The Jane Austen Collection [Box Set] DVD

The popularity of the adaptations of Jane Austen's novels, nearly two hundred years after their original publication, is staggering. Much is attributed to her use of such universal themes as marriage, social pressure, and the generation gap; many love her strong, spirited and unpretentious heroines and her emphasis on reason, moderation, fidelity and consideration; but most of all it is her sparkling dialogue, razor-sharp wit, marvellous characters and ingeniously intricate plots that have made her a small screen success.

All these are intrinsic in the BBC adaptations. Emma perfectly balances humour and romance; Persuasion has a great strong heroine; Sense and Sensibility features the duelling of spirited sisters; Mansfield Park can claim Austen's most outrageous supporting characters; Northanger Abbey marvellously satirizes gothic romances while the electric sensuality of Pride and Prejudice has, with the courtship of Elizabeth and Darcy, remained everyone's favourite love story.

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