Northanger Abbey. An early work of Jane Austen's in which a fairly prosaic courtship unfolds within a satire of gothic romance novels. Jane Austen did not consider Northanger Abbey worth publishing in her own lifetime, but it was published posthumously. Not a deep work, but certainly amusing in Miss Austen inimitable style. Click here to buy the book. |
Modern Adaptation. Helen Fielding continues to show her admiration for Jane Austen by using elements of the plot of Persuasion in her Bridget Jones sequel, Bridget Jones -- The Edge of Reason. Click here to buy the book. (The movie version of Edge of Reason did not retain much of the Persuasion motif. |
Persuasion. The last novel Jane Austen completed before her death at age 42. Anne Eliot's understated elegance, her poise and maturity, and the hidden warmth of her heart seem likely to go unappreciated and unclaimed as she lives with the regret of breaking off her youthful engagement eight years earlier under the persuasion of her godmother and family. She hardly dares hope to recover her mistake even when her energetic and strong-willed former fiance returns from the Napoleanic wars. Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version/Modern Adaptation. Art house director Patricia Rozema was likewise baffled by the pietistic and religious overtones of Austen's novel, so she invented a new heroine and rewrote the story as a critique of British colonialism. Reputedly a fine work of film art although unrecognizable as the work of Jane Austen. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Mansfield Park. Jane Austen takes on overt religious themes in this novel, in which the hero becomes a clergyman, disconcerting the lively and worldly young woman he loves. Meanwhile, the book's heroine, a shy, introspective poor relation living at the house for which the novel is named, looks on and is overlooked at the same time. Some post-modern readers are baffled by Fanny Price's and Edmund Bertram's virtue and piety. Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version. In 1996, Miramax got on the Jane Austen bandwagon and produced a charming adaptation of Emma, if one rather lighter and fluffier than the book. When much of the dialogue is written by Jane Austen, a movie can't help but be good. Stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Emma. Possibly the most perfectly constructed novel in the English language. Jane Austen acheives a goal for which many novelists strive but which few acheive: every sentence furthers the story. Although the writing is nearly perfect, the heroine, in spite of her own self-confidence, is not -- happily so, for a faultless heroine would be a grave fault in a novel. As it stands, Emma is a character "faultless in spite of all her faults." Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version. Emma Thompson won a well-deserved Academy Award for her screenplay adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and the script benefitted from Ang Lee's sensitive direction. This 1995 movie stars Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Sense and Sensibility. The story of two sisters who exemplify these qualities. Elinor Dashwood is sensible, and her sister Marianne quivers with Romantic sensibility. As the nineteenth century moved into the fevered and tumultuous thought world of writers such as Lord Byron and Mrs. Radcliffe, Jane Austen made a case for the more temperate realm inhabited by the likes of Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Click here to buy the book. |
Modern Adaptation. In the late 1990's, a witty English writer, Helen Fielding, paid homage to Pride and Prejudice in her novel Bridget Jones's Diary. Subsequently, the book became a movie, starring Renee Zellweger as Bridget and Colin Firth as the contemporary Mr. (Mark) Darcy. Click here to buy the book. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Movie Version. Andrew Davies oversaw the 1996 BBC/A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. With a greater time allowance than a theatrical release, this miniseries has leisure to include nearly all the details in the novel, plus some that are not. Stars Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Pride and Prejudice. Perhaps her most popular novel. The story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. In a letter to her sister, Jane Austen said of Elizabeth, "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know." Fortunately, most readers do like the charming and intelligent Miss Bennet. Click here to buy the book. |
Jane Austen Jane Austen (1775-1817) wrote some of the most finely crafted novels in the English language. Sensible, humane, ironic without bitterness, funny without cynicism, her stories are treasures. |
Pride and Prejudice. Perhaps her most popular novel. The story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. In a letter to her sister, Jane Austen said of Elizabeth, "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know." Fortunately, most readers do like the charming and intelligent Miss Bennet. Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version. Andrew Davies oversaw the 1996 BBC/A&E adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. With a greater time allowance than a theatrical release, this miniseries has leisure to include nearly all the details in the novel, plus some that are not. Stars Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Modern Adaptation. In the late 1990's, a witty English writer, Helen Fielding, paid homage to Pride and Prejudice in her novel Bridget Jones's Diary. Subsequently, the book became a movie, starring Renee Zellweger as Bridget and Colin Firth as the contemporary Mr. (Mark) Darcy. Click here to buy the book. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Sense and Sensibility. The story of two sisters who exemplify these qualities. Elinor Dashwood is sensible, and her sister Marianne quivers with Romantic sensibility. As the nineteenth century moved into the fevered and tumultuous thought world of writers such as Lord Byron and Mrs. Radcliffe, Jane Austen made a case for the more temperate realm inhabited by the likes of Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version. Emma Thompson won a well-deserved Academy Award for her screenplay adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and the script benefitted from Ang Lee's sensitive direction. This 1995 movie stars Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Emma. Possibly the most perfectly constructed novel in the English language. Jane Austen acheives a goal for which many novelists strive but which few acheive: every sentence furthers the story. Although the writing is nearly perfect, the heroine, in spite of her own self-confidence, is not -- happily so, for a faultless heroine would be a grave fault in a novel. As it stands, Emma is a character "faultless in spite of all her faults." Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version. In 1996, Miramax got on the Jane Austen bandwagon and produced a charming adaptation of Emma, if one rather lighter and fluffier than the book. When much of the dialogue is written by Jane Austen, a movie can't help but be good. Stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Mansfield Park. Jane Austen takes on overt religious themes in this novel, in which the hero becomes a clergyman, disconcerting the lively and worldly young woman he loves. Meanwhile, the book's heroine, a shy, introspective poor relation living at the house for which the novel is named, looks on and is overlooked at the same time. Some post-modern readers are baffled by Fanny Price's and Edmund Bertram's virtue and piety. Click here to buy the book. |
Movie Version/Modern Adaptation. Art house director Patricia Rozema was likewise baffled by the pietistic and religious overtones of Austen's novel, so she invented a new heroine and rewrote the story as a critique of British colonialism. Reputedly a fine work of film art although unrecognizable as the work of Jane Austen. Click here to buy the DVD. Click here to buy the VHS. |
Persuasion. The last novel Jane Austen completed before her death at age 42. Anne Eliot's understated elegance, her poise and maturity, and the hidden warmth of her heart seem likely to go unappreciated and unclaimed as she lives with the regret of breaking off her youthful engagement eight years earlier under the persuasion of her godmother and family. She hardly dares hope to recover her mistake even when her energetic and strong-willed former fiance returns from the Napoleanic wars. Click here to buy the book. |
Modern Adaptation. Helen Fielding continues to show her admiration for Jane Austen by using elements of the plot of Persuasion in her Bridget Jones sequel, Bridget Jones -- The Edge of Reason. Click here to buy the book. (The movie version of Edge of Reason did not retain much of the Persuasion motif. |
Northanger Abbey. An early work of Jane Austen's in which a fairly prosaic courtship unfolds within a satire of gothic romance novels. Jane Austen did not consider Northanger Abbey worth publishing in her own lifetime, but it was published posthumously. Not a deep work, but certainly amusing in Miss Austen inimitable style. Click here to buy the book. |
