Jane Austen in popular culture

Jane Austen's "power" in Hollywood cinema parodied in Entertainment Weekly.

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.

As a character

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.

Theatre

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.

Literature

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.

Video Games

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.

Sense and Sensibility (1811)

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Elinor Dashwood	Marianne Dashwood	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
1971	Sense and Sensibility Television Miniseries	Joanna David	Ciaran Madden	David Giles	Denis Constanduros
1981	Sense and Sensibility Television Miniseries	Irene Richard	Tracey Childs	Rodney Bennett	Alexander Baron
1995	Sense and Sensibility Feature Film	Emma Thompson	Kate Winslet	Ang Lee	Emma Thompson
2008	Sense and Sensibility Television Miniseries	Hattie Morahan	Charity Wakefield	John Alexander	Andrew Davies

Looser adaptations

• 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

Other references

• 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.

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Elizabeth Bennet	Fitzwilliam Darcy	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
1938	Pride and Prejudice	Curigwen Lewis	Andrew Osborn		Michael Barry
1940	Pride and Prejudice Feature film	Greer Garson	Laurence Olivier	Robert Z. Leonard	Aldous Huxley Helen Jerome Jane Murfin
1952	Pride and Prejudice Television miniseries	Daphne Slater	Peter Cushing	Campbell Logan	Cedric Wallis
1957	Orgoglio e pregiudizio Television miniseries	Virna Lisi	Franco Volpi	Daniele D'Anza	Edoardo Anton		An adaptation in Italian.
1958	Pride and Prejudice Television miniseries	Jane Downs	Alan Badel		Cedric Wallis		This TV series is believed to be lost; no known copies exist.
1961	De vier dochters Bennet Television miniseries	Lies Franken	Ramses Shaffy		Cedric Wallis Lo van Hensbergen		An adaptation in Dutch.
1967	Pride and Prejudice Television miniseries	Celia Bannerman	Lewis Fiander	Joan Craft	Nemone Lethbridge
1980	Pride and Prejudice Television miniseries	Elizabeth Garvie	David Rintoul	Cyril Coke	Fay Weldon
1995	Pride and Prejudice Television miniseries	Jennifer Ehle	Colin Firth	Simon Langton	Andrew Davies
2004	Bride & Prejudice Feature film	Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Lalita Bakshi)	Martin Henderson (William "Will" Darcy)	Gurinder Chadha	Gurinder Chadha Paul Mayeda Berges
2005	Pride & Prejudice Feature film	Keira Knightley	Matthew Macfadyen	Joe Wright	Deborah Moggach

Looser adaptations

• "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.

Other references

• 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.

Theatre

• 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
• Pride and Prejudice (forthcoming, 2013), Simon Reade's stage adaptation to be performed at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
• Pride & Prejudice (2013), an opera by Guy Withers, premièred by Cardiff University Operatic Society

Mansfield Park (1814)

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Fanny Price	Edmund Bertram	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
1983	Mansfield Park Television miniseries	Sylvestra Le Touzel	Nicholas Farrell	David Giles	Kenneth Taylor
1999	Mansfield Park Feature Film	Frances O'Connor	Jonny Lee Miller	Patricia Rozema	Patricia Rozema
2007	Mansfield Park Television Movie	Billie Piper	Blake Ritson	Iain B. MacDonald	Maggie Wadey

Looser adaptations

• 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.)
• Ruby in Paradise (1993), directed by Victor Nuñez, is a homage to Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.
• 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.

Theatre

• 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).

Emma (1815)

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Emma Woodhouse	George Knightley	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
1948	Emma Feature film	Judy Campbell	Ralph Michael	Michael Barry	Judy Campbell
1960	Emma Television miniseries	Diana Fairfax	Paul Daneman	Campbell Logan	Vincent Tilsley
1972	Emma Television miniseries	Doran Godwin	John Carson	John Glenister	Denis Constanduros
1996	Emma Feature film	Gwyneth Paltrow	Jeremy Northam	Douglas McGrath	Douglas McGrath
1996	Emma Television movie	Kate Beckinsale	Mark Strong	Diarmuid Lawrence	Andrew Davies
2009	Emma Television miniseries	Romola Garai	Jonny Lee Miller	Jim O'Hanlon	Sandy Welch

Looser adaptations

• 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).

Northanger Abbey (1817)

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Catherine Morland	Henry Tilney	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
1986	Northanger Abbey Television Film	Katharine Schlesinger	Peter Firth	Giles Foster	Maggie Wadey
2007	Northanger Abbey Television Film	Felicity Jones	J. J. Feild	Jon Jones	Andrew Davies

Looser adaptations

• "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.

Persuasion (1817)

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Anne Elliot	Capt. Frederick Wentworth	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
1960	Persuasion Television Miniseries	Daphne Slater	Paul Daneman	Campbell Logan	Barbara Burnham Michael Voysey		This TV series is believed to be lost; no known copies exist
1971	Persuasion Television Miniseries	Ann Firbank	Bryan Marshall	Howard Baker	Julian Mitchell
1995	Persuasion Television Film	Amanda Root	Ciarán Hinds	Roger Michell	Nick Dear		Originally a Television movie, it was released in US theatres by Sony Pictures Classics.
2007	Persuasion Television Film	Sally Hawkins	Rupert Penry-Jones	Adrian Shergold	Simon Burke

Looser adapations

• The plot of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2001) is loosely based on Persuasion.

Sanditon (1817/1925)

Film and television

None

Looser adaptations

• 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.

Lady Susan (1871)

Film and television

Year	Adaptation	Lady Susan	Alicia Johnson	Director	Screenwriter	Reference	Notes
2016	Love & Friendship Feature film	Kate Beckinsale	Chloë Sevigny	Whit Stillman	Whit Stillman

Other references

In 1994, American literary critic Harold Bloom placed Austen among the greatest Western Writers of all time. In a 2002 poll to determine whom the UK public considers the greatest British people in history, Austen was ranked number 70 in the list of the "100 Greatest Britons". In 2003, Austen's Pride and Prejudice came second in the BBC's The Big Read, a national poll to find the "Nation's best-loved book."

In 2007, the article Rejecting Jane by British author David Lassman, which examined how Austen would fare in the modern day publishing industry, achieved worldwide attention when Austen's work—submitted under a pseudonym—was rejected by numerous publishers.

Austen's writing was the inspiration for the 2013 video game Regency Love, a visual novel in which the player interacts with townspeople, friends, family, and potential suitors, looking for a suitable match. The game includes storylines inspired by Austen's writing style, as well as trivia questions about Austen's work.

• The 1980 film Jane Austen in Manhattan is about rival stage companies who wish to produce the only complete Austen play, the fictional Sir Charles Grandison, which had been recently discovered.
• The 2007 film The Jane Austen Book Club is about a group of people who form a Jane Austen discussion group. Much of the dialogue concerns her novels and her personal life. This film is based on a book by Karen Joy Fowler.
• The 2013 film Austenland is a romantic comedy based on Shannon Hale's novel of the same name, starring Keri Russell as Jane Hayes, a young thirty-something obsessed with Jane Austen who travels to a British resort called Austenland, in which the Austen era is recreated.
• In the radio sitcom Old Harry's Game, Jane Austen is a minor recurring character who is in Hell. In it, Austen is discovered to have been incredibly violent, rude and foul-mouthed personally. As a result, she is one of the few people in Hell that Satan is frightened of and whom other sinners such as Hitler look up to.
• In the science fiction book series Remnants, a subculture group called "Janes" emulate the mannerisms and ideals of the characters in Jane Austen's novels.
• In the British TV series Blackadder the Third, Mr. E. Blackadder explains he gave himself a female pseudonym when writing a book. Insisting that every other male author is doing it, Blackadder explains that Jane Austen is really a burly Yorkshireman with a heavy beard. In addition to this, in a deliberate nod to the third series being set in the Regency period, each episode had an alliterative title loosely punning Sense and Sensibility, e.g. "Sense and Senility", "Ink and Incapability".
• The 2005 book Kafka's Soup, a literary pastiche in the form of a cookbook, contains a recipe for tarragon eggs à la Jane Austen.
• In 2010, a mock movie trailer became popular online, satirising the novels and characters of Austen's novels. Titled, Jane Austen's Fight Club, it depicts Elizabeth Bennet leading a bare knuckle boxing therapy group for other Austen characters.
• In 2013 it was announced that Austen is to feature on the next £10 note issued by the Bank of England, probably in 2017.
• Austen is referenced several times in the British science fiction television program, Doctor Who in relation to the ongoing character Clara Oswald, an English teacher who travels in time with the titular character, the Doctor. In "The Caretaker" (eighth series, 2014), she and the Doctor debate historical facts related to Austen, with the Doctor confessing his knowledge of Austen stems from a written biography he read. In 2015, Austen is referenced twice in ninth series, by which time it is indicated that Clara has by this point met the author (though this is not depicted on screen), with references hinting at romantic attraction between the two (in keeping with the series hinting that Clara is bisexual). In "The Magician's Apprentice", Clara describes Austen to her students as an "amazing writer, astonishing comic observer and, strictly between ourselves, a phenomenal kisser." Later in Series 9, in "Face the Raven", Clara tells a friend that she and Austen would play tricks on each other, ending with Clara stating: "I love her. Take that how you like." In a February 2016 interview, Dollard indicated she originally planned for "Face the Raven" to include a scene featuring Austen and Clara, but it was cut before production.

Bibliography

• Macdonald, Gina and Andrew Macdonald, eds. Jane Austen on Screen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-521-79325-4.
• Pucci, Suzanne Rodin and James Thompson, eds. Jane Austen and Co.: Remaking the Past in Contemporary Culture. Buffalo: State University of New York Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7914-5615-6.
• Troost, Linda and Sayre Greenfield, eds. Jane Austen in Hollywood. 2nd ed. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8131-9006-8.