Why you should love Jane Austen (even if you don't)
So, I have a question to ask you: What's your opinion on Jane Austen?
I assume you would respond with one of three answers: either impossible positivity about your beloved Jane, a tirade about how boring you found Pride and Prejudice, or an indifferent kind of sigh that indicates you either haven't read any Austen or just aren't that bothered.
Well, I want to explain why, regardless of whether you enjoy her novels or not, you should at least have immense respect for Jane Austen, if not love her.
Let's start with a brief history of her upbringing; she born on 16 December 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, England, to Rector George Austen and Cassandra Leigh. She was one of two daughters and the second youngest of eight children: James, George, Edward, Henry, Cassandra, Francis, Jane and Charles. During her life she lived in Steventon, Bath (which she hated) and Southampton, before settling in Chawton with her mother and sister; the large cottage they lived in there was paid for by Austen's brother Edward, in recognition of their precarious financial situation. She lived there from 1809 until her death in 1817.
During her lifetime, Jane Austen produced six completed novels - Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818), and two incomplete ones - Sanditon and The Watsons. She also left a novella, Lady Susan, collections of poems, letters and prayers, and three volumes of Juvenilia, which were multiple short stories, satires, and other general bits of excitement which she wrote from the ages of eleven to nineteen.
But I am not here to give you a history of Jane Austen - there are many people who have done a much better job of that than me already, Wikipedia being one of them. I just want to explain why, whether Northanger Abbey if you favourite book ever or Persuasion left you cold, you should at least know who Jane Austen is, and have immense respect former and what she did. So, without further ado...
1. She's a Huge Feminist Icon
So, you might not be entirely convinced by this first one: I mean, Jane Austen wasn't exactly Emmeline Pankhurst or Gloria Steinem. But, her determinism to make it in what was very much a man's world, and to be considered an equal to her male counterparts, is evident in both her life and works. She took many of the themes used by Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792, and discussed them in her books.
I now present a few wonderful examples of Austen attempting to prove that a woman could be just as sensible, reasonable and, well, normal, as a man:
Sadly though, here is an example of how much money she was able to make at a time: she received royalties of thirty-eight pounds, eighteen shillings for Emma. To put that in context, her brother made 400 pounds as a naval officer in the same year. Her estate was worth £800 when she died, money which she had made solely from writing. Her novels gave her an independence in a way that she had never experienced before, and for that, I salute her.
2. She has a Great Sense of Humour
If you're not a self-confessed Janeite, you might be unconvinced by this. But the whole point of Austen's novels is that they fit the genre of 'comedy of manners', meaning a satirical view of upper-clas society in an age when wealth and status dictated people's lives.
Austen makes clear in her novels which characters she likes and considers to be 'proper' people, as well as those with traits she particularly despises - mainly in the form of silly, foolish or self-centred men and women. Just take Mrs Bennet, Lydia Bennet and Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice, or Mary Musgrove in Persuasion.
3. She's a huge part of the English Literary Canon
...This is the obvious one, and really needs little explanation. Austen has become as essential part of English Literature and that means that, like it or not, that any self-respecting Literary Fan should have read at least one of her novels.
4. She's a Total Bookworm, Too
As a girl, Austen was a voracious reader, and many of her novels feature references (subtle or otherwise) to reading, or else to other works of the time:
Another excellent fact: for her nineteenth birthday, her father bought her a new fold-away writing desk which she could pack up and use when travelling. Knowing that just makes me so happy...
5. It's her 200th Anniversary in 2017
Jane died on 18th July 1817, two centuries ago. So, naturally, there are plenty of events going on all over the country, from her home in Bath to the British Library.
You can visit Jane Austen's home, pictured above, at any time of year, and there is also the Jane Austen Centre in Bath.
I assume you would respond with one of three answers: either impossible positivity about your beloved Jane, a tirade about how boring you found Pride and Prejudice, or an indifferent kind of sigh that indicates you either haven't read any Austen or just aren't that bothered.
Well, I want to explain why, regardless of whether you enjoy her novels or not, you should at least have immense respect for Jane Austen, if not love her.
Let's start with a brief history of her upbringing; she born on 16 December 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, England, to Rector George Austen and Cassandra Leigh. She was one of two daughters and the second youngest of eight children: James, George, Edward, Henry, Cassandra, Francis, Jane and Charles. During her life she lived in Steventon, Bath (which she hated) and Southampton, before settling in Chawton with her mother and sister; the large cottage they lived in there was paid for by Austen's brother Edward, in recognition of their precarious financial situation. She lived there from 1809 until her death in 1817.
During her lifetime, Jane Austen produced six completed novels - Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818), and two incomplete ones - Sanditon and The Watsons. She also left a novella, Lady Susan, collections of poems, letters and prayers, and three volumes of Juvenilia, which were multiple short stories, satires, and other general bits of excitement which she wrote from the ages of eleven to nineteen.
But I am not here to give you a history of Jane Austen - there are many people who have done a much better job of that than me already, Wikipedia being one of them. I just want to explain why, whether Northanger Abbey if you favourite book ever or Persuasion left you cold, you should at least know who Jane Austen is, and have immense respect former and what she did. So, without further ado...
1. She's a Huge Feminist Icon
So, you might not be entirely convinced by this first one: I mean, Jane Austen wasn't exactly Emmeline Pankhurst or Gloria Steinem. But, her determinism to make it in what was very much a man's world, and to be considered an equal to her male counterparts, is evident in both her life and works. She took many of the themes used by Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in 1792, and discussed them in her books.
 |
| Wonderful Illustration by Ellie Forman-Peck for The Guardian, 2016 |
‘It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage.’ - Emma Woodhouse, Emma
'Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart.' - Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
'Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.' - Anne Elliot, PersuasionWell said, Jane. What's more, if we look at her life itself, we can see just how hard she fought to be successful in the (at that time) male-dominated world of literature. We know from her letters that she was proud to be a writer, and to be doing something for herself without relying on her family, as many women of her age were forced to do.
Sadly though, here is an example of how much money she was able to make at a time: she received royalties of thirty-eight pounds, eighteen shillings for Emma. To put that in context, her brother made 400 pounds as a naval officer in the same year. Her estate was worth £800 when she died, money which she had made solely from writing. Her novels gave her an independence in a way that she had never experienced before, and for that, I salute her.
2. She has a Great Sense of Humour
If you're not a self-confessed Janeite, you might be unconvinced by this. But the whole point of Austen's novels is that they fit the genre of 'comedy of manners', meaning a satirical view of upper-clas society in an age when wealth and status dictated people's lives.
Austen makes clear in her novels which characters she likes and considers to be 'proper' people, as well as those with traits she particularly despises - mainly in the form of silly, foolish or self-centred men and women. Just take Mrs Bennet, Lydia Bennet and Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice, or Mary Musgrove in Persuasion.
3. She's a huge part of the English Literary Canon
...This is the obvious one, and really needs little explanation. Austen has become as essential part of English Literature and that means that, like it or not, that any self-respecting Literary Fan should have read at least one of her novels.
4. She's a Total Bookworm, Too
As a girl, Austen was a voracious reader, and many of her novels feature references (subtle or otherwise) to reading, or else to other works of the time:
"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much soon drone tires of anything than of a book!" - Pride and Prejudice
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who does not find pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." - Northanger Abbey
"I shall be miserable if I had not an excellent library." - Pride and Prejudice
"...they walked together some time, talking as before of Mr. Scott and Lord Byron, and still as unable as before, and as unable as any other two readers, to think exactly alike of the merits of either..." - Persuasion
"Lord Byron's "dark blue seas" could not fail of being brought forward by their present view..." - Persuasion(Yes, I know the first one was Miss Bingley lying through her teeth in order to impress Mr Darcy, but still, I love it.)
Another excellent fact: for her nineteenth birthday, her father bought her a new fold-away writing desk which she could pack up and use when travelling. Knowing that just makes me so happy...
5. It's her 200th Anniversary in 2017
Jane died on 18th July 1817, two centuries ago. So, naturally, there are plenty of events going on all over the country, from her home in Bath to the British Library.
 |
| Jane Austen's house in Chawton, Hampshire. It contains the ACTUAL TABLE on which she wrote most of her books! |
6. She's going to be on the Ten Pound Note
...You probably know this. But it's important that you do, for many reasons - not least because, historically, the person who is chosen for a British banknote is someone who made a great contribution to English heritage, and hence should be well-known and successful. This is why you have to respect her and appreciate her, even if you cannot bring yourself to love Jane Austen. |
| Honestly, why would you want to spend this? |
So, in conclusion, Jane Austen is someone you have to respect. I mean, she wrote her last few books whilst suffering from multiple illnesses, taking medicine that contained ARSENIC, which meant she was partially blind towards the end of her life. Please, whether you enjoy her books or not, I urge you not to cast Austen aside as a cosy English novelist of the Home Counties, because she is so, so much more than that.
Comments
Post a Comment