MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

The public is often familiar with Jane Austen because of her masterpiece that is Pride and Prejudice. They know of the love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, but do not realize she has written more than one novel and created several loving couples. As Austen’s novels move onto the screen there seems to be a growing tradition of adapting certain novels, like Pride and Prejudice, over other ones like Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park. The large impact of Andrew Davies’ 1995 Pride and Prejudice that casted Colin Firth as the iconic Mr. Darcy has made all of Austen’s heroes take on his resemblance whether it be his personality by staring consistently at the heroine, getting added scenes (something Austen was unable to do because she only wrote scenes she could be a part of) or giving them more emotions and love speeches. While it may not be accurate it appears to be what audiences crave and expect. This paper will explore those moments listed above with Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram in Patricia Rozema’s 1999 Mansfield Park, with Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth in Adrian Shergold’s 2008 Persuasion, and with Austen’s youngest couple Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney in Jon Jones’ 2008 Northanger Abbey. I shall compare these moments with those characters in their respected novels and show how they change once they are moved onto the screen. These novels deserve to be better represented and adapted more frequently.