The Socio-Economic contexts of the 19th century England and the 21st century India: A Comparison with reference to select novels of Jane Austen and their film adaptations

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the socio-economic contexts of the 19th century England and the 21st century India: A comparison with special reference to Jane Austen’s two novels namely ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Emma’ with their Bollywood adaptations namely ‘Bride and Prejudice’ (2004) and ‘Aisha’ (2010) respectively. The socio-economic contexts of the 19th century England is presented through both the novels whereas the socio-economic context of the 21st century India is presented through both movies based on these novels. Jane Austen’s novels are read all over the world and apart from that many of her novels have been adapted into Hollywood and Bollywood movies. The present paper throws light on the similarities and differences in the socio-economic context of 19th century England and 21st century India by comparing various aspects like the portrayal of characters, patriarchal society, social hypocrisy, realism, fairy tale element, feminist themes, etc. as depicted in the novels and films.