This paper depicts the contrast between Philip Roth’s novel The Dying Animal and the 2008 film adaptation, Elegy, directed by Isabel Coixet. Focusing on themes such as fame, aging and the construction of identity, especially in the celebrityhood context, the comparison between the novel and the film highlights how literary cynicism can be replaced by emotional accessibility in cinema works. Roth’s novel presents an introspective and at times wicked picture of desire and mortality through the main character’s, David Kepesh, perspective, while the film softens the narrative, thus transforming it into a liberating love story. The film’s depiction of David Kepesh as a vulnerable man differs from Roth’s portrayal of a man consumed by lust and power. Furthermore, another central element of the analysis is represented by the female character, Consuela. In the novel, she is largely objectified and serves as a muse for Kepesh, while in the film she is depicted as a confident woman, remodeled in order to align with contemporary values and cinematic conventions. This change reflects the main goal of the film adaptation: to make Roth’s sometimes uncomfortable narrative more acceptable to a wider audience. In addition to this, it is examined how intertextual references such as Yeats’ Sailing to Byzantium, which is present in the novel serves as a reflection on aging, one of the most important themes in the novel. These references emphasize sensitive themes in the novel and offer a poetic meditation of fame, art and mortality, elements which are neglected in the film. Finally, the ideological and structural differences between the novel and the film are presented. Moreover, the novel’s ending is characterized by ambiguity and unresolved issues, while the film offers emotional closure and catharsis. Centering the analysis on Andrew Gordon’s and Debra Shostak’s works, the paper finally suggests that Elegy reframes Roth’s unsettling critique on fame and intimacy, into a mainstream narrative, altering the philosophical message and essence of the original work.
BRUSTUR Ioana-Camelia (Tue,) studied this question.