The Cinematic Adaptation and Representation of the Female Gothic of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre in Shanti Nilayam

Abstract

Ever since the days of Lumiére Brothers, cinema became the modern leisure for the common man,
began to showcase the unbelievable, unknown and the unexplored. It emerged as the definitive
medium in transcribing the written word through its magic of cinematography on the silver screen.
This phenomenon grew significantly over a period of time, wherein great literary masterpieces since
antiquity found deft representation on the celluloid and at times they departed or deviated from the
original and were either adapted or modified according to tastes and needs of its onlookers.
Accordingly, this article attempts the study the notion of adaptation against the notion of adapting
the literary text Jane Eyre, the Victorian classic, penned by Charlotte Bronte. It further intends to
undermine the elements of gothic, especially the female gothic and how the director has adapted in
the Tamil-language film Shanti Nilayam.