Jane Austen Adaptions

        I remember the first time I watched Pride & Prejudice... you know the one, with Keira Knightly? After that I was hooked, and I absorbed as many period romances as possible. And THEN I discovered who Jane Austen was. Imagine my excitement when I learned that Pride & Prejudice was a book too! So I preceded to beg my grandma to buy me the complete work of Jane Austen from Barnes & Noble and then I read them! I quickly found out my favorites and did some research, and wouldn’t you know that they ALL have movie/tv show adaptions! Also disclaimer I haven’t seen every single one, but I've seen most and out of all the one’s I’ve watched so far these are my favorites!

1. Pride & Prejudice

Alright lets start off with the most well known one out of the group! This was a really hard decision because I really enjoyed both the 2005 movie with Keira Knightley and also the 1995 mini series with Colin Firth. Ultimately though my favorite is probably the 2005 movie! I just enjoy Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett so much more then Jennifer Ehle. I will say though, the mini series gives you more detail and longer with the characters, and also Colin Firth does a pretty AMAZING job as Mr.Darcy. If I had to chose though it would be the 2005 movie, for sure. The soundtrack, the filmography, the casting, and really everything is SO on point. If you haven’t seen this movie I highly recommend it! I do really love the mini series as well and it’s still one of my favorite adaptions just not my favorite one fore Pride & Prejudice, but I still recommend watching it!

2. Emma

This is my favorite Jane Austen book, and so it’s very hard for me to choose between the movie and the mini series because I loved them both so much. Before I choose I want to let you know I highly recommend both, and that they are both really just so amazing. The two I watched were the 1996 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow and the 2009 mini series with Johnny Lee Miller. If I had to pick one it would be............ the mini series. There I said it. The reason I choose this one is because it’s longer and you get more character arc and really more time. I also really love the actress who plays Emma, and of course Johnny Lee Miller does an excellent job as Mr.Knightley. In the mini series I feel like we get to see a little bit more of a relationship between the two whereas in the movie it kind of happens really towards the end. However I love the movie almost as much. If I’m honest I probably prefer Jeremy Northam over Johnny Lee Miller just because he looks SO dang good as Mr.Knightley, and also Gwyneth Paltrow is well, Gwyneth freaking Paltrow. The movie is cute, the mini series amazing and overall both of these adaption are so worth the watch. This is the movie/book I would recommend to someone wanting to try Jane Austen out for the first time!

3. Mansfield Park

This I feel is the one book that people either really love or really hate. This was like the third book I read by Jane Austen and I liked it, but didn’t love it. I however did love the two movies I watched! I watched both the 1999 film and the 2007 film. Both have an amazing cast, and really it just boils down to who you like more playing the characters. I ended up preferring the 1999 film though. I felt like the casting was just a little better. Especially with Fanny. The 2007 film has Billie Piper (Doctor Who) play Fanny and I just didn’t feel like she fit as well as the other actress. Also the 1999 version does have Johnny Lee Miller, and I think that’s a pretty big reason why I prefer it more then the 2007 version. Like I said before though, the book is a little different so just watch the movies and enjoy them for just that, being movies. They’re adaptions, not exact replicas!

4. Sense and Sensibility

This is another super popular book by Jane Austen. This is probably my fourth favorite of hers. Now with the two adaptions I watched, the 1995 movie and the 2008 miniseries, I will say out of almost all the adaptions these were like my least favorite! They’re still really good, and when I watch them I thoroughly enjoy them, but I don’t watch them over and over again like my other favorites! Now the 1995 movie is FULL of pretty big celebrities! We have Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. The mini series once again gives you more time with the characters and you get to see a little bit more into the plot, but over all my favorite would have to be the 1995 movie! Why? ALAN RICKMAN. Enough said. For real though, both him and Hugh Grant really make this movie so enjoyable. So overall I really think it was the casting that won me over!

5. Northanger Abbey

I only watched one movie for this. You’re probably thinking well how can you say it’s even good if you have nothing to compare it to... WELL, this is probably my second favorite adaption ever. Also I’ve tried looking for a mini series or another movie and I can’t find one! Hopefully that means BBC will pick it up soon and give us one! The movie has Felicity Jones as Catherine and JJ Field as Henry Tilney. UGH and did he play Henry Tilney SO WELL. JJ Fields is what made me love this movie, him and Felicity Jones just did so well together and I felt like they were the perfect casting not just for their roles but also for each other! I definitely recommend this book/movie, it’s so different from her other work!


          Alright guys, these are my favorite adaptions and I hope if you haven’t already seen all of them that after reading this you’ll start binging them! I did leave out Persuasion because I haven’t seen an adaption of it yet. Yes, I know there is a movie so I do need to hop on that, but I’ll probably go and rewatch the Emma mini series because just talking about it made me want to binge it. Also it’s my day of (thank god) so I have some time to do just that! Let me know if you agree/disagree and what some of your favorite Jane Austen adaptions are !