Cultural Afterlives and Screen Adaptations of Classic Literature

The image of Emily Bronte's famous characters, Catherine and Heathcliff, traversing the romantic English moors, has come to define the meaning of her nineteenth-century novel, Wuthering Heights. Yet, it is an image that has been invented by the novel's film and television adaptations. Cultural Afterlives and Screen Adaptations of Classic Literature examines what happens to literary works when they become part of cultural memory through continual screen adaptation. Moving from the 1930s to the current age, Hila Shachar explores the cultural legacy and screen 'afterlife' of Bronte's Wuthering Heights alongside its company of other adaptations from the works of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and others. Shachar situates the analysis of these adaptations within a historical context, examining how cultural trends influence how a classic work is adapted, and in turn, how adaptations help shape perceptions about national identities, history and gender. The scope of this examination is wide, ranging from subjects such as feminism, heritage cinema, costume films, popular teen culture, music video television, neo-Victorianism, French cinema, the rise of English Studies, classic Hollywood cinema, and others. Written in a lively manner, this book offers a long overdue discussion of popular film and television adaptations that have not been examined before, providing an understanding of how these adaptations help shape our cultural landscape.