Why does the bbc seem to favour Jane Austen over the Bronte sisters?

[KillingEvesbestmate]

It seems very unfair as the brontes are vastly superior.

In my very humble opinion, Jane Austen is very much more readable than any of the Bronte sisters. I may, of course, have been put off by having to read (and analyse) Wuthering Heights at school 50 years ago, but I still read Jane Austen for pleasure whereas I wouldn't have any of the Bronte books in the house.

What makes you think they do?

If it’s due to recent programming then it’s Jane Austen 250 this year which is probably what’s causing it, over favouritism.

But generally they will make shows and films that they think more people will be interested in, so they probably think Jane Austen is more popular overall than the Brontes.

There’s a new Wuthring Heights film coming out last year that looks like it might be popular with the younger generation so that might change things around.

I don’t think either are superior. They both wrote some incredible books!

I was just watching a film about the life of the Brontes on iplayer last night.

And l can watch Colin Firth on repeat whenever l like😉

I don't like the look of the new Wuthering heights film !

Austen is funnier and less melodramatic

I prefer Austen, personally.

Social comedy and satire is more enjoyable than melodrama. And cheaper to film.

I agree though that they tend not to show enough of the bleak heart of Austen which is a shame.

I don't think it has to be a competition- they are vastly different. It's probably only because they are women that they are compared.

I enjoy both Austen and the Brontes for their own merits.

That's your opinion , like comparing chalk to cheese.
I imagine Georgian costume and the vast amount of Georgian/ Regency architecture available in the uk makes production easier.

I would say both are popular but Austen more so as they translate into our world slightly easier.

Brontes are more raw and intense, the more lighthearted Austen classics are jovial and comforting to viewers/readers.

I am looking forward to the new Wuthering Heights film although it will be nothing like the book and not what Emily intended I suspect but that’s artistic license I suppose!

Because Jane Austen is funnier and more enjoyable 🤷‍♀️

It’s like comparing apples and carrots though, they’re both equally good but different.

ROFLMAO

😂

Yes Austen is funny on screen. There are some passages in Jane Eyre that I love but the movie adaptations are always a bit more dull. I think it is better as a book.

I much prefer Austen to the Brontes. I’ve read all the Austen novels multiple times and all the Brontes once. Once was enough. Jane Eyre is, without a doubt, my least favourite book ever written. It would have been much improved if dull mimsy Jane had died of consumption alongside her friend at the beginning of the whole turgid mess.

Jane Austen is miles better than the Brontes. That’s why.

But generally they will make shows and films that they think more people will be interested in, so they probably think Jane Austen is more popular overall than the Brontes.

This is absolutely all of it. Also how sellable the production will be for foreign markets; there are tons of Austen obsessives in the U.K. and US, there are Austen weekends at stately homes, etc. Versus the Brontë sisters, who used to be taught in school, but have been removed from a lot of syllabi. I actually heard a fucking American YouTuber say, “Does anyone know who Emily Brunt is?”

I don’t know, but I think it’s both true and interesting- and am going away to think about it!

I suspect it may have something to do with the Austen novels being much easier to serialise for drama (and more romantic and “glamorous” so an easier sell for drama investors as typically they will be co-productions), than the Brontë novels- which are complicated, often confronting and less accessible if you’re not “into” the books already, than Austen.

That isn’t to say that Austen isn’t complex or rich- but that it’s more graspably so- than the Brontë works.

Mind you, Patrick Brontë was born Brunty and changed his name!!

… sadly, I do not think the YouTuber was just getting confused because he remembered that Patrick Brontë changed the pronunciation. 😁

Then again, I doubt the person in question could walk and chew gum at the same time (was some tripe my DH was watching on YouTube).

He also outlived his wife and all his children which is sad!

I really like the 2006 adaptation of Jane Eyre staring Toby Stephen’s and Ruth Wilson.

Meant to say Toby Stephens!

Because relationships that Austen wrote about are still relevant today. Look how many modern versions of P&P there are, and they still work.

Austen is like Shakespeare, writing stories about the human condition that are still true.

A twisted and abusive set of relationships like those in Wuthering Heights holds no universal truths.

(And obviously Austen was by far the better writer.)