Date of Award
8-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Legacy Department
English
Committee Chair/Advisor
Goss, Erin
Committee Member
Rivlin , Elizabeth
Committee Member
Morey , Sean
Abstract
Three adaptations of Jane Austen novels were produced between 1995 and 1999. These late 90s films represented a set of romantic comedies created in the style of heritage cinema. In adapting Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Mansfield Park, filmmakers reshaped the older women supporting characters in order to better fit the generic conventions of romantic comedies. Romantic comedies of the 1990s relied on a narrow view of the marriage plot whereby the focus in wholly on the courtship process of a predominately affluent, white, heterosexual couple. By excising the roles of the older women, Mrs. Jennings, Miss Bates, and Mrs. Norris respectively, filmmakers refused to allow for alternate versions of womanhood beyond the traditions of marriage and motherhood.
Recommended Citation
Richards, Hilary, "Silver Hair on the Silver Screen: Adaptations of Jane Austen's Older Women" (2014). All Theses. 1910.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/1910