Because her books were originally published anonymously, Jane Austen was never famous in her lifetime, but she's enjoyed tremendous success ever since. Well, at least her novels have.
Her work has been in print continuously since 1833. Countless film, television, and stage adaptations of her stories abound -- beginning with 1940's Pride and Prejudice (starring Laurence Olivier s the proud Mr. Darcy and Greer Garson as the iconic Austen heroine, Elizabeth Bennet), up through the recently aired BBC miniseries version of Emma. According to the IMDb, we even have Jane Austen Handheld to look forward to: a forthcoming film "re-telling the story of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice through the lens of a fly-on-the-wall documentary crew," starring Stephen Fry and British singer Lily Allen.
Truth be told, Austen acolytes have traditionally tended toward bookish, fussy, Merchant Ivory-loving populations, but recently her work has experienced an unexpected resurgence in baser popular culture. Thanks to the immensely popular post-modern mash-ups from Quirk Classics , amusingly titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Jane is finding favor in ever-widening circles of hipster quasi-intelligentsia. Throw in a handful of zombies and teach the Bennet girls to perform the ninja-esque "pentagram of death," and kids who could barely get through the Cliffs Notes for P&P are suddenly devouring the tale like hungry "unmentionables" at a Meryton ball massacre.
Next on the roster from Quirk is a P&P&Z prequel entitled Dawn of the Dreadfuls, wherein eager readers will "watch Elizabeth Bennet evolve from a naive young teenager into a savage slayer of the undead." Bring it on, Miss Bennet!
Since entering the public domain, Austen's stories have been mined as fodder for all fashions of retelling -- from sequels and prequels to parodies to modernizations -- but the Quirk Classics editions have really broken through the popular culture barrier. Who knows what the future holds. Are we to be treated to The Haunting of Northanger Abbey next? How about Emma: Story of a Female Axe Murderer? Or perhaps Charles Mansonfield Park?
Okay, that last one might be a stretch, but you can see the possibilities are nigh endless, which is simply due to the fact that the originals are so delightfully rich, brilliantly textured, and endlessly rewarding.
To Miss Jane Austen, on this, the occasion of her 234th birthday, we wish a very joyous (and monster-free) day. Let's just hope she's not rolling over in her grave.
Suggested Sites...
- The Republic of Pemberley - numerous discussion boards dedicated to Jane Austen, as well as information about her books and the movies they inspired.
- Derbyshire Writers' Guild - one of the oldest and largest archives of Jane Austen fan fiction on the Internet.
- Jane Austen's World - blog which brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th century historical details.
- Quirk Classics - blends the work of classic literary masters with new scenes of horrific creatures and gruesome action.
- PBS Masterpiece: Jane Austen - information
on the many adaptations of Jane Austen's work created for
"Masterpiece Classic" on PBS.
No comments:
Post a Comment