"There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me." This epic excerpt from Pride & Prejudice, along with many other memorable lines from the acclaimed novel, can still ring true and inspire individuals today. Jane Austen, the world-renowned English author, completed just six works during her time and yet managed to command a legion of fans worldwide. Her timeless stories have been adapted into a large body of movies, TV shows, and theatrical productions, in addition to being translated into multiple languages across the globe. Today, she remains as popular as ever and is revered as much as any literary figure in the history of the English language.
Updated June 5th, 2023: This article has been updated to include new and fresh content for your enjoyment.
Even after all these years, Austen's work is a prime source for adaptation and re-imagination. Despite being well-worn material, filmmakers and writers are developing new exciting ways to tell these iconic stories for modern audiences. Jane Austen's work is as malleable and profitable as a superhero franchise, with plenty of stories to tell. Here is why audiences love Jane Austen's work and what the future holds for adaptations.
Jane Austen’s Life and Career
The English writer, who only lived until the age of 41, is perhaps solely responsible for giving novels a distinctly modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life. Austen published four novels during her lifetime: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, meanwhile, were published together posthumously in 1817. In each, Austen vividly depicted English middle-class life during the early-19th century. Her work defined the era’s novel of manners, but they also became timeless classics that remained successes for two centuries after her death.
Historians confirm that her lively and affectionate family circle provided a stimulating context for Austen's writing. It was this world that she used in the settings, characters, and subject matter of her books. Austen's concentration on character and personality, specifically the tensions between her heroines and their society, align more closely with modern society than with 18th-Century traditions.
Why Adaptations of Austen’s Books Work
The universally beloved modernity, wit, realism, and timelessness of her prose style is what makes Austen's novels genuinely enjoyable to read today — not to mention why they're also taught in schools everywhere. Modern critics remain fascinated by the commanding structure and organization of the novels. It's common knowledge in Hollywood that any acclaimed novel that features an introspective, romantic heroine, strategic matchmaking, and silly supporting characters will ultimately be brought to life on the big screen.
To get a sense of Austen's influence, know this: at least nine films were based on Pride and Prejudice, including the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley. Bridget Jones's Diary, which spawned a whole franchise, is inspired by the work of Jane Austin, including featuring a character named Mr. Darcy, will Colin Firth playing the role after he previously played Mr. Darcy in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries. Despite the huge gap in years between Austen's era and the modern day, the situations — or, say, predicaments — that Austen's characters stumble into are quite relatable. Most readers have "been there," having suffered through seemingly well-mannered conversations about inheritance, marriage, and social standing, be it with loved ones or work colleagues. These "modern" circumstances can be found in Austen's six published works.
"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment," reads another line from Pride and Prejudice. Such relatable "hot messes" like Elinor Dashwood, Emma Woodhouse, and Fanny Price are some of the more coveted roles in Hollywood, so it's no surprise that Austen’s novels have long been made into period dramas — the best of which blend perfect casting with exceptional costuming and dramatic staging of those iconic, endlessly quotable monologues.
Romance Done Right
The romance genre is popular, and it only makes sense that it would be. Falling in love, heartbreak, and change are all a universal part of life. However, not every movie about romance puts out a healthy message for its often young and impressionable audience. Series like Twilight have received plenty of criticism for romanticizing unhealthy relationships. Similarly, the Kissing Booth trilogy, Fifty Shades trilogy, and After movies have all received similar critics and questions: Why is it the shy girl's duty to fix the "broken" boy?
Unlike these abusive romances, Jane Austen knew how to call out poor behavior and how it can be fixed to create a healthy relationship. Part of this is that the responsibility to change a problematic person lies with the person themselves, not their romantic partner. Those who take responsibility for themselves are rewarded with a relationship instead of their partner being punished for entering a relationship with someone who doesn't know how to control their anger. If this isn't already a reason for someone to love her work, it certainly should be now.
Jane Austen's Influence
Jane Austen is one of those writers whose influence can be felt in a variety of ways. The 2007 Becoming Jane featured Anne Hathaway as a young Jane Austen. That same year The Jane Austin Book Club starring Maria Bello and Emily Blunt was released which focused on a group of women who set out to read Jane Austen's bibliography with their own personal life reflecting the events of the various books.
1995's Clueless sets the story of Emma in the then-contemporary 1995 Beverly Hills high school. Clueless was a box office hit and has become a classic teen comedy, often regarded as one of the best. Meanwhile, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a book released in 2009 by Seth Gramame-Smith that inspired other horror mash-ups with Austin's work, including Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was released as a movie in 2016 starring Lily James and Bella Heathcote.
Future Austen Adaptations in Development
Since 2020, there have been two high-profile direct Jane Austen adaptations. The first was Emma, released in February 2020. Despite only being in theaters for three weeks before they were closed for the COVID-19 pandemic, Emma grossed an impressive $26.5 million worldwide and was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The second was Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson, and released on Netflix in the summer of 2022. In addition, Jane Austen's work continues to inspire modern reworkings as 2022 also saw the release of Fire Island, a modern reimaging of Pride and Prejudice with an ensemble of men visiting the gay vacation destination.
The love of Jane Austen's material is still felt today as Emmy-winning Ted Lasso actor Brett Goldstein jokingly pitched a Muppets Pride & Prejudice. While that is unlikely to happen, given how well The Muppets' versions of A Christmas Carol and Treasure Island turned out, it certainly would be a delight to see. Austen herself became a character in a recent novel by May McGoldrick titled Jane Austen Cannot Marry, which would certainly work as a big-screen adaptation. There is no doubt that Austen's work will be continued to be adapted for years to come and that it will continue to find fans.