The Jane Austen Collection

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can, impatient to restore everybody, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable comfort and to have done with all the rest." Jane Austen

The popularity of Jane Austen's novels, nearly two hundred years after their original publication, is staggering. The socially restricted lives of 18th-century women hardly seems like a subject that would inspire dozens of 20th (and 21st) century adaptations. No one can adapt a period dram quite like the BBC and this special box set features all of Austen's most popular stories. Included in this collection is the wonderful adaptation by award-winning writer Andrew Davies of Pride and Prejudice. Without question the most popular adaptation, it oozes electric sensuality with Colin Firth starring as Mr Darcy. Also featured is Emma, a perfect balance of humour and romance; Persuasion with its strong heroine; Sense and Sensibility and the dueled of spirited sisters; Mansfield park which claims Austen's most outrageous supporting characters; and Northanger Abbey which marvelously satirizes gothic romance.

Be it Austen's use of such universal themes as marriage, social pressure and the generation gap or her strong, spirited and unpretentious heroines with an emphasis on reason, moderation, fidelity and consideration that make her stories so popular. For most, it is the sparkling dialogue, the razor-sharp wit and marvelously realised character that range from adorably sympathetic to grotesquely comic that make each Jane Austen adaptation an event for the small screen that can be enjoyed again and again.

The Jane Austen Collection
BBC
Exclusive to ABC Shops and Centres
Price: $149.95