Ralph Waldo Emerson - NOT a Friend of Jane!
In an article in the Philadephia Inquirer about online courtesy, Ralph Waldo Emerson is cited as an early “flamer”:
Writers in particular get criticized. Ralph Waldo Emerson said of Jane Austen: “Miss Austen’s novels seem to me vulgar in tone, sterile in artistic invention, imprisoned in the wretched conventions of English society, without genius, wit or knowledge of the world.” Thomas Carlyle, in turn, called Ralph Waldo Emerson “a hoary-headed toothless baboon.”
Let it be noted that Thomas Carlyle not only defended Our Dear Jane, but that he and Emerson were reportedly very good friends. The moral of the story, Gentle Readers, is that nobody insults Jane and gets away with it!
November 18th, 2004 at 11:00 pm
Just ask Mark Twain!