This article by Agnieszka Zieja is based on her MA thesis from Dr. Zbigniew Mazur's Seminar in British Studies at the Uniwersytet Warszawski. The article will also appear in a forthcoming publication, a collection of MA papers, entitled Studying "New" Britain: Popular Culture and Ideology, and edited by Dr. Mazur and Professor Irmina Wawrzyczek.

 

The opinion is often expressed, particularly by persons involved in literary studies and teaching literature, that film adaptations of important literary works reduce these masterpieces to commercial productions for mass entertainment. They do little justice to literary texts because a popular film is unable to convey all the complex and subtle meanings contained in the artistic prose of great writers. The aim of my study is to argue to the contrary. Film, similarly to literature, is capable of a coherent and reasoned treatment of a subject, and a film adaptation of a literary masterpiece may be a work of art on a par with its “prototype.” The fact that both use different techniques and codes to generate meanings does not justify the treatment of film texts as inferior to literary texts.

I intend to prove my hypothesis by examining the Ang Lee adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility made in 1995 on the basis of the script by the British actress Emma Thompson.[1] The focus of the study is the plot patterning of both versions of Sense and Sensibility, I shall try to demonstrate that although the plots are not identical, the ideas and meanings central to the novel were neither lost not distorted in the film. Indeed, many of them were enhanced and elucidated to the benefit of twentieth-century mass audiences brought in contact with the nineteenth-century England as captured by Jane Austen. In addition to the basic plot analysis, I want to indicate how Lee and Thompson succeeded in translating the verbal text of the novel into the visual text of the film by the skilful combinations of setting, costume, figure arrangement, speech, camera movement, editing, music, and so on.

The tool used in this study of plot patterning in the novel and its film adaptation is Vladimir Propp’s morphology of Russian fairy-tales. Propp’s aim was to discover the common pattern governing the narrative propositions abstracted from a corpus of 115 tales, and he worked out an inventory of the fundamental events contained in all of them.[2] Since Propp’s analysis attempts to disclose the structural syntax of narrative works in general, this method was used by critics to reveal a universal pattern of organisation underpinning all plot structures in literary works. In order to achieve this aim, constant elements had to be abstracted from the variable, specific events and participants constituting individual stories.[3] The constant element was termed a “function” and is described as “an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of the action.” Propp identified thirty-one functions, some of them forming internal patterning within the whole sequence. Thus, for instance, certain functions go together as pairs and some as clusters grouped under general headings.[4]

According to Propp, functions 1-7 are potential realisations of preparation:

1.       One of the members of a family absents himself from home.

2.       An interdiction is addressed to the hero[5].

3.       The interdiction is violated.

4.       The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance.

5.       The villain receives information about his victim.

6.       The villain attempts to deceive his victims in order to take possession of him or of his belongings.

7.       The victim submits to deception and thereby unwittingly helps his enemy.

Functions 8 – 10 in Proppian morphology are potential realisations of complication:

8.       The villain causes harm or injury to a member of a family (defined as “villainy”).

8a. One member of a family either lacks something or desires to have something

(defined as “lack”).

9.       Misfortune or lack is made known; the hero is approached with a request or command; he is allowed to go or he is dispatched.

10.   The seeker agrees to or decides upon contradiction.

11.   The hero leaves home.

The next stage, which may be termed transference, includes potential realisations of functions 12 –15:

12.   The hero is tested, interrogated, attacked, etc., which prepares the way for his receiving either a magical agent or helper.

13.   The hero reacts to the actions of the future donor.

14.   The hero acquires the use of a magical agent.

15.   The hero is transferred, delivered, or led to the whereabouts of an object of search.

Further, there are the representations of the following functions:

16.   The hero and the villain join in direct combat.

17.   The hero is branded.

18.   The villain is defeated.

19.   The initial misfortune or lack is liquidated.

20.   The hero returns.

21.   The hero is pursued.

22.   The rescue of the hero from pursuit.

23.   The hero, unrecognised, arrives home or in another country.

24.   A false hero presents unfounded claims.

25.   A difficult task is proposed to the hero.

26.   The task is resolved.

27.   The hero is recognised.

28.   The false hero or villain is exposed.

29.   The hero is given a new appearance.

30.   The villain is punished.

31.   The hero is married and ascends the throne.[6]

Though not all the functions occur in any one tale, they always appear in the same order.

For the purpose of my project I will use Vladimir Propp's pattern in order to identify and compare the underlying structures of Jane Austen’s novel and its film adaptation. If the thematic elements in the literary and film text are the same, I will prove that a story may be abstracted and grasped as transferable from medium to medium without losing its original meanings and value. Possible variations introduced by the film-makers to the plot patterning of the novel will be pinpointed and explained in terms of their purpose and of effect on the message conveyed in the novel and film.

Given below are the realisations of Propp's functions that identified both in Austen's Sense and Sensibility and in its film adaptation, with a number of a respective items on Propp's list. The overlap indicates how successful the scriptwriter, Emma Thompson, was in transferring the narrative line of the original to the screen. Despite the necessary abbreviation of a long and complex verbal narrative to produce a one hundred and thirty five-minute film, it will be seen that a surprising number of functions present in the novel was retained in the film.

Novel                 Þ                  Respective function in Propp's morphology 

 

► Mr. Dashwood (a member of a family) dies.	1
► John and Fanny Dashwood (villains) refuse to provide material help to Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters, Marianne and Elinor (victims).	6
► The Dashwood family is forced to leave Norland estate (villainy).	8
► Fanny makes it clear that Edward should marry well (Elinor realises her misfortune).	9
► The Dashwoods leave Norland.	11
► Elinor and Marianne are subjected to the taunting raillery of Mrs Jennings and Sir John.	12
► Marianne (heroine) ignores Colonel Brandon (future donor).	13
► Marianne (heroine) meets John Willoughby (at this point - magical agent).	14
►  Marianne (heroine) is expected by everybody to be engaged to Willoughby (an object of search).	15
► Lucy Steele (false hero) tells Elinor about her engagement to Edward.	24
► Elinor (heroine) has to bear the official announcement of Edward's engagement to Lucy (difficult task); Marianne (heroine) is seriously ill (difficult task).	25
►   Lucy (false heroine) breaks her engagement with Edward and is to marry his brother Robert (her true nature is exposed).	28
►   Willoughby (villain) loses Marianne forever.	30
► Elinor is getting married to Edward and Marianne to Colonel Brandon.	31

 

The opening event in the film adaptation is the death of Mr. Dashwood. Though in Jane Austen's novel it is only reported in one sentence (“The old Gentleman died.”[7]) the film develops it into a vivid and emotive scene. The picture of Mr. Dashwood on his deathbed pronouncing his last will is certainly an effective opening of the story and it catches the attention of the audience. Since the dull opening of Austen's novel is regarded by critics to be its weak point[8], the modification introduced by the filmmakers might be thought an improvement on the novel.

After the death of their father, Elinor and Marianne depend on the good will of their stepbrother John Dashwood, who was asked by his father to provide the girls with material help. However, influenced by his wife, Fanny, John deceives the family of his stepmother in order to “take possession of their belongings,” using Propp's terminology. Influenced by his wife, Fanny, he refuses to help them in any way. The scene presenting Fanny's line of reasoning, when she brings forth “rational” arguments to convince her husband that no financial support for Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters is expected of them, fully manifests Jane Austen’s satiric stride. It was perfectly retained in the film adaptation where the irony and satire of Austen’s narrative is illuminated due to the very good acting of Harriet Walter as the harsh and snobbish Fanny.

The Dashwoods’ departure from Norland and their arrival into Barton Cottage ends up the opening part of both Jane Austen’s novel and Ang Lee’s film, and forms a transition to the next part, which is largely devoted to Marianne. At Barton she meets John Willoughby who at this point performs the function of the “magical agent.” In her script Emma Thompson remains almost entirely faithful to the pattern set in Jane Austen’s novel relating to the circumstances of introducing Willoughby to the plot. We get to know him when he helps Marianne after she sprained her ankle. Though in the film this scene is presented in a more dazzling way than in the novel (Willoughby, described in the script as “Adonis in hunting gear,”[9] breaks through the mist on a huge white horse, while in the novel he is presented merely as “a gentleman carrying a gun, with two pointers playing around him”[10]) the effect of his appearance on subsequent events that follow remains the same. Willoughby becomes the centre of Marianne’s world and she does not hide her admiration for him, which seems to be fully requited. Marianne’s engagement to Willoughby is expected by everybody who witnessed their mutual attachment. At the same time her open and guileless behaviour is condemned by the members of the convention-bound society. The pending equilibrium (Marianne and Willoughby’s expected engagement) that seems bound to follow is suddenly frustrated when the man unexpectedly announces his departure for London.

            The next stage in the novel and in the film version of Sense and Sensibility takes place in London, where both Miss Dashwoods are invited by Mrs. Jennings. Here Marianne confronts Willoughby at a party, where he talks to a rich, smart and stylish young woman, whom, as Marianne is told later, he is going to marry. The ballroom scene of Lee’s film, presented with greater splendour and glamour than in the novel, is valuable not only from the point of view of the plot but it is also used for recreating the ambience of the Regency period. Above all, it conveys the sense of class divisions of the period. To achieve this aim Lee departs from the literary original, and places the party of Willoughby and Miss Grey, his fiancée, in a separate room, so that Marianne sees them as a sort of a framed portrait of wealth and superiority. There is no place in it for her, which is additionally made crushingly clear to her by the disdainful glances of the Willoughby party. Additionally, thanks to the ballroom scene we get an idea of what the Regency period conventions and dancing rituals were like.

Both in the novel and film we are presented with the details of Elinor's life simultaneously with the account of Marianne’s experiences. The elder Miss Dashwood proves to be no more fortunate than her sister in matters of the heart when Lucy Steele's four-year long engagement to Edward Ferrars, Elinor's secret beloved, is officially announced. The part which Lucy as the “false heroine” plays in the life of the elder Miss Dashwood follows in the film the pattern set in Jane Austen’s novel. Miss Steele, a deceitful and insincere woman, confides in Elinor the secret of her four-year long engagement to Edward Ferrars, though she is aware of Edward’s affection towards Miss Dashwood.

The next stage in the plot patterning of Austen's novel and Lee's film is the visit of the Dashwood sisters at Delaford, where Marianne falls seriously ill. The scenes of Marianne’s illness are presented much more dramatically in the film than in the book. Thompson’s version perfectly renders the deep sisterly love between Elinor and Marianne, which Jane Austen never explicitly verbalized in the novel. The depiction of sisterly love presented in the film reaches a climax in the scene of the medical crisis in Marianne's illness, which was added to the script. Elinor grasps her sister’s hand and in a tone half-imploring and half-imperious begs her to get well. Then, kissing her hand, she implores Marianne not to die and leave her alone.

The turning point for Elinor comes when Lucy Steele decides to leave Edward and “transfer[s] her affections to his brother Robert (...) in view of the change in Edward’s circumstances,”[11] by which she meant his being disinherited by Mrs. Ferrars. This event is followed by Edward’s engagement to Elinor. The way Miss Dashwood responds to his proposal in the literary and cinema versions of Sense and Sensibility is worth discussing. In the film Elinor bursts into tears in Edward’s presence on learning that he did marry Lucy. Conversely, in the novel, although the readers are aware of Elinor's intense emotions, she does not dare to expose her feelings in front of Edward and rushes out of the room. In her presentation of this incident Thompson distances herself from the social convention that the scene exemplifies in the novel. Elinor is mistaken in her restraint, as Edward has been totally unaware of her affection towards him. The scriptwriter suggests that Elinor's sense of propriety might have prevented her from reaching emotional fulfilment. Thus, for all her good sense, Thompson’s Elinor has to learn that sometimes it is better to admit to emotions, while the heroine of Jane Austen’s novel seems comparatively unfeeling and indifferent.

            Not all the scenes found in the novel appear in the film version of Sense and Sensibility. The most notable discrepancies between the two plots are the following:

Novel                                                                 Film

 

►  Edward's visit at Barton Cottage.	Not in the film. Instead, Edward’s visit at Norland is more developed (similar message conveyed).
► Elinor and Marianne’s visit at Mrs. Ferrar’s estate.	Not in the film.
► Willoughby makes a confession to Elinor at Norland and admits that his love towards Marianne was sincere.	Not in the film. Instead, Colonel Brandon tells Elinor that Willoughby's intentions towards Marianne might have been sincere.

 

Due to the above adaptation cuts in the script, the way the readers and viewers get acquainted with Edward differs significantly. Instead of portraying him during his visit to Barton Cottage as in the novel, which would still prolong the one hundred and thirty five-minute-long picture and only slow down its pacing, the viewers see him in the much more extended scenes at Norland. In Jane Austen’s text, his visit to the estate of John and Fanny Dashwood seems a marginal episode treated quite superficially and he is presented mainly through the eyes of Mrs. Dashwood, Elinor and Marianne. In Ang Lee’s film, we get to know him through his frank and sincere behaviour towards everybody, including Margaret, the youngest of the Dashwood sisters, who in Austen’s novel is only a minor character, while her part is fairly developed in the film. Thompson’s Margaret serves also another purpose apart from shedding light on the person of Edward Ferrars. Her childish, artless and spontaneous behaviour depicted in the film brings out the stiffness and formality so much present in the behaviour of other characters.

Another difference between the novel and its film adaptation is the scene showing dinner at Fanny Dashwood's house in London attended, among others, by Mrs. Ferrars, Fanny's and Edward's mother, Lucy, Elinor and Marianne. This scene is missing in the film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. The purpose of the scene in the novel is to present to the readers Elinor's future mother in law, a mean and prejudiced woman, the exact opposite of Elinor herself. Though introducing Mrs. Ferrars does not directly influence the plot she is a perfect example of duplicity, arrogance and narrow-mindedness of the upper classes. In the film, Fanny functions as a quintessence of the woman of her class, and her behaviour and attitudes reflect those of her mother in the novel. There is, for instance, the scene with Fanny pinching Lucy's nose in fury when she learns that Edward is her beloved. Fanny's reaction is all the more hypocritical as it was preceded by her ardent assurance of her friendship for Lucy.

Another significant departure from the novel refers to Willoughby’s account of his past presented to Elinor, which is absent in the film. In the novel, he pours out to the elder Miss Dashwood an impassioned story to the effect that it was only his dread of poverty that prevented him from marrying Marianne. In the film, it is Colonel Brandon who explains that Willoughby’s “intentions towards Marianne were honourable, and (…) he would have married her, had it not been for – money.”[12] The sense of both revelations is similar, though the means of disclosure differ. In the film, Willoughby’s genuine regret is conveyed with a more emotional touch than it is done by the sarcastic Austen, who ironically stresses that Willoughby “(did not) die of a broken heart.”[13] In one of the final shots in the film the viewers see “a Man sitting on a white horse, watching. It is Willoughby. As we draw back further, he slowly pulls the horse around and moves off in the opposite direction…"[14] This shot, effective as it is, not only communicates Willoughby’s state of mind but also constitutes a very good ending to the film.

The application of Vladimir Propp's functions to the analysis of Sense and Sensibility as a novel and film proves that, despite the observed syntagmatic differences, the morphology of the novel and its film adaptation shows no significant paradigmatic differences. The analysis of the plot divergences shows that although the process of translating the story told in the language of one medium into the language of another medium necessitated the some alterations in the “surface structure,” the deep structure which lies beneath it and is a true carrier of meaning, remained unchanged.

The morphology of Austen's novel and its film adaptation reveals the fairy-tale quality of Sense and Sensibility. This quality, however, is attenuated by the satiric stride fully fledged in Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and retained in its film adaptation. Rendering irony and humour in Ang Lee’s film requires further elaboration. Austen's witty ironic commentaries are all the more important that they are a distinctive feature of her novels that vitally contributed to her literary repute. It is interesting to observe how these qualities were rendered in the film adaptation especially when in the novel it is largely expressed in the voice of the omniscient narrator, who is not present in the movie. 

It is irony that makes Sense and Sensibility more than a mere didactic treatise in which Sense triumphs and Sensibility is repressed. From a narrowly moralistic point of view the lesson of Sense and Sensibility can be summarised as follows: it is wise to behave sensibly, and foolish – even dangerous – to expose oneself to the excesses of sensibility. But on another level the book presents a divided and troubling vision: deep down Elinor and Marianne are more alike than the surface reading could expose, each embodying a mode of existence which is desirable, but each of which contradicts each other. As pointed out by Andrew H. Wright, “the grand irony is that Elinor and Marianne virtually interchange their positions (...): Marianne, it is quite clear, does gradually acquire sense; but it is also true that Elinor becomes increasingly sensitive as the book progresses. So the two elder Dashwood sisters function not as mere allegorical figures but as ironic symbols.”[15] This “grand irony” is successfully rendered in the film adaptation of the novel, which effectively presents the heroines' "way from ignorance to experience." Lee's film draws a full picture of Marianne’s and Elinor’s transformation. As in the novel both sisters learn in the film that reason devoid of passion is as unfortunate as passion devoid of reason.

 Humour usually coexists with irony and this is also the case of Sense and Sensibility. In order to engage the viewers, Thompson and Lee used a strategy somewhat similar to that of Monty Python. For instance, the film plot of Sense and Sensibility relies to a certain degree on silly mistakes and misunderstandings, which for example make all the heroes go to London at the same time: Edward is rushed by his sister to leave Norland for London, as she is afraid of his growing attachment to Elinor; Colonel Brandon's and later Willoughby's reasons for going to town are at that time highly mysterious. Finally, the Dashwood sisters also leave for London, Marianne with the hope to meet her beloved and Elinor with resignation. All those events are skilfully highlighted in the film, which creates a comic effect.

Another example of the Monty Pythonesque technique is the scene when Lucy confides in Fanny the secret of her love for Edward, which is followed by the explosion of Fanny’s outrage expressed by her tweaking Lucy's nose. In the novel, the readers learn about Fanny's reaction from the account of Mrs. Jennings, so the comic effect is not so strong as in the film.

The actors' performances significantly contributes to the film’s humour. Notably, Hugh Grant's perfect body language and gestures fit the novel’s presentation of Edward and make him the leading comic character in the film. It seems enough to mention the scene invented by Thompson when he comes to see Elinor in London and meets Lucy, who was also Miss Dashwood's guest. He stands uneasily in front of the two women, one of whom he loves but cannot marry and the other one who is to be his wife for better and worse, but to whom his youthful fascination expired long ago. Grant’s body language suggests that Edward is a comic character whose helplessness and lack of strong will are ridiculed in the scene.

The film makes use of some other, specifically cinematic devices in order to express the verbal irony[16] conveyed in the novel by the omniscient narrator's voice. One of such devices is editing[17]. A case in point is the scene showing Elinor who tries to convince the servants that they will find Fanny, the new mistress of the Norland estate, a fair and generous lady, as we have the shot of John and Fanny’s carriage approaching the house. At the same time, we hear Fanny’s remark (voice over) about the need of prompt removal of Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters from Norland.

The scene of Elinor’s meeting with Edward at the Norland stables, preceding the Dashwoods' departure to Devonshire, is another example of editing (shot / reverse shot) used as a tool conveying irony and humour. Thus, the camera moves from Elinor to Edward whose dialogue lines often consist of one or two words:

Edward: There is something of great importance I need … to tell you - about- about my education.

Elinor: Your education?

Edward: Yes. It was less … successful than it might have been.

          It was conducted in Plymouth - oddly enough.

Elinor: Indeed?

Edward: Do you know it?

Elinor: Plymouth?

Edward: Yes.

Elinor: No.

Edward: Oh - well- I spent fours years there - at a school run by a - Mr Pratt -

Elinor: Pratt?

Edward: Precisely - Mr Pratt (…).[18]

Elinor is totally astounded by Edward’s revelations, as are the viewers, who at this moment would expect some expression of affection from Edward rather than the irrelevant details of his educational background. Switching from one interlocutor to another in the shot/reverse shot editing emphasises the nervous atmosphere of their conversation and stresses the humorous effect of the whole scene. 

Music is another device used as an ironic commentary on the events presented in Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility. The soundtrack is predominantly tranquil and soothing, a perfect background for the idyllic picture of the countryside in Lee’s film. Consequently, whenever the prevailing mood created in the music changes, the viewers are more conscious of the change in the atmosphere of the presented events.  A case in point is the scene picturing Mrs. Jennings rushing through the streets of London with her dress lifted above her knees in order to tell Elinor and Marianne about Lucy’s engagement to Edward Ferrars. The gradual and steady acceleration of the pace and the growth of the pitch of the music accompanying this episode create the sense of high commotion and turmoil. In Lee’s film it humorously enhances the gossipy nature of the Regency society, which Austen renders in her novels through verbal irony.

In the novel, the narrator's voice plays also a crucial role in rendering the psychological depth and moral substance. Thus, the film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility uses visual equivalents for the effects of psychological insights conveyed by means of the linguistic medium in the novel. In his comment on reading deeper meanings in films, Brian McFarlane observes that “in responding perceptually to the information the film offers from shot to shot, we construct our sense of its narrative.”[19] The "shot to shot" reading of the film by the viewer depends on two things: what is within the individual shot (i.e. mise-en-scène and camera movement) and how the shots are linked  (i.e. montage).

            The meanings conveyed in individual shots are largely communicated by the aspects of mise-en-scène (French: “staging an action”), which belong to the most crucial elements governing our perception of a film. In cinema studies mise-en-scène signifies the director's control over what appears in the film frame and refers to a number of codes, some of them extra-cinematic and more broadly cultural (setting and costume), some of them specifically cinematic (e.g. lighting, figure arrangement, effects produced by distance as well as angle and the camera movement).[20] Through the setting and costumes in Sense and Sensibility the filmmakers managed to recreate the ambience of the Regency period. Those aspects of the mise-en-scéne were also used to signal the social position of the characters. Thus, the viewers easily notice the moderate wealth of the Norland estate, the prosperity of the Barton Park residents, the grandeur of the London party and the very modest conditions at the Barton Cottage. 

Lighting, a specifically cinematic element of the mise-en-scène, is a very important substitute of the narrator's voice in the novel. Masterful handling of light and colour paints a tapestry that mirrors the emotions of characters and makes complete the images of physical reality. A case in point is the scene when Brandon watches Marianne making a silhouette of Willoughby. The dim light surrounding them makes the scene highly sensual while Willoughby's profile projected on the screen is effectively erotic. This moment successfully conveys the emotional tensions in the relationships between Marianne and Willoughby, and, moreover, between Brandon and Marianne.

Whenever one of the Dashwood sisters is in a difficult situation or feels her life is hopeless, it is emphasised by the grey and majestic scenery. Additionally, the weather visibly functions as a dramatic supplement to Marianne’s moods: high wind and risk of rain show her enthusiasm; while damp weather, culminating in a storm, show her imprudence, which in fact leads to her illness. On the other hand, green grass and lush green meadows serve to create the atmosphere of cheerfulness, reconciliation and inner tranquillity, as in the scenes of Elinor and Marianne sitting on the grass or walking through the meadows in one of the final sequences of the film.

Gestures and body language function as another visual substitute in the motion picture for the verbal commentary of Austen's narrator. Most of all, it is the vulnerable face of Emma Thompson, playing the part of Elinor, that speaks eloquently in the absence of the third person voice. Though Miss Dashwood does not openly express her emotions, the viewers, deprived of the help of the omniscient narrator, read her feelings and judgements from her face. Elinor's affection towards Edward is mirrored in her eyes, which is most clearly visible during the scene at the stable at Norland. Miss Dashwood's face expresses more than words could also during her conversations with Colonel Brandon, when her respect towards him is visibly mingled with sympathy and compassion. On the other hand, the condescending attitude she assumes during her conversations with Lucy conveys her fully justified disdain for Miss Steele. Though the Thompson’s lines in the film are largely taken from the novel, the viewers are influenced in assessing their deeper meaning by the timbre of her voice, the speed of her delivery, her pauses, the facial impressions, stance, and gestures. All of these factors provide a more complex mediation between the actant and the audience than the written word of the novel does.

            Figure arrangement and posture take over a part of the function of the novel's narrative. The position in the frame (foreground/background; alone/in group) and posture (standing/sitting; sitting/lying; gesturing/still; moving/still) are codes which are employed to govern our response to particular shots. Foreground / background distinctions are less crucial in Sense and Sensibility, which makes limited use of the long take[21] or depth of field. Nevertheless, there are some moments that highlight individual censoriousness exercised by the community in this way. For instance, Marianne and Willoughby, driving a curricle, are shown against the picture of people looking at them with the expression of utmost shock and amazement. Similarly, as Elinor escorts Marianne from the ballroom, they are shown against the sneering faces of people aroused by sensation.

The "alone/in group" distinction seems to be a more important device used in the film as it portrays an individual's relation to a community, which is one of the issues raised in Sense and Sensibility. While Elinor is mostly presented in the company of other people, talking to them and often comforting them, Marianne,  seeks solitude and privacy, which becomes her predominant attitude after her romantic disillusionment with Willoughby. The "alone vs. in group" presentation also helps to portray the pretence of the Regency society and evident class distinctions, as in the ballroom scene, when Marianne and Elinor facing Willoughby's distinguished acquaintances, suddenly find themselves separated from the crowd when the people around them step back.

The postural distinctions and placement of figures in the frame in relation to each other makes clear, in purely cinematic terms, how things stand between them at a given moment. In Sense and Sensibility this code often exposes the tense and uneasy atmosphere between the actants. It reaches its climax when Edward arrives to see Elinor in London and sees Lucy, who also came to pay a visit to Miss Dashwood. Their anxiety is emphasised by nervous gesturing and constant movement, as they alternatively sit down and stand up.

 Additionally, figure arrangement and posture make us aware of how power is distributed among the actants. It was significant, for instance, who asked the guests to sit down, which was the privilege reserved for the lady of the house. There is a troubling scene taking place at Norland when both Mrs. Dashwood and Fanny invite Edward to take a seat. It makes the viewers aware of the tense atmosphere at Norland when John and Fanny became the rightful owners of the estate. This scene is a good example showing how posture arrangement may successfully fulfil the function of the omniscient narrator guiding the readers in the book.

Camera movement, the angle of shot, and the distance from the camera within a shot are also important, even if often they are not regarded as, strictly speaking, the aspects of mise-en-scène. In the film narrative the work of the camera is particularly significant since it is often defined as the equivalent of the narrator in a literary work.[22] Thus, the camera may specify the position of the invisible observer that could be identified with the narrator. It controls and directs the viewer's perception through selecting a specific point of view and establishing a distance from which characters and setting are observed. Consequently, the movement and positioning of the camera in a way comment on the action and guide the viewers in the process of reading the meanings constructed by the pictures they see on the screen.

The camera work in Sense and Sensibility largely relies on close-up views of the protagonists' faces, most often against neutral backgrounds, which serves well the overall effect of intimacy and intensity. Accordingly, we have a close up on Edward's face when he arrives at Norland, overtly showing his timidity and self-consciousness, and on Colonel Brandon when he gazes at Marianne playing the pianoforte, with the expression of surprise painted in his melancholy, brooding eyes. Similarly, we have close-ups on the faces of both heroines at the momentous times in their lives: we see Marianne's radiant and anxious expression when she expects Willoughby to pay her a visit; in another scene a close-up on Elinor’s face pictures sheer anguish and pain caused by her sister's illness.

Additionally, the camera has the ability to combine snippets of scenes which are strung out through several pages in the novel. A case in point is the ball scene, when the camera dollies and cranes across the ballroom, roving from couple to couple, seeing them now from one point view, now from another, like the eye of the omniscient observer

            As regards the camera movement within a shot, there is not much use of unusual camera angles[23] in Sense and Sensibility, but when they do occur they immediately signal a meaningful moment. They may emphasise irony of particular scenes, as in the high-angle scene showing Mrs. Dashwood, Marianne and Margaret weeping after Willoughby's unexpected departure for London. All three of them go to their own rooms to cry their eyes out, while Elinor is left on the staircase. The situation, comic as it is, is an ironic commentary on Elinor's helplessness and resignation, which the high-angle makes even more vivid.[24] 

            The scene of Marianne lying ill at Cleveland with Elinor constantly watching over her, also makes use of the high-angle shot, this time to make the picture more sombre and solemn. The viewers see Marianne, all in white, lying still in bed, and Elinor, in a black dress, kneeling at her bedside and kissing her hand. The high angle enables the viewers to see a full picture of this scene and to appreciate the contrast in the attire of both sisters evoking associations with funeral and death rituals. Undoubtedly, such a presentation makes the scene more effective and dramatic.         

            Framing also contributes to cueing a shot as subjective and this allows the film to present the narrative with some degree of psychological depth. One way of achieving this is the point-of-view shot (POV shot), which is an optically subjective shot taken with the camera placed approximately where the character's eyes would be, showing what that character would see.[25] This techniques is employed in an interesting shot on Elinor and Edward walking at Norland, shown from the point of view of Mrs. Dashwood and of Fanny. In effect, the same picture testifying to their growing attachment appears a dreadful idea to Fanny, while to Mrs. Dashwood it looks like a dreamlike fantasy. Different attitudes to this picture are mirrored in the facial expressions of the two watching women.

The POV shot is also helpful in visualising the characters' state of mind in particular situations. Thus, for example, we have Elinor and Marianne’s point of view on the crowd of people gathered in the ballroom when both sisters are leaving the party. They see people sneering, whispering and looking at them with malicious curiosity. Since the audience see the guests from the Dashwoods’ point of view, ostracisation and humiliation become all the more visible and  involve the viewer in the experience.

The presentation and analysis of the cinematic “translation” of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility by the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson team demonstrates that the meanings, ironies, misunderstandings and contradictions of Jane Austen’s fictional world have not been lost in the process of adaptation. The film, deprived of the third person narration, makes use of other devices in order to capture the psychological complexity of Austen's novel. In our reading of the film, we are largely, though on the whole unconsciously, influenced by specifically cinematic devices provided by various aspects of mise-en-scène, camera movement, editing or music, which transfer Austen's witty ironies and commentaries to the screen. At the same time, the eighteenth-century world as presented in the novel becomes closer and easier to visualise for the contemporary audience.

Moreover, my study shows that though words and pictures may be inherently different classes of signs, they are both components of a larger system of signification, through which meaning is conveyed. Film obviously does not permit the exact replication of a novel. Translations from page to screen are always problematic and the creative screenwriter and director want to present their own interpretation. The slavish reproduction of a classical text, such as Austen's novel, is not only impossible but also unrewarding. Still, the highest test of a new interpretation of a classic novel is not that it follows almost page by page the author's words but that it preserves the spirit of the original work. Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee skilfully reflects Austen's concerns and moral insights, offering an analysis and appreciation of one artistic creation through another. On the whole, the additions bind together disparate events and lend them visual and aural density while the deletions tighten the story line and drop peripheral characters. Yet, these variations do not alter the meanings conveyed in Jane Austen's novel nor do they distort its spirit.

Additionally, by communicating through several means at once and joining visual and verbal presentation, the film seems to possess more emotional and intellectual charge than the novel and it may address the feelings more immediately, directly and powerfully than literature. Joy Gould Boyum moved even further and postulated that film is not only far from being literature's antagonist but has become a form of literature itself:

[Film] not simply sharing the very qualities that make literature literature, but making for a system of narration that unites the power of words with the potentially even greater power of the images they aim to create it might even be considered a natural next step in literature's evolution.[26]