Students at UCLA marked Jane Austen’s 250th birthday by completing final projects in an upper-level course focused on the author. The class, taught by lecturer Cailey Hall, required students to write their own one-scene adaptations of Austen’s works.
Hall encourages her students to analyze both original texts such as “Pride and Prejudice” and modern adaptations, including the 2005 film version and the 2022 update “Fire Island.” Hall said, “If all an adaptation does is capture the romance of Austen’s novel, it’s missed the point.” She added that while Austen’s novels feature happy endings, they are also known for social commentary and sharp wit. “I want my students to appreciate what an incredible hater Austen is.”
Hall has a background in English literature and has studied at Chawton House near Austen’s former home. She has designed several courses about Austen, including her current class, “Jane Austen: Then and Now.”
Senior English major Mariana Souza described how historical context and secondary sources in Hall’s class deepened her understanding of Austen. “She was a bold social commentator,” Souza said. “We not only get to learn about the novels alone, but also about Austen’s world. Understanding her childhood, family history and place in society helps put many of her composition choices into context, making it easier to understand why each story is the way that it is.”
For her final project, Souza set a modern adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” on a college campus. She noted that effective adaptations translate themes rather than replicate scenes exactly. “A good adaptation excels at translating the themes and messages of a work, not necessarily replicating it scene by scene,” she said.
Adaptations of Austen continue to appear regularly. Recent examples include the BBC miniseries with Colin Firth, modern retellings like “Clueless,” alternate perspectives such as Jo Baker’s “Longbourn,” Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Eligible,” as well as new screen productions announced for 2025.
Hall explained her teaching approach: “What makes Austen resonate is that she’s an incredibly careful observer with an astute ability to reflect or criticize. I ask my students for the beginnings of what they would pitch as an Austen adaptation because it makes them think about how to analyze Austen’s critical and careful readings of her world, and how to translate those readings into different times, places and cultures.”
The course involved close reading of three novels—“Sense and Sensibility,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Persuasion”—with comparisons between texts and films. During discussions on adaptations like “Fire Island” and the 2005 film version of “Pride & Prejudice,” students analyzed how issues such as class are represented differently across time periods.
One student observed that “Fire Island” addresses overlapping status markers like wealth, race, and appearance: “Without this scene, we would have been paying attention to the money and might not have understood the role of race in this community.”
Hall responded: “Yes, even if class in Austen does not exist in the same way or extent in the 2020s, what they’re articulating here is an alternate set of class hierarchies.”
Students also discussed cinematic choices in adaptations—for example, Elizabeth Bennet’s use of a swing during a pivotal conversation—which prompted debate over interpretation versus fidelity to source material.
Hall remarked that even unsuccessful adaptations can offer valuable insights: “Every time I read one of Austen’s novels, I discover something new,” she said. “To me, none of her novels feel like texts you could come close to figuring out after a single read.”
With ongoing interest in adapting Jane Austen’s work worldwide, Hall anticipates continued opportunities for exploration in future classes.
