More than two centuries after her death, Jane Austen is one of the most adapted authors of all time, her life and novels dramatised for film and television from every angle imaginable. Despite the plethora of Pride and Prejudice adaptations, Netflix is making its own version, starring Emma Corrin, Jack Lowden and Olivia Colman.

Sense and Sensibility is being rehashed too, with Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood. On the small screen, the BBC released the hit documentary Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius alongside an adaptation of Gill Hornby’s novel Miss Austen that centres on Austen’s sister Cassandra (plus a forthcoming sequel). A dramatisation of Janice Hadlow’s novel The Other Bennet Sister which takes up the story of Mary, the dowdy younger sister of Lizzy, has also commenced filming.

Emma got a smart and entertaining do-over in 2020 starring Anya Taylor-Joy as the arrogant but well-meaning matchmaker. And of course Carrie Cracknell’s Persuasion got its Fleabag moment in 2022 starring Dakota Johnson as a wine-swigging heartbroken Anne Elliot whispering acerbic asides to the audience.

This article is part of a series commemorating the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Despite having published only six books, she is one of the best-known authors in history. These articles explore the legacy and life of this incredible writer.

So far so good, say Austen fans, who rejoice in these continued adaptations as they celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth this year. Yet it is the same stories being told.

Given the packed cinemas for the 20th anniversary screenings of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice film starring Keira Knightley as Lizzy, plus the enduring appeal of that wet-shirted Mr Darcy moment from the BBC series in 1995, it is clear this novel is Austen’s most enduring work. But do we need another adaptation? Or another “alternative” view of Austen or Lizzy Bennet’s lives?

I’m the first to admit that I’m an Austen fan. Her stories have timeless appeal. They focus on romance and class, alongside larger issues of the Regency period such as power, the role of women and even slavery – although the representation of slavery and empire in Austen’s work is long contested.

So what of the “forgotten”, less-adapted novels: Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park? These are the two of Austen’s novels that bring wider issues into focus. Why are film-makers happy to leave these stories be? Are their narratives less compelling or have we been brainwashed by Mr Darcy and his breeches?

Northanger Abbey was last adapted in 2007 for ITV, starring Felicity Jones as the heroine Catherine Morland. Its previous iteration premiered in 1987 with Katharine Schlesinger in the lead role. There has never been a film version.

Written in 1798-99, Northanger Abbey was not published until six months after Austen’s death in December 1817. It is a gothic pastiche, satirising the melodramatic plots and moody locations of popular novels at the time. It also offers a harsh criticism of the conventions of marriage, wealth and social status faced by young women.

Influenced by her sensational gothic reading material, Catherine Morland initially believes General Tilney, with whom she is staying, is guilty of killing his wife. While not a murderer, General Tilney does treat Catherine callously.

After learning that she is not a wealthy heiress, he declares her unsuitable to marry his son, Henry, turfs her out of Northanger Abbey, and leaves her facing a long journey home alone – a fate perilous to any proper young lady. Snobbishness and gender conventions combine as Austen ridicules class and social ambition.

Published in 1814, Mansfield Park was Austen’s third novel. Long considered to be the odd one out of Austen’s works, it was adapted as a TV series in 1983, with film versions released in 1999 and 2007.

In Mansfield Park, Austen examines bigger issues, including infidelity, gambling and most problematically of all, the fact that Sir Thomas Bertram (the uncle of the heroine Fanny Price) owns a plantation in Antigua.

Bringing up the slavery question

Fanny asks her uncle about the slave trade, but is ignored. By positioning a key character as a plantation owner, many scholars – myself included – argue that Austen was trying to draw attention to this debate in her novel. There is also plenty of circumstantial evidence that Mansfield Park is named for Lord Mansfield, a judge who played an important role in ending slavery in England.

Recent research examining Austen’s family demonstrates that three of her brothers were engaged in anti-slavery activism, her letters share that she was “much in love” with the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, and some critics posit the view that Austen herself supported abolition. Mansfield Park and Emma both feature discussions on the slave trade.

At the very least, Austen was interested in questions of slavery and race. While it is impossible to definitively decipher her personal views from her literary works, it is clear that important issues such as slavery feature in her novels, albeit subtly.

Perhaps it is this serious and timely subject matter, so unlike the usual Austen narrative, that puts off film-makers. But Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park deserve their time in the limelight.

Rather than iterations of Austen’s afterlives or Lizzy’s family members, powerful and original adaptations of these two novels would invigorate new generations of readers and filmgoers. Who wouldn’t want to watch Greta Gerwig’s Northanger Abbey? It is a serious travesty that a film version has never been released.

Perhaps big studios simply haven’t got around to commissioning a new Northanger Abbey or Mansfield Park. But in doing so, they are neglecting a third of Austen’s published novels.

They represent Austen’s most nuanced works, focusing not just on romance (although both heroines get their happy endings) but on society’s wider issues. Crucially, they demonstrate that their author was not just a writer of fluffy romance, but an informed observer of politics and society and the structures that underpinned them.

Even more radically, film-makers could offer a different perspective by adapting one of her contemporaries’ novels – Austen was not the only female author writing during this period.

Scottish novelist Susan Ferrier admired Austen’s work, yet was a hugely successful author in her own right, outselling Austen in the 1800s. Any of her three novels – Marriage; The Inheritance; and Destiny, would be sure-fire Regency hits. Or Gothic pioneer Ann Radcliffe whose tale The Mysteries of Udolpho, one of the Gothic novels Catherine Morland so enjoys, is ripe for the big screen.

Audiences would perhaps see film versions of her fellow authors’ works as a way to honour Austen’s legacy too, offering viewers something familiar yet different.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Amy Wilcockson, University of Glasgow

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Amy Wilcockson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.