By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Do great books always make great movies? It is a thought worth ruminating over, as many filmmakers often do. Indeed there are certain authors whose written word and penetrating insight have transcended time and space, unveiling their everlasting honesty and veracity throughout the ages. Such an author is Jane Austen whose popularity has recently surged not only in print but in every other media, because her writings are an accurate study of universal human sentiment and behaviour. Regarded as one of the greatest writers of English realistic fiction, Miss Austen's frank portrayal of lives and characters of middle-class life in simple unadorned language, satirising in gentle humour the society of her day, has made her enormously popular, then and now. Her novels published between 1811 and 1818, tell the whole truth about human frailties and "the little matters on which the daily happiness of private life depends," thereby revealing the profound and often complicated forces that determine human character. If Charles Dickens is the most widely read writer of fiction in the English language, Jane Austen does not lag far behind. Like Dickens her appeal is transposed with great success to the modern visual media of the 21st century. Miss Austen has kept us engaged, entertained and moved for well over a century, as each new generation discovers the rich treasures she bequeathed to us. Born in Steventon, Hampshire in 1775, she was the seventh child and second daughter in a family of eight. Her own life was filled with many of the highs and lows of her heroines. Like the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice, her father was respectable, but by no means wealthy. Her childhood resembled Catherine in Northanger Abbey, as she too "enjoyed rolling down the green slope at the back of the house", preferring cricket and baseball to girl's play. She and her older sister went to a boarding school in Reading, much like Mrs Goddard's casual school in Emma. Jane and her family did a fair amount of reading of both the serious and popular literature of her day, such as Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson. Upon her father's unexpected retirement, the family moved to Bath which figures strongly in her novels. She was 25, but still there was no evidence of serious courtship with men. A brief flirtation with a Thomas Lefroy was discouraged by her brother because he could not afford to marry her. In Persuasion, the heroine Anne Elliott is encouraged to refuse Captain Wentworth, who later gains both rank and money. Her heroines' most urgent preoccupation was courtship and ultimate marriage, yet she herself never married. She died in 1817 at age 41, following an unknown illness, now thought to be Addison's disease. Although Austen's novels were widely read during her lifetime, she published her works anonymously. Austen's brother Henry, made her authorship known after her death. More than any other author, filmmakers have sought the rich ideas of Miss Austen, sharing their elegant wit and sweet delight with audiences around the world. On reading Emma, Sir Walter Scott ( Ivanhoe ) wrote: "That young lady has a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful thing I ever met with... this exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description, is denied me." A Jane Austen cult began to develop and has seen a resurgence of late in the many film productions during the last decade. Sense and Sensibility written in 1811 was a hugely successful Oscar winning film in 1995 with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant. The romantic comedy Northanger Abbey a grand scale television production directed by Giles Foster in 1986, and Persuasion was a British feature with a stellar cast including Corin Redgrave. Emma (1996) directed by Douglas McGrath starred the American Gwyneth Paltrow who so embodied the delicate well-meaning matchmaker, the role became Miss Paltrow's launching pad to superstardom. The same theme was adapted to modern day Beverly Hills in Clueless (1995) with Alicia Silverstone where Emma becomes Cher, and deals with similar conflicts on her high school campus. Mansfield Park (1999) was another British feature, directed by Patricia Rozema. None however, has had the same popularity as her masterpiece Pride and Prejudice. So universal is its appeal that in 2001 a British Bollywood extravaganza with music, costumes and Indian stars was produced by director/writer Guinder Chadha who changed one letter in the title calling it Bride and Prejudice. The Bennets became the Bakshis, Darcy, a rich hotelier, and Elizabeth Bennett was played by "the most beautiful woman in the world" Aichwarya Rai. The story of Pride and Prejudice, written in 1813 was a model of social elegance and clever dialogue. Mr Bennet, a long suffering but loving father, and Mrs Bennet, a shallow and pretentious mother, eager to find suitable husbands for their five unmarried daughters. When the rich gentlemen Bingley and Darcy come to live nearby, Mrs Bennet's hopes are raised and their lives are turned upside down. The story, in all its simplicity, reveals the life and loves of English gentility during the Georgian era with irony and humour. The first memorable screen adaptation of P&P (1940), cast Laurence Olivier as Fitzwilliam Darcy. His aloof charm and impeccable grace was hard to erase, until one Colin Firth came to claim the Darcy crown. In a mini-series for the BBC (1995), Firth made Darcy his own: "No British woman of childbearing age can control herself when the name of Mr. Darcy is mentioned," thanks to Firth. With his deep dark eyes, searching look, curly brown locks and a cool detached exterior that disguises a heart burning with sensuality, Colin Firth and Darcy became one. In a contemporary version loosely based on the book by Helen Fielding, in her widely successful novel Bridget Jones Diary, he was again cast as the contemporary Darcy opposite Renée Zellwegger and Hugh Grant, solidifying his position as the sexiest man on celluloid. Now a new Darcy will be coming soon to our screens. First time feature director Joe Wright has completed his new version of Pride and Prejudice with a very young Mathew MacFadyen as the dashing Darcy. Members of the female gender have expressed horror at the thought of any other replacing their adorable Darcy/Firth. There is only one Darcy and his name is Colin Firth. It will make little difference however, to Firth who has seen his career soar to great heights since appearing as Darcy. He was already 35 and had been acting for 10 years with more than considerable critical success, when he brought Darcy to life on the screen. His own life has not been the same since. Starring in 10 motion pictures, with films lined up for years to come, he was once compared, by his acting teacher, to the venerable Paul Scofield, "but should beware the effect of his matinée idol looks." Those matinée idol looks have caught up with him, and though he always excelled on stage, TV, and the big screen as Tartuffe, King Lear, Hamlet and Valmont, it will be hard to ignore his physical appeal from now on. Jan .0e Austen's characters remain ever fresh, ever young, drawing us to her, over and over, to share a cup of tea and revel in her world and creations. Though hers was a life of few joys and meagre comforts, her wit and observant narrative touch has been an inexhaustible source of delight to her readers. Her gentle portrayal of middle class provincial life mirrors every middle class of every generation, everywhere. It is no wonder Miss Austen endures. Jane Austen can in fact get more drama out of morality, than most other writers can get from shipwreck, battle, murder or mayhem. Ronald Blythe (1788-1824)
