Animated images of literature are seldom ideologically neutral; inevitably they present a specific political or cultural agenda and are designed to encourage a particular set of responses. Yet rarely are we aware of these hidden systems of meaning. Written specifically with the student in mind and focusing on a number of well-known texts, including Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Nicholas Nickleby, Nice Work, and The Color Purple, the contributors to this book demonstrate how we can look critically at literary adaptations and learn to distinguish between mythical images and the reality of the processes that constructed them. Adaptations must not be marginalized; they argue that through them we can enter into an exciting debate with the literary text itself. Novel Images is aimed at all teachers and students of literature, film, theatre, and television as well as cultural studies specialists.