In order to make their product appealing to as many viewers as possible, filmmakers often change elements in the source material they are adapting. With "Tipping the Velvet", two particular scenes from the novel were modified so that a larger audience could be reached. In this paper, I aim to show what changes were made in the TV adaptation of Waters’ novel and how these changes affected the target audience.
When asked to imagine the Victorian era, most people immediately think about upper-class, uptight ladies and gents in uncomfortable clothing, who’s general repressiveness forbade them to talk about anything personal, much less romantic or even sexual. In fact, when looking up “prude” in the Thesaurus, the first word that is listed under synonyms is “Victorian” (cf. “Prude”). Sarah Waters’ novel "Tipping the Velvet" about a young woman from the countryside who falls in love with a male impersonator, moves to London with her and goes on to search for her sexual and gender identity does not seem to fit this picture. However, when looking more closely, the Victorian era was not as prudish as we like to think. At only 32, Waters, with her first publication, “revolutionised gay literature” by creating a narrative that “imagine[d] a Victorian lesbian history through the sexual adventures of cross-dressing” (Allfree). This was something entirely new for the wide readership. Although a fair share of fictional as well as non-fictional work on Victorian sexualities had been published during the 20th century, and there even existed contemporary Victorian writing on this topic – as Waters points out in the afterword of the 20th anniversary edition (cf. Waters 474) – none of these works had gained such a wide recognition by literary critics as well as the public.Following its huge success, Waters’ novel was quickly adapted for the small screen. The 2002 BBC adaptation of Tipping the Velvet mostly follows the plot as it was constructed by Waters with only small differences. A simple – yet not entirely wrong – answer to the question of why the TV series was watched by so many people would be accessibility. But is that really the only reason why the TV program reached so many more people compared to the already widely read and highly acclaimed novel?
Table of Contents
I Introduction
II An Excursion into Adaptation Studies
III Broad vs. Narrow Audience: How the Target Audience Influences Changes in the Source Material
IV Taking a Closer Look: An Analysis of two Crucial Moments in the Novel and the Series
IV.I The Double Act
IV.II The Rally
V Summary
Works Cited
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper examines how the 2002 BBC television adaptation of Sarah Waters' novel "Tipping the Velvet" modifies source material to appeal to a broader, mainstream audience, specifically focusing on the intentional alteration of musical elements and the downplaying of political class narratives.
- Adaptation studies and the process of shifting medium
- Mainstreaming strategies for television audiences
- The role of target audience demographics in script adjustment
- Historical context of Victorian male impersonation in music halls
- Narrative prioritization: Love and identity versus political radicalism
Excerpt from the Book
The Double Act
One crucial scene in the first part of Waters’ novel is the double act scene. In this scene, protagonist Nan is first confronted with the idea of appearing as part of a stage act together with Kitty, who prior to this had only appeared on stage alone. After Kitty’s agent Walter stumbles upon Kitty and Nan trying on Kitty’s costumes and singing and dancing in their shared room, he quickly develops the idea of a show that incorporates both of them as a duo of male impersonators (cf. Waters 110 – 111).
“’My God – that’s it! That’s it! Why, oh why, didn’t I see it before? This is what we have been looking for. This, Kitty’ – he gestured to our jackets, out hats, our gentlemanly poses – ‘this will make us famous!’” (Waters 110 – 111), shows that he thinks, this might be the show that will kick off all of their careers, since Kitty alone had not been very successful with the London audience.
Even though Nan hesitates at first – “Now you have both lost your minds, entirely! […] Four months ago, I was an oyster-girl in Whitstable!” (Waters 113) – she quickly draws to Walter’s idea, especially after seeing that Kitty supports it as well, and commences her rather brief career on the stages of London’s music-halls.
While the sequence is quite similar in the TV adaptation – Nan and Kitty play around with the costumes, Walter sees them and suggests their duo-act – a centerpiece of the scene was changed: The song, that Nan and Kitty sing together, and that later becomes their first stage duet.
Summary of Chapters
I Introduction: Establishes how Sarah Waters’ "Tipping the Velvet" challenged Victorian stereotypes and introduced a new discourse on gender and sexuality in literature.
II An Excursion into Adaptation Studies: Provides a theoretical framework for comparing novels and television adaptations, emphasizing the necessity of analyzing adaptations as independent cultural products.
III Broad vs. Narrow Audience: How the Target Audience Influences Changes in the Source Material: Discusses how the transition from a niche literary audience to a broad TV viewership necessitated the mainstreaming of plot and character elements.
IV Taking a Closer Look: An Analysis of two Crucial Moments in the Novel and the Series: Analyzes specific scenes, focusing on the replacement of songs and the modification of political settings to heighten accessibility.
V Summary: Concludes that while the adjustments in the BBC adaptation were made for mainstream appeal and brevity, they do not fundamentally alter the central themes of the narrative.
Keywords
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters, Adaptation Studies, BBC, Neo-Victorianism, Vesta Tilley, Male Impersonation, Music Hall, Audience Demographics, Screenwriting, Andrew Davies, Gender Identity, Sexuality, Class Struggle, Problem-Film
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper focuses on the 2002 BBC television adaptation of Sarah Waters’ novel "Tipping the Velvet" and analyzes the specific changes made to the narrative to appeal to a mainstream television audience.
What are the central themes discussed in this analysis?
The central themes include the mechanics of adaptation, the influence of target audiences on production choices, the historical role of music hall performers, and the representation of class politics versus romantic identity arcs.
What is the research question addressed by the author?
The author investigates what specific changes were made in the television adaptation of the novel and how these structural changes significantly influenced the engagement of the target audience.
Which scientific methodology does the author apply?
The paper employs a comparative media analysis, drawing upon adaptation theory (specifically Linda Hutcheon and Camila Augusta Pires de Figueiredo) and film/television studies, supported by primary text analysis and industry interviews.
What does the main body of the paper cover?
The main body examines two key case studies: the modification of the music hall "double act" song choice and the shift in the final act's political setting to prioritize a "coming-of-age" narrative over socialist political discourse.
Which characterising keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include Tipping the Velvet, Adaptation Studies, Neo-Victorianism, Screenwriting, and mainstream audience accessibility.
How is the shift in song choice relevant to the overall adaptation?
The replacement of the novel's original song with Vesta Tilley's "Following in Father's Footsteps" serves to enhance recognizability and provides a historical connection to the art of male impersonation, which was less explicit in the novel.
Why was the political rally scene altered so drastically in the series?
The producers moved the climax from a large-scale political fair to a small theater setting to streamline the story into a more recognizable romantic coming-of-age drama, avoiding overwhelming the viewers with heavy political context.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Marie Will (Autor:in), 2019, The trials and tribulations of adapting a novel for the small screen on the example of Sarah Waters' "Tipping the Velvet", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1369017
