Readers of Jane Austen's novels

Readers of Jane Austen's books, whether modern or historical and moviegoers buy two distinct cultural items. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of Austen followers, known as 'Janenites.' Austen's novels were not as successful when they were first published as they are now. Any of the increased curiosity can be attributed to film adaptations, which have prompted people to seek out the original "manuscript." Readers and organizations such as the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) have brought together academics and students to gain a comprehensive understanding of Austen's works and how they influenced the creation of other novels and films. Put together. Global Jane Austen, Jane Austen Erotic Advice, and Jane Austen and the Arts offer a snapshot of the journey of Austen into her contemporaries. This paper seeks to analyze Jane Austen's works and how modern works including film adaptations have affected and shaped the depiction of characters and culture Austen's novels.

One of Austen's most influential works is her novel is Pride and Prejudice that has seen a film adoption by Joe Wright based on its storyline. The film has swept women off their feet through the years. The story brings together various attributes including a character seen as a heroine, a handsome estate, and the silliest fools. It also incorporates themes such as manners, culture, romance, and class. For the female fan base, these features had been ignored by authors for quite a long time. Because of this, as mentioned above, Austen works have attracted a dedicated fan base from the contemporary spin-offs such as this novel's film adaptation, television mini-series such as Lost in Austen, and the movie Bridget Jone's Diary to the annual convention of the JASNA. Through the over two hundred years the novel Pride and Prejudice has existed, scholarly understanding of Austen's works have evolved. However, it has been noted that most modern ‘Janenites' turn to the film adaptations and not the novel. Their choice is what has typified the evolution of the book to what it is in today's society (Parrill 3-8).

Pride and Prejudice has not been adapted into one film but eight to be exact, six of them being American or British while the rest German and Italian. Most of the directors of the films have adhered to the manners and culture and the storyline as depicted in the novel. This is where the new fan base of Austen has come about. The 20th and 21st century has seen a drop in people who read the novels. Instead, more people prefer films and especially the fanfiction. It has been established that young fans of Pride and Prejudice tend to have more interest in spin-offs such as Becoming Jane and The princess Diary. Just like the rest of the films or movies, fanfiction is also based on an original book. The major difference is that the fanfiction films take stories that are thought to be ‘old' and puts them into a modern context (Steenkamp 9-11). This is what has been done by screenwriters such as Guy Andrews in Lost in Austen and Helen Fielding in Bridget Jones' Diary. Apart from choosing a modern context, Guy Andrews in his film also chooses modern characters. According to Sadoff's theory, this is how the modern spin-offs have attracted a new and young fan base for Austen. Modern adaptations such as Lost in Austen may also have something for the older ‘Janenite' academics. The films contain particular character and plot twists that have been seen to depict a more risqué storyline as compared to Austen's original writing (Spence 5-8).

Modern ‘Janenites' can still read the books and actually discover the other ‘darker sides' of Jane Austen that most movie adaptations have disregarded. For instance, there is some sense of cross-cultural juxtapositions in Lost in Austen that is brought about by the moving of the story from Pride and Prejudice. The result is a new provocative and absurd witty direction that is critically different from Austen's main intent in her book. An example of this is the scene where one character named Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth and she declines. Mr. Collins assumes that her very clear no was a demure yes (Troost et al. 33-35). Modern readers especially the females who are aware of the feminist movement may feel extremely offended by this kind of depiction. It is a major setback when the intent of the initial writer is lost through a film adaptation as some of the audiences may become misleading. Plot twists that can be clearly depicted visually may be difficult to trace in the book. This could, therefore, render the book irrelevant or less interesting. It may also cause a clash of interests, for instance, Guy Andrews in Lost in Austen seems to disregard Austen's depiction of confident women. As mentioned in the example, the depiction instead goes contrary to Austen's depiction in the book Margolis (22-30).

Conclusion

Spin-offs such as Being Jane have brought to life over three-decades of the long cinematic popularization of Jane Austen. When it opened, the movie was exhibited in various cinematic consumption including; megaplex, multiplex, and independent cinemas such as the freestanding and strip mall. Through this, the movie managed to reach different culture products, audiences and serving niche markets. It also attracted audiences from different cultural fields such as the; modern, high modern, blockbuster addicts family groups, and seekers of cultural capital. The receivership of this and other similar movie adaptations such as Pride and Prejudice, Becoming Jane and Lost in Austen reflect how fans desire to enter Jane Austen's world. It also portrays the struggles of the modern reader or fan. Modernization of Austen's stories has mainly worked to encourage more fans into participating in the thrill and in relating to the storyline. For instance, the creation of modern characters by screenwriter Guy Andrews, modern women can relate to the struggle. The character of Amanda Pierce reveals a struggle between loving Pride and Prejudice and being able to apply the story in real life. Lost in Austen has allowed ‘Janenites' to modernize certain aspects of Austen's books that have been considered outdated in order to fit the context of their own lives.

































Works Cited

Margolis, Harriet. "Janeite Culture: What Does the Name ‘Jane Austen’Authorize?." Jane Austen on screen (2003): 22-43.

Parrill, Sue. Jane Austen on film and television: A critical study of the adaptations. McFarland, (2012): 2-24

Spence, Jon. Becoming Jane Austen. MJF Books, (2006) 5-8

Steenkamp, Elzette. "Janeites for a New Millennium: The Modernisation of Jane Austen on Film." (2009): 3-17

Troost, Linda, and Sayre N. Greenfield, eds. Jane Austen in Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky, (2001): 33-40