising her as we witness all of her happy self-delusions about how kind and helpful she means to be to those around her.
Persuasion (1995)
Persuasion is a story of love lost. Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) throws away love aged 19 on the premise that a penniless Naval officer is no match for her. Eight years later, she is 27 and therefore on the verge of 19th-century spinsterhood. Her love for Fredrick Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds) is still intact when he reappears in her life but this time he is newly rich. The movie brilliantly captures a sense of emotional longing.
Becoming Jane (2007)
Austen’s own life was an inspiration for her novels where young women were expected to succumb to societal and parental pressures regardless of their own desires. Anne Hathaway stars in this biopic which looks at the life of the writer who wanted above all else, to wield her power of the pen and be with someone she truly loved.
Lead image courtesy of Pride and Prejudice.