Narratives Across Media: Cultural and Structural Transformations in Literary Adaptations for Screen

Abstract

This study offers a comparative narratological analysis of three canonical literary texts and their respective screen adaptations: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (1993) and its BBC television adaptation (2020), Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847) and its 2009 film version, and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) reimagined as Maqbool (2004) by Vishal Bhardwaj. Drawing on classical narratology (Genette), transmedial narratology (Ryan, Wolf), and adaptation theory (Hutcheon, Stam), the study explores how narrative structures, focalization, character functions, and thematic concerns are transformed in the shift from print to screen. Through close reading and scene-by-scene comparative analysis, this study reveals both the compression and restructuring of plot and the shift from complex narratorial focalization to cinematic focalization strategies. While A Suitable Boy retains the socio-political texture of post-Partition India in a streamlined romantic narrative, Wuthering Heights sacrifices its Gothic layering and narrative complexity in favor of a linear romantic tragedy. Maqbool, by contrast, serves as a culturally situated reworking of Macbeth, replacing its metaphysical fatalism with a psychological, emotionally driven narrative rooted in the Mumbai underworld. The study finds that adaptation is not merely an act of translation, but a form of cultural and narrative negotiation shaped by medium-specific affordances, ideological repositioning, and local context. These adaptations highlight the dynamic interplay between narrative form, audience reception, and cultural meaning, contributing to evolving theories of transmedial storytelling. This research advances the understanding of adaptation as a multidimensional dialogue across media, genres, and cultures, with pedagogical and theoretical implications for literary, film, and cultural studies.