The author Jane Austen, as well as her works, have been represented in popular culture in a variety of forms.
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose social commentary and masterly use of both free indirect speech and irony eventually made her one of the most influential and honoured novelists in English literature. In popular culture, Austen's novels and her personal life have been adapted into film, television, and theatre, with adaptations varying greatly in their faithfulness to the original.
Books and scripts that use the general storyline of Austen's novels but change or otherwise modernise the story also became popular at the end of the 20th century. For example, Clueless (1995), Amy Heckerling's updated version of Emma, which takes place in Beverly Hills, became a cultural phenomenon and spawned its own television series.
Film and television
In 2007, Anne Hathaway starred as Austen in Becoming Jane. Based on the biography Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Hunter Spence, the film centred on Jane Austen's early life, her development as an author, and the posited romantic relationship with Thomas Langlois Lefroy (James McAvoy).
Miss Austen Regrets, a television film starring Olivia Williams as Jane Austen, was released in the same year. Based on Austen's surviving letters, the semi-biographical television movie focused on the last few years of Jane Austen's life as she looked back on her life and loves and helped her favourite niece, Fanny Knight (Imogen Poots), find a husband.
JANE, the musical debuted in June 2006 in the West Midlands, England. It is a West-End style musical theatre production based on the life of Jane Austen. The musical, directed by Geetika Lizardi, focuses on Austen as a modern heroine, a woman who chose art and integrity over the security of a loveless marriage.
Jane Austen features as an amateur sleuth in Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen series of historical mystery novels.
Kate Beaton, cartoonist of webcomic Hark! A Vagrant, devoted one of her comic strips to Jane Austen.
Jane Austen (voiced by Eden Riegel) is revealed as the narrator of 2013's Saints Row IV in a bonus cutscene, and the game's antagonist Zinyak reads the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice on an in-game radio station. Both the protagonist (the leader of the 3rd Street Saints) and the game alien antagonist Zinyak are depicted as fans of Austen's work. She appears as a figure in How the Saints Save Christmas DLC and Saints Row IV standalone expansion, Saints Row: Gat out of Hell.
Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) is a Kollywood (Tamil) film set in the present, based on the same plot, starring Tabu as Sowmya (Elinor Dashwood), Aishwarya Rai as Meenakshi (Marianne Dashwood), with Ajit as Manohar (Edward Ferrars), Abbas as Srikanth (Willoughby) and Mammootty as Captain Bala (Colonel Brandon).
Material Girls (2006) is a modern-day set film about two rich, spoiled Hollywood socialites's economical misfortune and struggles, whose plot was conceived from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.
From Prada to Nada (2011) is an adaptation set in the present among Mexican Americans in Los Angeles.
Scents and Sensibility (2011) is also a modern-day adaptation. It follows the sisters as they struggle after their father is imprisoned for investment fraud.
Kumkum Bhagya (2014) is an Indian television serial starring Sriti Jha and Shabbir Ahluwalia
In Red Dwarf: Back to Earth, Lister tries to read Sense and Sensibility in tribute to Kochanski, although he is not sure how to pronounce the author's name, trying out "oosten" and "orsten", as well as desperately hoping for "car chases in this one."
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
This section lists film, theatre, and television adaptations only.
For literary adaptations, see: List of literary adaptations of Pride and Prejudice.
"Furst Impressions" (1995), an episode of the children's television series Wishbone, is based on Pride and Prejudice. Wishbone plays the role of Mr. Darcy.
In the 1997 episode of science fiction comedy Red Dwarf entitled "Beyond a Joke", the crew of the space ship relax in a virtual reality rendition of "Pride and Prejudice Land" in "Jane Austen World".
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) borrowed its basic plot elements from Pride and Prejudice, and the character of Mark Darcy (played in the film by Colin Firth, who played Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television Pride and Prejudice) is named in deliberate homage to the original character.
Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003) is an independent film adaptation set among Mormons in Utah.
Lost in Austen (2008) is a four-part British fantasy television series in which Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper), a devoted Janeite, trades places with Elizabeth Bennet. Gemma Arterton and Elliot Cowan starred as Elizabeth and Darcy.
A 2008 Israeli television six-part miniseries set the story in the Galilee with Mr Darcy a well-paid worker in the high-tech industry.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012–2013) is an Emmy winning YouTube adaption in which Lizzie Bennet (Ashley Clements), a graduate student explains her life through the video blog format alongside her sisters Jane Bennet (Laura Spencer) and Lydia Bennet (Mary Kate Wiles) and her friend Charlotte Lu (Julia Cho).
Death Comes to Pemberley (2013) is a 3-part murder mystery television drama based on the novel of the same name as a continuation of Pride and Prejudice starring Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth Darcy, Matthew Rhys as Fitzwilliam Darcy, Jenna Coleman as Lydia Wickham, and Matthew Goode as George Wickham.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), a movie based on the novel of the same name with Lily James as Elizabeth Bennet, Sam Riley as Fitzwilliam Darcy, Bella Heathcote as Jane Bennet, Douglas Booth as Charles Bingley and Charles Dance as Mr Bennet.
In the episode "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" of Futurama, Fry follows the leader of the brainspawn into several books, including Pride and Prejudice, where Fry is in attendance at a ball where the brain is introduced as the most eligible bachelor.
In the episode "The Caretaker" of Doctor Who, Clara Oswald is shown teaching the novel to her students and debating biographical details of Austen with the time-travelling Twelfth Doctor; later episodes ("The Magician's Apprentice" and "Face the Raven") hint at a romantic encounter between Clara and Austen.
Pride and Prejudice (1935), a Broadway play, and the basis for the 1940 film
First Impressions (1959), Broadway musical version of Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice, a straight play version by Jon Jory
Pride and Prejudice (1995), a musical by Bernard J. Taylor
I Love You Because, a musical set in modern-day New York
Metropolitan (1990), directed by Whit Stillman, was a loose adaptation set in modern-day Manhattan and Long Island. (Jane Austen is also mentioned throughout the film.)
From Mansfield With Love (2014), a YouTube vlog adaptation of Mansfield Park by Foot in the Door Theatre. Telling the story of Frankie Price a modern employee of Mansfield Park Hotel who communicates with her brother in the Navy through videos. The series began in December 2014 and ended November 2015.
Mansfield Park (2011), a chamber opera by Jonathan Dove, with a libretto by Alasdair Middleton, commissioned and first performed by Heritage Opera, 30 July – 15 August 2011.
Mansfield Park (2012), stage adaptation by Tim Luscombe, produced by the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, toured the UK in 2012 and 2013. The play was published by Oberon Books (ISBN 978-1-84943-484-3).
Clueless (1995), a modernisation of the novel set in a Beverly Hills high school. The film was directed by Amy Heckerling and stars Alicia Silverstone.
Clueless (1996), a TV show based on the 1995 film.
Aisha (2010) is a Hindi-language film set in Delhi; it is a modern version of Emma, similar to Clueless. The film was directed by Rajshree Ojha and stars Sonam Kapoor.
Emma Approved (2013–2014), an Emmy-winning YouTube adaptation in which Emma Woodhouse (Joanna Sotomura) is a matchmaker who documents her ventures into the matchmaking business with her assistant Harriet Smith (Dayeanne Hutton) and confidant Alex Knightley (Brent Bailey).
"Pup Fiction" (1998), an episode of the children's television series Wishbone, is based on Northanger Abbey. Wishbone plays the role of Henry Tilney, and Amy Acker guest starred as Catherine Moreland.
Ruby in Paradise (1993), directed by Victor Nuñez, is an homage.
Cate Moreland Chronicles http://www.catemchronicles.com. Madeline Thatcher as Cate and Dele Opeifaas Henry Tilney. July 2016-Dec 2016
The plot of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2001) is loosely based on Persuasion.
Film and television
None
Welcome To Sanditon (2013), starring Allison Paige, is a modernization of the unfinished novel that is set in the fictitious town of Sanditon, California. The web series is a spin-off of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries created by Hank Green and Bernie Su.
