The Shift in Period Dramas: Contemporary Elements and Historical Figures

From Merchant Ivory’s classic adaptations of E. M. Forster novels to the BBC’s beloved rendition of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” the greatest period dramas are the ones that succeed in translating the emotional experience of another era for a modern audience. On this episode of Critics at Large, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss their personal favorites—namely Greta Gerwig’s take on “Little Women” and Jane Campion’s “Bright Star,” which chronicles the star-crossed love affair between the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne—and how the genre is changing. Often, the pleasure of these stories lies in their rigorous depictions of the mores and customs of the past. But recent hit series, including “Dickinson,” “Bridgerton,” and “The Great,” have adopted a marked ahistoricism, evident in the dialogue, soundtracks, and the treatments of race and sexuality. The hosts consider how “The Buccaneers,” on Apple TV+, departs from the Edith Wharton novel on which it’s based by skipping over the sociopolitical details that form the backbone of Wharton’s story. Do contemporary flourishes accentuate the appeal of the genre, or dilute it? “The strangeness of the past is precisely what makes it amazing when we find out that it is relatable to us,” Cunningham says. “If you make everything relatable, you’ve eliminated the thrill of discovery.”

Read, watch, and listen with the critics:

“A Room with a View” (1985)

“Bridgerton” (2020-22)

“Bright Star” (2009)

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000)

“Dickinson” (2019-21)

“Hamlet” (2000)

“Howards End” (film, 1992; miniseries, 2017)

“Little Women” (2019)

“Mansfield Park,” by Jane Austen (film, 1999)

“Marie Antoinette” (2006)

“Memoirs of a Geisha,” by Arthur Golden (film, 2005)

“Napoleon” (2023)

“Pride and Prejudice,” by Jane Austen (miniseries, 1995; film, 2005)

“The Buccaneers,” by Edith Wharton (series, 2023)

“The Custom of the Country,” by Edith Wharton

“The Great” (series, 2020-23)

New episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.