Adapting Victorian literature

 A Greek MSc thesis:

Διασκευάζοντας βικτωριανή λογοτεχνία: "Jane Eyre", μια μελέτη για τη διασκευή του βιβλίου στην ταινία του 2011 και συγγραφή διασκευασμένου σεναρίου σε ταινία μικρού μήκους. (Adapting Victorian literature: “Jane Eyre”, a study of the 2011 film adaptation of the book and writing an adapted screenplay into a short film.)

by Ευαγγελια Χατζηγιαννακη

Hellenic Open University, 2024

The aim of this work is to study the transfer of a literary work to cinema. The study concerns a favorite work of Victorian literature, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, which has seen many adaptations until today. In the theoretical part of the work, in the first chapter, after presenting the author's biographical information and the premise of the work, the literary currents that influence Charlotte Bronte's writing will be analyzed. Next, the importance of story and plot will be highlighted, but also the function of time in the narrative. Then, the relationship between literature and cinema will be explored, the concept of adaptation and its types will be defined and remakes of "Jane Eyre" until today will be presented chronologically. In the second chapter, a film adaptation of the novel released in 2011 is chosen to be studied. First, the structure of the specific film will be analyzed, the characters and their arc of change will be interpreted, as well as the function of the conflict. Then, a comparative study will be made between the adaptation in question and the novel, regarding the romantic, gothic, and realistic elements that permeate them. Finally, a comparison will be made between them in terms of the function of time and plot. The creative part will be followed by thw writing of a script for a short film, which in terms of subject matter will be based on the novel under consideration. It will be pointed out, of course, the genre in which the specific adaptation will fall, but the aesthetic and social conversions that govern it compared to the novel. Furthermore, the characters, primary and secondary, who will be the actors in the remake, will also be presented.