A Comparative Stylistic Study of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Novel The Lord of the Rings and its Film Adaptations

Abstract

This study sets out to examine the difference in stylistic elements used in selected dialogues from The Lord of the Rings novel and its film adaptations. It is also conducted to gain a perspective on the audience’s perception of the stylistic changes made in the films. To reach intelligible results, this work employed a textual analysis following the checklist of Leech and Short (2007), which incorporates lexical categories, grammatical categories, figures of speech, and cohesion and context. The study also relied on the theory of adaptation to explain the obtained findings, as well as conducting an interview to attain an in-depth understanding of the audience’s perception of the shifts made in the films.The findings displayed that Tolkien’s style is more descriptive, detailed, and archaic, with complex sentence structure, elevated diction, and rhetorical devices, in addition to the use of different techniques to maintain coherence. Unlike Tolkien, Jackson and his scriptwriters simplified the language and structure, used less figurative language, and relied more on visual cues. As for the adaptation theory, it revealed that these stylistic changes are the result of cinematic constraints. The interview revealed that most of the audience is pleased with the adaptations, though a few felt the changes ruined Tolkien’s style.