Butler University Digital Commons @ Butler University Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection Undergraduate Scholarship 2019 Fans and Adaptation: An Analysis of the Use of Interactive Storytelling in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries Margaret Brodbeck Butler University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Brodbeck, Margaret, "Fans and Adaptation: An Analysis of the Use of Interactive Storytelling in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries" (2019). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 491. https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/491 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Scholarship at Digital Commons @ Butler University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Butler University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fans and Adaptation: An Analysis of the Use of Interactive Storytelling in The Lizzie Bennet Diaries A Thesis Presented to the Department of English College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and The Honors Program of Butler University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation Honors Margaret Kathryn Brodbeck May 2nd, 2019 Brodbeck 1 Abstract: By using adaptations of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice (1813) as a frame of reference, my thesis will demonstrate that transmedia narratives are most effective in tandem with original texts that have a history of successful adaptations due to the perpetual audience of fans and their previous knowledge of the story to meaningfully, as well as canonically, interact with the narrative. This thesis will first introduce theories surrounding adaptations and look at previous Pride and Prejudice adaptations in light of a devoted fan base. It will then introduce the concept of transmedia narratives and examine the culture of fans and their interactions with texts in the digital age. Lastly, I will analyze the success of the Internet production company Pemberley Digital and their transmedia YouTube adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that boasts a view count of 82.2 million views and secured an Emmy. This analysis will apply the theories on transmedia, fandom, and adaptation introduced in the first three sections to demonstrate that interactive transmedia narratives are most effective when they have an established fan base, which is most easily found in popular texts prone to adaptations. Digital storytelling will only continue to grow, especially as upcoming generations favor online streaming and independent producers as opposed to the cable television shows created by the larger media corporations. The research contained within this thesis will show the importance of appealing to wider audiences by creating richer, more immersive narratives through transmedia and paratexts that encourage collective authorship. Brodbeck 2 Introduction: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published on 28 January 1813 in England and quickly became the popular, beloved novel it is today. Pride and Prejudice details the romantic journey between two flawed characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Mrs. Bennet, the mother of Elizabeth, is desperate to find husbands for her and her husband’s daughters, as the family estate is set to be inherited by their cousin Mr. Collins in the patriarchal society of England at the time. When wealthy bachelor Mr. Bingley rents out a nearby estate, she is determined to make a connection between him and her daughter Jane. However, Mr. Bingley’s friend Mr. Darcy finds the country town boring and uncivilized. After a bad first impression in which Mr. Darcy snubs Elizabeth at a ball, the two must learn to grow from their preconceived notions of each other. While Austen’s story situates itself as romance, it is well-known for its humor, irony, and dynamic characters as well. Pride and Prejudice is a story that is continuously being adapted and re-imagined, which can be seen in its most popular recent adaptation, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. On 9 April 2012, the production company Pemberley Digital released the first vlog of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube under a channel of the same name. “My Name is Lizzie Bennet” (ep. 1) introduces the audience to graduate student Lizzie Bennet as she relates a story of her match-making mother and her obsession with the new neighbor, a supposedly a rich, single man. The series was created by Hank Green and Bernie Su. Green is well-known in the online world for the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers, a video blog in which he and his brother John Green exchange epistolary- style videos. Su is a writer, director, and producer who creates interactive stories—most of which are Pemberley Digital productions. The series, a modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), created a contemporary setting and publishing paradigm. Rather than Brodbeck 3 releasing another period drama adaptation (that our main character is fond of), the creators told the story through a series of YouTube vlogs, much like Green himself makes, and additional transmedia content that spanned across multiple social media platforms. Fig. 1. “Darcy follows Lizzie.” Pemberley Digital, 2 Nov. 2012, http://www.pemberleydigital.com/darcy-follows-lizzie/. The vlogs and social media posts were posted in real time and allowed for fan interaction with characters on popular sites such as Twitter or Tumblr. This technique of using social media in real time was not new, as television shows such as Misfits (2009), a British science-fiction series, had employed the technique few years prior to the release of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. However, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries presented their show in a manner that valued the additional story content on the social media platforms just as much as the primary narrative seen in the YouTube vlogs. Both platforms, that is the social media and YouTube, were equally important in understanding the story and even encouraged fans to interact in ways that substantially contributed to the story’s narrative. One example can be found in a Twitter exchange between Lizzie and two of her followers on 2 November 2012. The followers discovered that Darcy had followed Lizzie on Twitter, and Pemberley Digital used their tweets to reveal this in an Brodbeck 4 interaction with Lizzie. The exchange occurs a day after Lizzie’s release of the episode in which Darcy declares his unrequited love for Lizzie. In the ensuing argument between the two, Lizzie accidently reveals that she talked about Darcy in her video blogs (ep. 60). The followers’ observation that Darcy had followed Lizzie on Twitter allowed the fans to speculate more precisely as to what his reaction was to her video and the discovery of her YouTube channel. Lizzie even expresses her own confusion in the Twitter exchange (see fig.1). For the audience that followed the series in real time, these interactions with the characters created a more immersive narrative. Brodbeck 5 The Adaptability of Jane Austen: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813) is perhaps one of the most recognizable romances in recent history due to the proliferation of many on-screen adaptations and re- imagined versions of it in literature and other forms of text. Screenwriters and directors have recognized the commercial success of the story regardless of format and continue to produce more adaptations, much to the delight of Jane Austen fans. From the first film adaptation in the mid-1900s to a transmedia version told through YouTube vlogs, Pride and Prejudice has a rich and varied history of adaptation that continues to build upon each narrative reiteration. Much of Pride and Prejudice’s success can be attributed to its devoted following, often referred to as Janeites, that spans across an entire century from the late nineteenth-century to present day. While it is not the most iconic of the novel’s adaptations, Pride and Prejudice (1940), directed by Robert Z. Leonard, marks the beginning of the novel’s lasting cinematic adaptations, though it was preceded by live, theatrical versions that are lost to time. The 1940 film, featuring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, was based upon a Broadway play entitled First Impressions produced a few years prior, rather than a direct adaptation of the novel (jasna.org). While the film takes some creative liberties with the original text, it was highly successful. The most notable change can be found in the time period the story is set in. Instead of taking place in Austen’s regency England, the film chose to set the story in the 1830s. This change is mostly attributed to the film’s costuming decisions. Some claim the studio thought the styles of Austen’s time were too boring for that of the audience, and it would benefit to change it to the dramatic gowns of the later time. It has also been said that costumes left over from the studio’s previous film production of Gone with the Wind were used in effort to cut costs (tcm.com). Regardless of the reason, the updated style served to change other aspects of the film Brodbeck 6 and the audience’s perception of the characters. The 1830s style of dress more closely resembled that of Southern debutantes, than of Regency women, which made the characters seem excessively dramatic in their movements and personalities. While other adaptations in the form of television movies and series followed the 1940 film, none are more beloved and popular than the television series version of Pride and Prejudice (1995). The six-episode series, written by Andrew Davies and directed by Simon Langton, aired on the BBC and the American A&E at the time of its release. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth filled the roles of the two main characters, and the series more closely followed the original novel than its predecessors.