Gleyzer, Marianna

Through a close analysis of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series and Veronica
Roth’s Divergent series, it will be shown that these two-current young adult dystopian
book-film crossovers pose several relevant parallels to contemporary real-world
problems. By deciphering a pattern on what garners their popularity, and most
importantly analyzing the aspect of why they reached such levels of recognition, we can
then begin to close in on just how important these two series are in representing the 21st
century young American mindset. Taking into the equation also, how the overall-arching
genre of dystopia has evolved with the times and has now adapted to reflect
contemporary anxieties and fears. Looking into several elements such as a newfound
desire for strong female roles, persuasive antagonists that are inspired by realistic
historical precedents, and an unsettling desensitization towards violence and gore, we can
then see that the successful equation of The Hunger Games and Divergent series reflects
mainstream interests evocatively and effectively. It is not just an intervention into the encompassing utopian/dystopian tradition, but into today’s
sociology.

This thesis covers the entire range of British and American film adaptations of
Emily Brontë’s novel, Wuthering Heights, as no cumulative study on this larger selection
has been done thus far. However this will not be the only objective of this thesis, as I
create a link between the author’s life to her novel, between the novel to the early
criticism, and the criticism to later adaptations, forming a chain of transformation down
the ages, to the original novel. By linking the adaptations to the earlier reception of the
novel, a change of social interaction will be uncovered as one of its reasons for surviving.
These examples of adaptation will be shown to be just as relevant to popular culture
history as its original inspiration. This is the result of an unfolding movement of change
and mutation, where each adaptation pushes to connect with the past and future.