Happy Birthday to Jane Austen!
“Cassandra’s was the colder and calmer disposition; she was always prudent and well judging, but with less outward demonstration of feeling and less sunniness of temper than Jane possessed. It was remarked in her family that ‘Cassandra had the merit of having her temper always under command, but that Jane had the happiness of a temper that never required to be commanded.’ When ‘Sense and Sensibility’ came out, some persons, who knew the family slightly, surmised that the two elder Miss Dashwoods were intended by the author for her sister and herself; but this could not be the case. Cassandra’s character might indeed represent the ‘sense’ of Elinor, but Jane’s had little in common with the ‘sensibility’ of Marianne. The young woman who, before the age of twenty, could so clearly discern the failings of Marianne Dashwood, could hardly have been subject to them herself.”
- From A Memoir of Jane Austen by J.E. Austen-Leigh
We are a little late with this today, but we hope wherever you are, you lifted a cup or glass ‘to Jane’ today! Happy Birthday, Jane, and may your light continue to shine for another 232 years, and more!
December 16th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Jane!
From your friends in Mexico,
Baja Janeite, her daughter and all the young women we have introduced to your lovely books here in San Jose del Cabo
December 16th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Indeed we celebrated and thought of her. Wonderful tribute.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Been lifting my JA mug all day, going through my daily pot of coffee, while listening to JA audiobooks all the while. Now I still have to decide which DVD adaptation to put on tonight. Happy 232nd, dear Jane!
December 17th, 2007 at 2:53 am
Happy Birthday Jane. Many thanks for the years of enjoyment.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:06 am
Happy (belated) birthday, Jane! (Even though Jane Austen’s work plays such an important part in my life, I never manage to post my ‘happy birthday’ wishes on the day itself somehow…)
December 17th, 2007 at 11:52 am
“Happy Birthday dear Miss Jane, I pray it was a joyous one!”
Isn’t it wonderful that 191 years after her death Jane Austen is really even more popular than at the time she wrote! I celebrated her birthday by listening to my favorite ‘Persuasion’ audio book, and reading ‘Jane Austen’s Guide to Manners’ which is highly entertaining and informative!