Rana Rofifah, current undergraduate at Sidney, discusses how the rising popularity of recent period dramas like Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ has drawn younger audiences to nineteenth century literature.

170 years may have passed since Elizabeth Gaskell first published her most popular work Cranford, but the author's novels are seeing a surge of interest from new, young fans thanks to more recent period dramas.

Rana was born in Indonesia and moved to the UK as a child, and fell in love with nineteenth century literature after watching the BBC adaptation of Gaskell's novel North and South online. 

Despite being decades younger than many of Cranford's characters, Rana says she was drawn to its timeless, universal themes of "sisterhood and female friendships".

Speaking to the BBC, Rana said: "When we talk about representation, we go directly to race, but Cranford is really inclusive of age. We don't see older people on screen that much. We have all these young people and, as exciting as that is, there's a lot of value in seeing stories about older friendships."

Rana volunteers at the museum and heritage site, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, which also contributed to her interest in literature and period dramas. Rana thinks that Bridgerton and its contemporaries, such as the musical Hamilton, have exposed younger, diverse audiences to older tales.

Rana commented, "They've opened doors to lots of people - they do like these stories and they are relatable but because they were not very representative or inclusive, people found them inaccessible. Bridgerton has opened that up. People are finding it out for themselves rather than through their family or teacher. They're being interested, rather than being introduced."

Rana set up an Instagram period drama fan account which has already amassed around 50,000 followers who are mainly under-35.

Discover more on the BBC website.


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