Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Adapting wives and daughters for television: Reimagining women, travel, natural science, and race

Ballinger, Gill

Adapting wives and daughters for television: Reimagining women, travel, natural science, and race Thumbnail


Authors



Abstract

This essay examines the depiction of women, travel, natural science, and race in Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters (1864-66) and Andrew Davies's BBC adaptation of the novel (1999). It argues that the adaptation offers a recognizable transposition of Gaskell's text, but makes some significant adjustments that reveal its contemporary reimagining of the novel's gender and racial politics. In particular, Davies transforms Gaskell's unexceptional female protagonist Molly Gibson into a proto-feminist naturalist adventurer, and revisions the casual racism the novel expresses towards black people in line with late-twentieth-century sensibilities. Each text, novel and film, reveals the period-specific ideological forces that shape its portrayal of Englishwomen and African people.

Citation

Ballinger, G. (2022). Adapting wives and daughters for television: Reimagining women, travel, natural science, and race. Adaptation, 15(1), 84-99. https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apab005

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 17, 2021
Online Publication Date Mar 22, 2021
Publication Date 2022-03
Deposit Date Mar 24, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Adaptation
Print ISSN 1755-0637
Electronic ISSN 1755-0637
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 15
Issue 1
Pages 84-99
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/adaptation/apab005
Keywords Gaskell, Wives and Daughters, Davies, adaptation, women, race
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7230409
Publisher URL https://academic.oup.com/adaptation

Files







You might also like



Downloadable Citations