Jane Austen for women only?
Novelist Michelle Styles is shocked to learn that her child’s teacher considers Pride and Prejudice “a girl’s novel.”
When did JA become for women only? She is a classical writer who helped make the modern novel what it is today. P&P is far more than simply a good romance to curl up with. It is just as worthy as Waterland to be studied. Has its success as a romance blinded people to its other qualities? When I did Emma at school, the emphasis was on the characterization and social satire, rather than on the story. I don’t think the boys complained. Why should a novel with a good and easily accessible plot be ignored in favoured of something that may or may not stand the test of time.
We thought some of our male readers would like to respond.
March 17th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Alright, ladies, you must leave the room. Go watch the latest trailer of Mansfield Park or something. What ensues is strictly for men only!
Okay, men! Let me tell it straight. The stories that this chick, Jane Austin, wrote—they’re mostly those icky chick-lit kind of romance stories where the girl, the main character, of course, ends up getting the guy… marrying him even! So you might say that you don’t want to have anything to do with this Jane Austin chick. Well, you are wrong there.
I’ll let you in on my secret—this here Austin chick is the best chick magnet you can find. What you need to do is to get a copy of Pride & Prejudice, preferably with the title in BIG letters on the front. Better yet, just make a color Xerox of the DVD cover—you know, the one with the face of that guy Colin Flirt on the front, and just paste it on the cover of the book. Any book will probably do, but, just to be safe, in case the chick wants to look inside (Ah!? What did I tell you?)—go ahead and spend a few bucks on the real thing. Then just go out and start parading on the street with the cover in full view, and wala! You’ll be amazed at the results!
But before you go out there, you must pick your nom de gear (hah! Pardon my French, ladies!). Let’s see… ‘Wickham’, or maybe ‘Crawford’. Yes, those would work. You don’t want to be stuck with the gal in the end, do you? You do? Well, then try ‘Tilney’, or maybe ‘Wentworth’. ‘Fitzwilliam’ could work, but you may have trouble pronouncing it. Mind you, never ‘Edward’ or ‘Edmund’. The ladies don’t seem to care for those. For the not-so-young among you, if you want to target those younger chicks—‘Brandon’ is the magic word. Trust me!
Then the inevitable question will come, “Are you a Jane Austin fan?!?” But of course you are. But never say that you are a Janeite. Very wimpy. Instead you must proclaim, “I’m an Austinite! Indeed!” in the burliest voice that you can manage. After that you will have to pick them ladies up from the floor.
But the acid test is still to come. You must not disappoint. They will eventually want to talk about the story. Well, nah, you don’t have to read the book. Just watch the DVDs. They are actually more complete than the books. Probably the best one to watch is the one of Pride & Prejudice which they showed a couple of years ago. It’s much more interesting than the book—in color, nice music, and, of course, Keira Nightly in a nightdress (rowr!). Watch it several times—heh heh, trust me, you’ll enjoy every minute—and you can start lively discussions like, “I thought chicks at the time showed more boobs? I think the costume designer got her history all wrong.”
So, okay, Mr. Wickham. Go git them ladies! Trust me, you’ll thank me for the advise.
March 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
LOL! It’s a good thing, Tony, you live probably an ocean away from me. I would SO fall for you! *g*
March 17th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
*blush*
[Regaining composure…] Thank you, Sylvia. We neither of us perform to strangers. (Is that not a good pickup line? Thought of it myself.)
March 17th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Austen’s novels establish that it is a high moral value for men to act thoughtfully, respectfully, and compassionately toward women; her novels provide repeated examples of men doing this, which men today can use as examples for their own behavior; and her novels also teach men to be searching and careful to evaluate the moral strength and character of women before committing themselves, so that they only commit themselves to women who show them the same thoughtfulness, respect, and compassion that the men should show the women. I know of no other author whose work teaches these vital life lessons. Almost all of our upbringing today is focused on educating people for careers, and none is spent on educating them for selecting a spouse, marriage, and parenthood, yet happiness is far more dependent on choosing a spouse than on choosing a career field. I note, however, that it is almost impossible that young men will see these lessons in her work, unless they read the books with a teacher skilled at pointing them out. Some 25 years ago when I was in my mid-twenties I picked an Austen novel to read on a transatlantic flight — Mansfield Park, I think — with no particular guidance, thinking it representative of all Austen — and I had no sense of what it was about. (I should note, in college I spent 2 years as an English major, but never took a course in the Austen period). I never considered Austen again. It was not until the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie, after I had married, been divorced, and had children (a boy and a girl, 11 and 13) that I saw the great value in her work, and started reading and re-reading all the novels (and following this website). Thus I think as to boys & young men, a teacher’s guidance is definitely needed.
March 17th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Tony, that’s voila. Sorry I can’t get the accent thing where it belongs. Loved your take. I do so love to laugh.
My father, who is the best man I know, loves P&P and has enjoyed other Austen stories to which he has been exposed. He has never been intimidated by labels that others throw around such as “chick-lit.” Of course he may have a sense of the inevitable in that he and my mother raised four girls and he couldn’t possibly escape all that estrogen floating around. Still he loves P&P on its own merit, regardless of the gender of the writer. He’s even read the book! I anticipate there will be no prodding necessary to get him to watch the new Season of Austen adaptations.
Very true sissoed, people in modern culture are not prepared for life as they should be. And with emphasis on marriage decreasing daily, I can’t expect that respect for such considerations will improve any time soon. When most of the population views marriage as not only unneccessary, but undesireable as well, Jane Austen appreciation will fall to all-time lows. Except for those rare individuals who can appreciate a well crafted story even though they disagree with it’s principles. I’m hoping to be long-dead by the time society hits this point.
March 17th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
make a color Xerox of the DVD cover—you know, the one with the face of that guy Colin Flirt on the front…
Thanks Tony–I appreciated the two lumps of snark with my tea this evening! However, I do fear that our dear Jane would call you a rake.
March 17th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
‘Fitzwilliam’ could work, but you may have trouble pronouncing it.
That is not it. The reason the name Fitzwilliam does not impress these Janeites is because, for some odd reason, they don’t like getting spit all over their faces. Go figure.
March 18th, 2007 at 6:06 am
LOLOL Tony!
All you have to do is read the appreciative, insightful comments William Grimes has to make about Austen’s work in the ‘Everyone Reads the Times’ post to confirm how much she has to offer (and can appeal to) men of taste, intelligence and discernment!
March 18th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
sissoed: agreed!
I think it’s the reputation of her works as being nothing more than “Romance novels” that is off-putting for men.
If I had not started looking at the deeper moral questions that she addresses thanks to my professors and Alasdair MacIntyre I would not have started reading the books. I note that it is on the required reading list for at least one great books program, and I would be surprised if the students there did not get the proper guidance. Such guidance is needed so that the students can see the fine details.
March 19th, 2007 at 1:26 am
I don’t know about in other countries, but in America in particular I have to agree that the male half of the species needs guidance in reading Austen. Not all of them surely, but most. It is a rare reader these days who looks for more than the glaringly obvious, and is willing to re-read. And it is not possible to glean the worth of an Austen novel from just one reading.
March 19th, 2007 at 7:36 am
I’m an American male on a sabbatical year in England with my college professor wife (she goes for Henry Tilney; I’m more partial to Captain Wentworth). One of the most moving experiences I’ve had in England was a visit to Jane Austen’s home in Chawton. Being there helped me to see better the context out of which her books arose, but it also left me with an even greater sense of what an exceptional genius she was.
For me, at least, one of the things that great literature does is to open up a life and a depth and richness of experience that I can never have in the real world. I have plenty of my own testosterone, thank you very much; I don’t need it in the literature I read. Strangely, I love Jane Austen for the same reason I loved Tolkien as a boy: I will never be a woman in Regency England or a hobbit on an epic quest, but a great writer can, for the space of a book, give me some of that experience. The author’s voice in my head naturalizes me to that richly-imagined world, whether it be Middle Earth or Regency England.
March 19th, 2007 at 7:46 am
I love Jane Austen for the same reason I loved Tolkien as a boy: I will never be a woman in Regency England or a hobbit on an epic quest, but a great writer can, for the space of a book, give me some of that experience.
Beautifully said, Robert.
March 19th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
When I was a teenager, I never heard of Jane Austen, even in high school English Literature. I was very much the romantic, even wrote (very bad) love poems. I would have loved her wittiness. Sometimes they give excerpts from longer works as reading in such classes- the chapter with Mr. Collins’ proposal to Lizzy, her refusal, and Mr. Bennet’s description of how she would need to make a choice as to who would not see her again would have had me rolling on the floor. (Well, maybe not- I tried to be inconspicuous back then.)
Of course, the people who compiled those anthologies had to make choices - but it was my loss that they left out, without even a mention, one of the greatest novelists of English literature.