CT Jones
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Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne in 'Sense and Sensibility.' Focus Features Let’s talk about truths universally acknowledged. Men with fortunes want wives. Being happy in marriage is often up to chance. And Jane Austen’s body of work makes for undeniable magic on the screen.
When Austen published her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, anonymously in 1811, there was no way for her to know that her books would remain cultural touchstones for over two centuries. But the timeless yet deceptively modern nature of her work — lush family dramas and earnest romances woven with strong critiques about the place of women in England’s early-19th-century elite — has given Austen’s stories more than staying power in the world of literature: It’s made them ripe for adaptation and reinterpretation.
Some cinematic treatments of Austen’s books thrive on strict adherence to her words and world-building. Others keep the dialogue but experiment with an irreverent treatment of the costuming or setting. And still others use Austen’s stories as a jumping-off point to explore an entirely new world, centering viewers in the familiar emotional tethers while allowing them to see their favorite characters in new contexts.
With the latest Austen adaptation in theaters now — a new version of Sense and Sensibility, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and George MacKay — we’ve conducted a rigorous review of modern interpretations of her books for both film and television. Here, our highly unscientific ranking of the 10 best Austen adaptations.
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‘Mansfield Park’ (1999)
Austen’s third novel follows downtrodden child Fanny Price as she’s sent from her poor household to live with wealthy family members, and the consequences that follow her feeling out of her place her entire life. It takes a dedicated Austenhead to adore the book where her dowdy and quiet main character falls in love with and eventually marries her cousin, which might explain why this adaptation takes the character in a different direction. Actress Frances O’Connor imbues Fanny with way more spine than she has in the text. The film also explicitly addresses how the Price family’s wealth was built on the backs of slaves, adding historical context that makes the criticisms baked into Austen’s work an integral part of the plot.
