A book may be better than the film, but what's the harm in watching them anyway. Here are some of the best adaptations from English Literature around.
When studying English Literature, you will find yourself creating a list of books to read. You also find yourself saying that books are way better than movies, or that movies tend to leave important details behind.
Well, as true as that may be, sometimes we just need to snuggle up on the couch, eat popcorn before the movie starts and lose ourselves in the world of cinema. Here is a list of five must-see movies, if you like English Literature:
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
As someone who has studied English Literature, I can say that one has to read, study and analyse a lot of books. Get to their meaning and understand the impact that the characters have on the lives we lead today.
This movie will show you exactly that! Six people from California, forming a book club to discuss Jane Austen’s books. If you are a punctilious person, you will easily notice how characters of the movies are somewhat related to all the characters of Jane Austen Books.
If you like English, comedy and romance you might as well get yourself a cozy place and watch this movie. Sometimes you will agree with their interpretations, sometimes you will not, but that’s exactly the fun of it.
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Are you struggling to find creative work that inspires you, or the meaning behind your purposes? Maybe a muse could help you out!
Shakespeare will be right there to help you through this film, which talks about his search for a muse that would inspire him to write. Guess what comes next!
An imaginary love affair blooms in his intellectual head, an affair which is faced with a lot of obstacles. Shakespeare comes up with a scenario, where he already has a wife and Viola, his muse, is already promised to another man.
By watching Shakespeare In Love, you will see romance through a writer’s eyes, through a prodigy that has brought riches to English Literature. Also, what would be the point of English literature? If I didn’t include Shakespeare in this list, am I right?
Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), as the main character, is an English Major who thinks ‘outside the box’.
In contrast to Shakespeare, Daniel finds his literary ideas elsewhere. Ideas that are not actually in line with the principles of the university he’s enrolled in. Drugs and alcohol help him and his colleagues Lucien, William and Jack come up with new concepts, by forcing them to think differently.
However, this very different mindset and all that creativity will lead them to some tragic turn of events that will mark their lives. But what is this different mindset all about? I’ll leave it up to you to find out.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
If you are planning to be an English teacher and have an impact on your students, then you should definitely watch this movie.
This is the story of an English teacher called John Keating who is introduced to an all-boys preparatory school.
This school is known for its ancient traditions of teaching. When John notices this, he decides to use his “unorthodox methods” of teaching to reach out to his students.
While these boys constantly face pressure from their families and the school system, they find a ‘way out’ by exploring poetry.
Some of these explorations will make you burst into tears, both by laughing and being sad of the tragic aspects that this movie explores.
Little Women (2019)
This is a story of Jo and her three other sisters who are quite determined to live their lives as they want, and not as their fathers or husbands decide.
Jo is passionate about being a writer, Amy struggles to finish her painting studies in Paris, Meg is married to a schoolteacher and Beth is the shy sister who gets ill at some point during the movie.
Her illness gathers the family back together under the same roof, as they were all walking different paths prior to her illness.
You will understand the struggle of women authors, as you see how Jo struggles to be a female writer in a city where all aspects of living, economic and social, are male-dominated – in this case, even literature is!
The powerful and independent Jo, thinks that not all stories should end with weddings. In the other hand Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, makes this a bit difficult for her by proposing, finding out that they have so much in common.
Does Jo prefer her freedom more than being just another married woman? Have a cup of coffee, curl yourself in a blanket and find out by yourself. You won’t be disappointed!
Another literary article for you right here, this time on gender equality:
Do Men Read Women Authors & How Does This Contribute to Gender Equality?
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