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Literature

The Jane Austen Book Club

 

An Unabashed Purveyor Of Romance


photo by jc

You’d think the relatively small, one-hundred-plus-year-old, collected works of one purportedly lively, supposedly engaging young woman wouldn’t excite such passions anymore. It is rather incredible to think during the time when Napoleon was causing a ruckus in France among other places and the industrial revolution was going full blast in America that one vivacious, spirited, incredibly intuitive daughter of a poor country preacher and an astute student of human nature herself dwelling in the English countryside wouldn’t make such a fuss nor be at all relevant in the modern world and yet Jane Austen and her very entertaining novels are and no doubt will be forever more. If you don’t already know why you will now.

by Maureen Cutajar

Andrew Wright suggests that Austen’s view of the world is ironic and the depth of her novels live in their ironic themes. This is evident in the opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice: 'It is a...More>
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Jane Austen’s novels are just old fashioned romance stories

 Or are they? Barely better than a Harlequin romance or cheap drug store paperback, did you say? Come now! You don’t really believe that, do you? Not if you’ve read any of Jane Austen’s masterful stories full of both amusing and infuriating characters, subtle and not-so-subtle plot twists and sublime prose. Perhaps you’ve never tried to decipher what some call the incomprehensible language and long-winded style of Jane Austen. Well, then, here’s your chance to get "into" Jane Austen, the person and her works. You won’t regret it, not one bit.

Marianne Dashwood sings and Colonel Brandon falls in love instantly.

The one thing that can be said of the film version of a beloved book is you can finally hear what they are singing, exactly what poetry they read out to one another, the subtle inflections of voice and we get to actually see the sometimes comical expressions exchanged between characters, the opulent homes in which they reside and how they dress.  Other than that the book is still better so do not neglect reading Sense and Sensibility or any of the others. You will be doing yourself a favor.

by Azalea Lehndorff

A New Gentility: Austen Demonstrates “Kindness” Through Anne Elliot In Jane Austen’s novel, Persuasion (1818), the female protagonist, Anne Elliot, personifies Austen’s own ide...More>
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Truly, is there any harm in reading too many novels?

Yes, it may give you the appearance of always having your head in the clouds but so what? Who wants their feet firmly on the ground at all times? No fun there whatsoever.

Just a small cottage by Jane Austen standards


photo by Elliott Brown

The most amazing thing  about Jane Austen is her entire collection of romantically satirical tales, those published anyway, consisted of only six novels. Unbelievable but true. She didn't even get much credit for them at the time. You see,  it was unseemly for a lady to do something so vulger as write stories for a living. Oh, the horror! 

Imagine if she had listened to convention, not written her stories. and remained a respectable lady of leisure.  A world without Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett, Emma, Mr. Knightley, Ann Eliot, Captain Wentworth nor any of the other unforgettable characters? Now we’re talking horror!

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    Oh, Anne!

    To be everyone's confidente and having none yourself. Poor girl!

    by Alice George

    When analysing 'Sense and Sensibility' it is important not to look upon the two qualities as polar opposites. After all in Austen's description of John Dashwood she comments that he 'had not the stron...More>
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    by Rachel Knowles

    Jane Austen lived in a male-dominated society, where gentlewomen were expected to get married and have children rather than pursue any profession or occupation. Only money could make singleness accept...More>
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    by Glory Lennon

    It's the same old story heard a million times. Boy and girl meet, they hate each other upon first sight then miraculously and against their own better judgement, they fall in love. But it is how they ...More>
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    by Cao Yu

    Jane Austen lived in a period at the turn from the 18th century to the 19th century, and that era was a period of mixed thoughts, which conflicted all the time. Among all the conflicts, the most impor...More>
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    Don't Know What All The Fuss Is About?

    Which is your favorite Jane Austen Novel?

    0
    Pride and Prejudice
    Emma
    Sense and Sensibility
    Mansfield Park
    Persuasion
    Northanger Abbey

    Novels by Helium Authors

    by Elizabeth R Nelson

    Study of Society in Jane Austen's EmmaJane Austen portrays the society of the novel, Emma, through the values and standards of the Highbury world. Highbury is a "large and prosperous village almost am...More>
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    by lilleyfish

    "Writers often use humour to make moral judgements." Compare and contrast two texts. Introduction: Austen uses Pride and Prejudice' and Emma' as novels through which she makes moral judgements...More>
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    Comments (1 to 7 of 7)

    Melissa R. Bickel
    Nov 28, 09 at 07:49 PM
    I love Jane's books. Two of my fav you have info on here. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Love this zone.
    Glory Lennon
    Aug 12, 09 at 11:46 PM
    Now there's an idea! I'll bake cookies. When can you come over?
    Julie Helms
    Aug 12, 09 at 11:29 PM
    Glory, You must buy it. Then set aside a night (annually) to invite over a like-minded friend or friends. Kick out of the house any "non-believers". Then sit and watch, with snacks, for the whole 5 hours and NO commercial interruptions!! It is my favorite thing to do!
    Glory Lennon
    Aug 12, 09 at 06:37 PM
    Thanks so much, Abagael. I love it too only I never got to see the whole thing, just bits and pieces. Please, oh, please, let me know when it's on again! They are after all the only type of movie worth watching.
    Julie Helms
    Aug 12, 09 at 06:32 PM
    LOVE IT! I never watch a movie more than once but that BBC version of P&P I have seen over and over. Thanks for the zone!
    Glory Lennon
    Aug 04, 09 at 12:29 AM
    Thank you so much, Gulrukh. I do know there is a wealth of knowledge out there but Helium simply wasn't cooperating yesterday and giving me loads of trouble. I'm lucky I got this much done. Aside from that, Mansfield Park is a must read and I do urge you to try to get your hands on it but as it is one of the least known Jane Austin books it may be hard for you to find. Good luck to you too.
    Gulrukh Tausif
    Aug 03, 09 at 03:17 AM
    Hi Glory. Excellent zone. I am a big fan of Jane Austen and have read Pride & Prejudice numerous times. Mansfield park is her only novel that I have not read as yet. Just one thing though, there are many more excellent articles on Helium that can be used to make the zone more comprehensive. Good Luck.

    If You Must See To Believe

     The best film version of "Pride And Prejudice" is this BBC production. Most true to Jane Austen's story and with riveting performances this 6 part series is occasionally rebroadcast on your local PBS station. Don’t miss it next time out but if you do grab the book as it is always better.

    PBS is good for something

    The Masterpiece Theater enthusiast, of PBS fame, knows how to appreciate Jane Austen in style, with ten weeks at a time devoted to her stories, personified and filmed in living color. But of course these do nothing more than whet the appetite, to get the average admirer of Jane Austen to pick up the books and continue that which is inevitably going to get axed in the edit room, glossed over or, heaven forbid! completely ignored in the retelling. The one good thing about reading the full, unabridged books is you miss nothing. Try it, won’t you?

    The Poor Relation

    Dear sweet Fanny Price!

    They took her from home, or rather her overburdened mother gave her away to be raise properly by her sisters at Mansfield Park, a most imposing edifice but Fanny Price is treated like little more than a servant. She is miserable and lonely. That is until one of her cousins takes pity on her and befriends her to her eternal gratitude. But to the others, will she ever be anything more than a spec of dust, a fly on the wall, ignored and ill-used? But of course she will. She is the heroine of Mansfield Park after all, though an unlikely one to be sure.

    Oh, Emma! You mendler.

    T'is very badly done indeed!
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