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Arts feature

Some of the best Austen adaptations are the most unfaithful

You won’t find much Jane Austen in the myriad adaptations of her novels, says Claire Harman

15 February 2020

9:00 AM

15 February 2020

9:00 AM

The new Emma film by Autumn de Wilde is the latest in a very long line of Austen adaptations, but by no means the strangest. Even in Austen’s lifetime there were pirated editions and translations of her books that took liberties with the originals, and the first illustrated editions raised howls of objection, too, at their ‘lamentable’ interference (as E.M.

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Claire Harman is the author of Jane’s Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World. Emma. is in cinemas now.

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