Unfinished drawing of Jane Austen by her siser Cassandra
From the Independent:
With their smouldering heroes, beautiful heroines and exquisite observations of the social mores of the Regency era, all encapsulated in some of the finest dialogue ever created in the English language, Jane Austen's novels might appear to have everything. Everything that is except zombies, vampires and mutant sea monsters.
The new trend for adding a touch of blood and gore to the genteel world inhabited by the likes of Elizabeth Bennett and the Dashwood sisters is set to reach grisly new heights next month with the publication of a series of books which will indulge the public's apparently insatiable thirst for horror "mash-up" literature.
Don't mess with my Jane Austen. The world of the late 18th and early 19th century landed gentry portrayed in her novels is not so genteel as all that. A woman whose family was without wealth had few choices in making her place in the world: marrying a man with enough money to care for her, becoming a governess, or living as a maiden aunt, dependent on her family for the rest of her life.
If the woman married, she often bore child after child with the result that a good many died in their thirties from childbed fever or from being worn out by one pregnancy after another. Foolishly enough, the women generally farmed out the nursing duties to wet nurses, so they did not even benefit from the period of relative infertility provided by breast-feeding. All five of Jane Austen's brothers who married had second wives, because their first wives died young.
In my opinion, Jane is one of the finest writers of fiction in the English language, if not the finest. When I read her six novels, each of which I have read far too many times to count, I'm awed by her masterful employment of the words of the English language to make a good story with characters that spring to life on the page. Her sharp wit, keen observation of character, and great gift for irony are evident in all six novels which she completed in her adult life and even in her Juvenilia.
Winchester Cathedral
Jane never married and died at the age of 41, it is believed from Addison's disease, which was unknown and untreatable at the time. Who knows what masterpieces may have followed had her life not been cut short? Then too, if she had married and begun the usual cycle of one pregnancy after another, she may not have left her legacy of the six novels that we have. She herself noted that her novels were her children. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral, pictured above.
Some years ago, I had the good fortune to enjoy a one-week study tour at Oxford University, which included visiting the significant places in Jane's life, and I
Chawton Cottage
We visited her last home, the cottage at Chawton in Hampshire. A video tour of the house is available at the website of the cottage, which is now a museum.
Below is a picture of the church where her father served for many years, St. Nicholas at Steventon.
She hardly benefited from her writing in her lifetime, knowing little of fame or financial reward. Her books are for the ages, for the likes of me, and I'm more grateful than I can say for the many hours of pleasure that her writing has given me. Her gift for irony delights and amazes still.
Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice is one of the most delightful characters in English fiction. I quote her words in my sidebar, words which I believe express the true thoughts of the author:
"I hope that I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can."
In Mr Collins, from the same book, Jane created a biting and hilarious caricature of a hypocrital English clergyman. Of the wayward sister of the family, Lydia and the ne'r-do-well with whom she elopes, who is finally forced to marry her, Mr Collins advises her father, Mr Bennet, in a letter:
"You ought certainly to forgive them as a Christian, but never to admit them in your sight, or allow their names to be mentioned in your hearing."
Mr Bennet comments, "That is his notion of Christian forgiveness!"
I never read the prequels or the sequels to Jane's novels or completions of her unfinished work. I've read a few brief parodies of her writing that were quite funny, but I shall not be reading the vampire stories inspired by her novels. The stories and characters in her novels are quite enough to stir my imagination all on their own without having to be pumped up by the macabre or any other tricks.
Thanks to Ann for sending the link.
I love her novels as well - for their depth, and thoughtful way of commenting on her times. But her main characters are so much deeper than many found today. (I am finishing up a course in 3 of those novels at my alma mater.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I am extremely jealous of your Oxford course and being able to walk in path there in Great Britain!
Yes, I thoroughly agree, Mimi - she is one of my all time favourite writers. I like Lizzie Bennet but am also quite fond of Elinor Dashwood.
ReplyDeleteBefore I left on vacation, I downloaded The Complete Works of Jane Austen on my Kindle for $2.99. I've been reading (re-reading, actually) them every night before I go to bed. What absolute bliss. Thanks, Mimi, for this wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteCiss, that course and the visits to Jane's places were a high point in my life. When we approached Chawton Cottage, I was nearly feverish with excitement. To see the small table on which she did most of her writing filled me with awe.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I had visited Oxford previously, to actually stay on the premises in a student's room and be part of the place for a week, was quite a thrill, too. I had to pinch myself several times during the week to know I was not dreaming.
Tim, Elinor is a saint, and I found it difficult to relate to her, as with Fanny Price. Both are the very antithesis of me, opinionated and outspoken as I am on more subjects than I know enough about. Both are good women. Jane's characters are like real-life people to me, and I'd want to urge both Elinor and Fanny forward.
Elizabeth, how lovely. Imagine the complete works for $2.99! That's quite wonderful, really. Now no one has an excuse not to read her because of the expense - once one has one's Kindle, of course.
A wonderful and well written post as so often, dear Mimi ;=)
ReplyDeleteMr. Bennet's quote on Mr. Collin's letter is one of many gems. I like it also because a bit earlier Mr. Bennet had told Mrs. Bennet that the one house Lydia wasn't entering was theirs.
ReplyDeleteJane lies in Winchester—blessed be her shade!
Praise the Lord for making her, and her for all she made!
And while the stones of Winchester, or Milsom Street, remain,
Glory, love, and honour unto England’s Jane!
(Rudyard Kipling, The Janeites, in Debits and Credits)
From an email (with permission):
ReplyDeleteHi June,
Thanks for the lovely input about my favorite author. I have been to Jane's home twice, most recently in May. ... and I have the BBC CD of P&P which we love. My favorite story about Jane is that she was able to hide her writing habit from her family by the fact that there was a squeaky floor board outside her bedroom, so she had time to put her papers away before someone came in.
Blessings, J.
Mon cher Göran, thanks. You are too kind.
ReplyDeleteErp, Mr Bennet made more than one statement that he did not follow through on, and, of course, it was not long before Lydia and Wickham did, indeed, stay at his house. Perhaps Mr Collin's letter was instrumental in helping to change his mind.
I've seen Kipling's verse. The gathering of the Janeites is hardly a new thing.
Funny, I'd never thought of Elinor as a saint before. But then, I grew up around a few women like her - people who just did what had to be done and didn't spend a lot of time worrying about how they felt about it. I guess I'd thought of her as a young curmudgeon-in-training - and I have a very soft spot for curmudgeons!
ReplyDeleteAnd if it came to a choice between Marianne and Elinor, I always did prefer Pope and Coleridge to Byron and Keats!!!
Tim, Elinor had very strong feelings which she was quite successful at hiding from the rest of the family, and I don't know if that's entirely a good thing. True, she went about doing the business that had to be done, which was entirely a good thing. I can't see a curmudgeon-in-training in Elinor.
ReplyDeleteMarianne was a silly girl who let her emotions run away with her, with nearly tragic consequences, which is not a good thing, either.
Miss Austen is also my favorite novelist. I've loved her since high school. My favorite character is Anne Elliot and my favorite novel, Persuasion.
ReplyDelete(Yes, I think P&P is the most perfect one, but it's not my favorite.)
Notice, however, that Chawton Cottage is quite large and handsome, with many amenities including a fine garden. This was a middle-class family, as befits the rector of Steventon. When Jane's father died, male relatives took care of her; she lived at Chawton the last eight years of her life.
Thanks to their help she carved out an independent life in art, even though her theme always concerns social restrictions on talented, substantial young women, and her plots always involve marriage.
Readers are always finding elements of her own biography and personality in her female characters, but she never created one wholly like herself, a mostly independent female artist. Why not? There weren't any others like her; she was her own greatest invention.
When I saw the title of this post I thought, "Uh oh, someone has crossed over a line, have mercy on his or her soul." Mimi, of course, sets us all right. And lovely sharing in the process!
ReplyDeleteJosh, on some days Persuasion is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteHave you visited Chawton? The rooms are smallish. It's a comfortable house, but not at all grand.
Jane loved her character Elizabeth, too. I think she would have wanted to BE her, but she never found her Mr Darcy. But for the money and position, I don't he was such a great catch for Elizabeth. He's not really my type.
Paul, this post took nearly three hours to put together, but it was a labor of love and a welcome break from political wars and Anglican wars.
Perhaps you should write about literature more often.
ReplyDeleteYou have a gift for it.
Doug, from you that is high praise, indeed. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePutting this piece together made me appreciate all the more your long posts, with pictures, on art and art history.
Mimi, have you seen the recent (2006) miniseries of Sense and Sensibility, with Hattie Morahan playing Elinor? Absolutely brilliant - far above the Emma Thompson one a decade or so ago.
ReplyDeleteI should mention that my personal favourite is 'Emma' and that I like both Emma and Mr. Knightley very much.
C.S. Lewis once said that he considered Jane Austen to be 'a very sound moralist'. I think what he meant by that was that, even though she was primarily a storyteller and definitely not a preacher, nevertheless there was a strong moral and ethical framework behind her stories - and, obviously one he agreed with. I'd be interested to hear your views on that subject, Mimi.
Tim, I have not seen the series, but I will put seeing it on my must-do list. I didn't much care for the Emma Thompson version. I confess I never got past the 37 year old Emma Thompson playing a 19 year old. She would have done better to lay aside her pride and play Mrs Dashwood, the girls' mother. That's just one of those niggling things that bother me when I watch movie and TV versions of JA's novels. I want the dramas to be as perfect as the novels.
ReplyDeleteI love Emma, too. She is so flawed, but so wonderful. Mr Knightly, on the other hand, falls too far into the saint category to greatly appeal to me.
I agree with Lewis that Jane was a moralist and a sound one. Since I began reading her books in my teens, I'd venture that some of my better principles were formed from the influence of her books. Her novels are rooted in the belief in the sincere practice of religion, and, although she doesn't write very much specifically about it, it's there behind everything, and it is assumed.
My scholarly mother (of blessed memory) was truly a Jane Austen nut. Needless to say, she had quite an influence on me (although I never quite caught up with her with regard to her enthusiasm. But, of course, we're speaking relatively here.)
ReplyDeleteBack in the mid-seventies, Mom came down with (of all things) Legionnaires' Disease and was frighteningly, dangerously ill. She was in delirium with fever for several days and I sat by her hospitial bed for hours on end reading Pride and Prejudice to her until I was hoarse. She was convinced until the day she died (almost 30 years later) that hearing those words of Jane Austen (which she already knew so well) helped her to hang on to this world long enough to recover!
PS
ReplyDeleteIt was a truly wonderful post, Mimi. Thank you.
Ellie, I believe that Jane's words may well have saved your mother's life. I know what it is to anticipate the words and delight in my very favorite passages before I even get to them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words about the post.
Just remember, Mimi, these books are nothing more than "follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies. . .," so, laugh at them.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like an example of how a "zombie plague" story can be both comically entertaining and intelligent, read a book titled The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror by Christopher Moore.
Mark, I'm sure that some of them are very clever and funny, but I can't say for sure, because I don't read them. I'd rather read Jane Austen - yet again.
ReplyDeleteGrandmere Mimi,
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog when I Googled "Jane Austen" and "irony"..
Take a look at my blog, I think you would find it interesting...and if you do, please say hi over there!
sharpelvessociety.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Arnie Perlstein
Weston, Florida