From private to public redux: the private lives of Jane Austen and Graham Greene as represented by the public worlds of film

This project is an examination of the process by which the mediums of literature and film intersect within the context of novel-to-film adaptation, and in the depiction of the public and private spheres of the authors and directors. The novels of Jane Austen and Graham Greene and three contemporary film adaptations of their work are analyzed. The project considers how the authors’ private and public lives influence their fiction, how the film directors’ private spheres alter their perception of the novels, and the impact these factors have on the film adaptations, which are released into the public domain. The directors use biographical aspects of the authors’ private and public lives in strikingly different ways to reflect contemporary cultural codes. The public/private dichotomy is also discussed. As technology transforms the ways in which films are viewed, the public/private spheres of the audience in relation to the content are also significantly transformed.