The Bostonians from Novel into Film

Number: 40 October 1, 2014
Dorota Babilas
EN

The Bostonians from Novel into Film

Abstract

Henry James’s novel The Bostonians presents an emotional and political struggle between a traditionalist Southerner, Basil Ransom, and his Boston-based feminist cousin, Olive Chancellor, for influence over a debutante public speaker, Verena Tarrant. Two film adaptations of The Bostonians have been made: the heritage style costume drama directed by James Ivory in 1984, and the modern reworking titled The Californians 2005, dir. Jonathan Parker . The adaptations shift the perception of emotional attachment between Olive and Verena from late-Victorian romantic friendship to thinly veiled lesbianism. Ivory’s film uses the plot of James’s novel to relate to the problems of the late twentieth century, especially the issue of the conservative backlash in the 1980s. Parker’s version shifts the focus of the narrative from women’s rights to environmentalism

Keywords

Henry James, The Bostonians, film adaptation, feminism, lesbianism

References

  1. Anesko, Michael. Monopolizing the Master: Henry James and the Politics of Modern Literary Scholarship. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2012. Print.
  2. Bertonneau, Thomas F. “Like Hypatia before the Mob: Desire, Resentment, and Sacrifice in The Bostonians (An Anthropoetics).” NineteenthCentury Literature 53.1 (1998): 56-90. Print.
  3. Rev. of The Bostonians, by Henry James. British Quarterly Review Apr. 1886: 480-81. Rpt. in Hayes 160. Print.
  4. Rev. of The Bostonians, by Henry James. Chicago Tribune 3 Apr. 1886: 13. Rpt. in Hayes 160-61. Print.
  5. Rev. of The Bostonians, by Henry James. Daily News (London) 25 Feb. 1886: 3. Rpt. in Hayes 153. Print.
  6. The Bostonians. Dir. James Ivory. Perf. Vanessa Redgrave, Madeleine Potter, and Christopher Reeve. Merchant Ivory Productions, 1984. DVD.
  7. Boudreau, Kristin. “A Barnum Monstrosity: Alice James and the Spectacle of Sympathy.” American Literature 65.1 (1993): 53-67. Print.
  8. Brake, Elizabeth. “Marriage, Influence, and Deception in Merchant Ivory’s The Europeans and The Bostonians.” Henry James on Stage and Screen. Ed. John R. Bradley. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000. 143- 56. Print.
  9. The Californians. Dir. Jonathan Parker. Perf. Noah Wyle, Illeana Douglas, and Kate Mara. Parker Film Company, 2005. DVD.
  10. Canby, Vincent. “The Bostonians: A Proper Jamesian Adaptation.” New York Times Film Reviews 5 Aug. 1984: 265-67. Print.
APA
Babilas, D. (2014). The Bostonians from Novel into Film. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, 40, 37-54. https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH
AMA
1.Babilas D. The Bostonians from Novel into Film. JAST. 2014;(40):37-54. https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH
Chicago
Babilas, Dorota. 2014. “The Bostonians from Novel into Film”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, nos. 40: 37-54. https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH.
EndNote
Babilas D (October 1, 2014) The Bostonians from Novel into Film. Journal of American Studies of Turkey 40 37–54.
IEEE
[1]D. Babilas, “The Bostonians from Novel into Film”, JAST, no. 40, pp. 37–54, Oct. 2014, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH
ISNAD
Babilas, Dorota. “The Bostonians from Novel into Film”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey. 40 (October 1, 2014): 37-54. https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH.
JAMA
1.Babilas D. The Bostonians from Novel into Film. JAST. 2014;:37–54.
MLA
Babilas, Dorota. “The Bostonians from Novel into Film”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 40, Oct. 2014, pp. 37-54, https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH.
Vancouver
1.Dorota Babilas. The Bostonians from Novel into Film. JAST [Internet]. 2014 Oct. 1;(40):37-54. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA96YF62BH