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The Novel as Drama: Staging Theatrical Aspects of the Narrative in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Shanahan, Ann M. |
| Copyright Year | 2012 |
| Abstract | Of J11nt Aumns fu ll-length novels, Mansfidd Park deals most dirm!y with rhtatrical subjects. ytt it is the kast frequent~ adapted for the stage. Plcu, themes, and charactm in tht novtl echo thou of the popular late t ightumh century play Lovers' Vows, and the jirJ"t volume includes a per~ formanre of that play as part of 11 "heme theatTica/. ·In 2011, J complmd a workshop adaptation and sraging of Mansfield Park. I used the mtthod of <..namber Theam founded by Robert Brem, 11 technique of literary adapratioll rhat retains tht narra1iw voice by ust of an tmbtJditd wrrator and auignment of narrative pm.sages to characters in dirtct address with the audience. A phyJical m11ctmmt of the relationship of the narrator to tht central figurt of Fanny Price "Vt(rltd a dramatic component as rht htart of the narrative poinr of vifw and in progression. ThiJ method illum;naud a performanu-based s1ructurt to tht novel and rendaed ir remarkably well-suiud to theatrical adaptation. While Jane Austen's Mansfield Park (1814) deals directly with rhearrical subjects, ii is the least frequently adapted of Austen's novels for the stage. Themes in the novel echo chose of the popular late eighteenth century play, lovers' Vowi (1798) and the first volume of the novel includes a performance of that play as a "home theatrical," common in the period. T he lack of scage adaptation may be explained by a commonly held critical position that the novel is Austen's most "problematic," and that ic paints a negative view of rheacre, reflecting Austen's personal opin ion of the practice (Byrne 2000:148). In 2011, I completed a workshop scaging of my own adaptat ion of M amfield Park. For this I used the method of Chamber Theaue founded by Robert Breen at Northwestern University, a fo rm of literary adaptation that retains the narrative voice by use of an embodied narrator.' While I set out merely interested in exploring rhe metatheatrical potential of the novel's theatre-based scenes on |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=dfpa |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=dfpa&httpsredir=1&referer= |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=dfpa |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
