What can we learn from Jane Austen?
Quite a bit, as our Gentle Readers already know!
The Gonzaga University student newspaper reported on the double lecture on Jane Austen recently held at the university.
Fowler said the Austen myth is everywhere, from films like Bollywood’s “Bride and Prejudice” to Wishbone to “I love Mr. Darcy” sweatshirts. Austen even has her own jokes, including “You might be an Austen redneck if you don’t think it’s weird that everyone seems to marry their cousin.”
Well, that’s funny!
Although Austen’s books are romances, she has been criticized for the lack of sexuality in her novels. The recent movie about Austen, “Becoming Jane,” addresses how she was incapable of having a sexual story of her own.
“But why do we need for Austen to have had a passionate romance?” Fowler asked. “Do we need to believe she wrote from experience about romance and disappointed desires?”
Austen’s books shouldn’t be put on a romantic pedestal. They must, instead, be examined on all levels, Fowler said.
Very true! And one can enjoy the novels on different levels at different points in one’s life.
Austen’s books are all about how people become attached and what leads to marriage, Kries said. Austen believed happiness was bound up in marriage.
However, the connection between the two people must not be merely romantic or only about wealth, as shown in “Pride and Prejudice” by Lydia’s and Charlotte’s unhappiness, Kries said.
But–was Charlotte unhappy?
October 30th, 2007 at 5:09 am
Lydia Wickham never struck me as being unhappy with her lot in life, either!