Diarmuid Lawrence’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma: expressive montage, class distinctions and irony

Authors

  • Genilda Azerêdo

Keywords:

adaptação fílmica, ironia, montagem, distinções de classe social

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to discuss Diarmuid Lawrence’s 1996-ITV/A&E adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma focusing on the creation of irony and the relations established between irony and social class distinctions. The analysis is enlarged through a comparison with Douglas McGrath’s adaptation (also 1996) of the novel, one which illustrates a romantic and superficial portrayal of Austen’s universe. Lawrence’s version, conversely, is aware of the tensions characteristic of Austen’s world, thus being more successful in the reconstruction of Austen’s ironies, even when creating and adding scenes different from those in the novel Emma.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

ANDREW, Dudley. “Adaptation”. In: MAST, Gerald et al. (eds.). Film Theory and Criticism. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.

AUSTEN, Jane. Emma. (ed. By Stephen M. Parrish). New York: Norton, 1993.

BIRTWISTLE, Sue & CONKLIN, Susie. The Making of Jane Austen’s Emma. London: Penguin Books, 1996.

CULLER, Jonathan. “Irony”. In: Flaubert: The Uses of Uncertainty. London: Paul Elek, 1974. p.185- 207.

DOLE, Carol M. “Austen, Class and the American Market”. In: Troost, Linda and Greenfield, Sayre (eds.) Jane Austen in Hollywood. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky, 1988. p.58-78.

EISENSTEIN, Sergei. “A Dialectical Approach to Film Form” and in “The Cinematographic Principle and the Ideogram”. In: MAST, Gerald et al. (eds.). Film Theory and Criticism. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992. p.127-54.

Emma. Dir. Diarmuid Lawrence. Perf. Kate Beckinsale, Mark Strong, Samantha Morton and Raymond Coulthard. Videocassette. Meridian, ITV / A&E, 1996.

Emma. Dir. Douglas McGrath. Perf. Gwyneth Paltrow, Toni Colette, Alan Cumming and Ewan McGregor. Videocassette. Miramax, 1996. McMASTER, Juliet. “Class”. In: Copeland, Edward and McMaster, Juliet. (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997. p.115-30.

TOBIN, Mary-Elizabeth Fowkes. “Aiding Impoverished Gentlewomen: Power and Class in Emma. Criticism, XXX: 4 (Fall 1988): 413 – 30.

Published

2007-01-01