Från roman till tv : En adaptionsstudie av Bonnie och Elena i The Vampire Diaries

This essay aims to analyze two characters from the novel The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening (1991) to their TV adaptation counterparts. The following questions will be discussed: How are Elena and Bonnie portrayed in The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening versus the TV adaptation The Vampire Diaries and how does the story change through the TV adaptation? Linda Hutcheon's A Theory of Adaptation (2013) was used to aid this analysis. With the help of Hutcheon's theory of adaptation I could more easily understand the changes that have been made. The fact that the accident with Elena's parents happened more recently than it did in the book made Elena's grief a bigger part of the story. It's easier to understand why she is the way she is, and at the same time hear from other characters that she has changed after the accident. In the novel, more time has passed since the accident, and Elena was not involved in it in the novel, which creates a bigger distance from her grief. Elena's grief is of course visible in the novel, but it has a greater role in the TV series precisely because it happened more recently. The same goes for Bonnie. Being able to see Bonnie's search to find herself also could create bigger empathy and interest in Bonnie's character, more than just being Elena's best friend. The fact that Bonnie has a strong and loving relationship with her grandmother in the TV series also creates more empathy for Bonnie when her grandmother sadly passes away. The theory of adaptation made me realize that a TV adaptation of a book can have major differences, and these changes can be important for the new story that is created when you adapt.