Jane Austen was not allowed reading in Communist Albania. I discovered her in "Western Ideas," a wonderful undergraduate course I took at Clarkson University. Pride and Prejudice was my introduction. Can't say I loved it. But Austen grew on me. And when I discovered "Persuasion," I knew I had a soft-spoken masterpiece. It is a book I read every November/December. I have to revisit those characters.
Wonderful overview of her lasting appeal. I was introduced to Austen through that famous six-episode A&E adaptation when I was thirteen, so in my mind she was always just a lot of fun. I didn't study her in a classroom until college and then I realized her brilliance and how unlikely it was that she could write as well as she did. I'm curious if you think the Bronte sisters were influenced by Jane's innovations even if they claimed to dislike her. Do you see any similarities in their technique, especially Agnes Grey?
I love this essay, thank you so much for writing it. I've just started Mansfield Park to celebrate the semiquincentennial (thank you, copy-paste) in the most appropriate way I know how, and, yes, echoing something you wrote earlier, Fanny Price is her best character.
More controversially, this may be the first piece of writing featuring Giles Coren that I have ever enjoyed. I do get more mileage out of Twain.
Long may she be read! Great post, it captures so well Austen's modernity and relevance. Thank you Henry Oliver for sharing. And indeed, I think all those moments in her books about awkwardness or embarrassment are one of the secret sauces of her longstanding success.
On that note (and yes, feeling shy 🫣 as an Austen's character), I wrote a micro-story about social anxiety and small talk emerges and.. she's there.
While Twain’s insult is vivid, it’s neither funny nor clever. But we all know if Austen had had the opportunity to return the insult, it would have been both.
I believe Mark Twains comment is a jealous, satirical compliment from one writer about another. EVERY TIME he reads it...multiple readings and he doesn't say why he wants to beat her. I suspect it is frustration that she is so good.
This is lovely! And it's great that you're calling attention to her innovations in indirect discourse. I wish more people would go beyond the romance to the narratorial irony--the writing is so brilliant.
Is it blasphemous to say that if I were to have a daughter, I might actually prefer that she be more like Mary Crawford than Fanny Price? I recently reread Mansfield Park (for the third time), but this time via the Norton Critical Edition, which includes an essay by Nina Auerbach which compares Price to, among other things, a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, and Grendel. I don't think I would go so far, but did get a chuckle out of it.
I agree with you. Mary was trying to live a life of a 'modern' woman in a society where women had basically no civil rights. She was able to do that because she was independently wealthy, so did not have to depend on her father, brother or husband. If she marries, all her wealth reverts to the husband; unless you get tight settlements, right? So Austen's primary concern, which I think is because of her own situation where she was dependent on the men in her life, colors her rendering of Mary.
Yes. I cannot dislike Mary. Her worst moment - and it was bad - was hoping for Tom's death. But she was genuinely kind to Fanny and honest about her misgivings regarding Edmund's ordination. She did not deserve Edmund's shocked patronizing moralizing over her response to Maria's adultery. He and his father would have hushed it all up if they could. They certainly tried. It was only when they could not persuade Maris to return to Rushworth that they cast her off in the face of unavoidable public disgrace. Why are we to judge Mary's response more harshly? I do wonder what Austen's real view was here. She was not so judgmental of Lydia and Wickham. Yet Wickham was far worse than Crawford.
Jane Austen was not allowed reading in Communist Albania. I discovered her in "Western Ideas," a wonderful undergraduate course I took at Clarkson University. Pride and Prejudice was my introduction. Can't say I loved it. But Austen grew on me. And when I discovered "Persuasion," I knew I had a soft-spoken masterpiece. It is a book I read every November/December. I have to revisit those characters.
long may she be read! dusting off my Pride and Prejudice and procuring Emma soon
Yay!
Pretty cool that Beethoven was also born on December 16, 5 years earlier.
Also Turner!
Beautifully expressed. A blessing to read.
Love the shoutout to the great Marilyn Butler, who is still one of the best of Austen's analysts.
Not Twain’s wittiest line. I can see Mrs Bennet giving him a clip round the ear.
Wonderful overview of her lasting appeal. I was introduced to Austen through that famous six-episode A&E adaptation when I was thirteen, so in my mind she was always just a lot of fun. I didn't study her in a classroom until college and then I realized her brilliance and how unlikely it was that she could write as well as she did. I'm curious if you think the Bronte sisters were influenced by Jane's innovations even if they claimed to dislike her. Do you see any similarities in their technique, especially Agnes Grey?
I love this essay, thank you so much for writing it. I've just started Mansfield Park to celebrate the semiquincentennial (thank you, copy-paste) in the most appropriate way I know how, and, yes, echoing something you wrote earlier, Fanny Price is her best character.
More controversially, this may be the first piece of writing featuring Giles Coren that I have ever enjoyed. I do get more mileage out of Twain.
Thank you! I like Twain also, every genius is allowed some blind spots.
I am SO pleased to see this about Fanny!!
Long may she be read! Great post, it captures so well Austen's modernity and relevance. Thank you Henry Oliver for sharing. And indeed, I think all those moments in her books about awkwardness or embarrassment are one of the secret sauces of her longstanding success.
On that note (and yes, feeling shy 🫣 as an Austen's character), I wrote a micro-story about social anxiety and small talk emerges and.. she's there.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ksantogold/p/hardships-and-jane-austen-over-spritz?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1vujyy
Essential and wholly satisfying.
While Twain’s insult is vivid, it’s neither funny nor clever. But we all know if Austen had had the opportunity to return the insult, it would have been both.
I believe Mark Twains comment is a jealous, satirical compliment from one writer about another. EVERY TIME he reads it...multiple readings and he doesn't say why he wants to beat her. I suspect it is frustration that she is so good.
This is lovely! And it's great that you're calling attention to her innovations in indirect discourse. I wish more people would go beyond the romance to the narratorial irony--the writing is so brilliant.
This is great - she is ever relevant. I wrote here about what Persuasion teaches us about a very modern preoccupation - “boundaries”. https://open.substack.com/pub/ebootz/p/the-deep-dive-persuasion?r=16n9w&utm_medium=ios
Is it blasphemous to say that if I were to have a daughter, I might actually prefer that she be more like Mary Crawford than Fanny Price? I recently reread Mansfield Park (for the third time), but this time via the Norton Critical Edition, which includes an essay by Nina Auerbach which compares Price to, among other things, a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, and Grendel. I don't think I would go so far, but did get a chuckle out of it.
I agree with you. Mary was trying to live a life of a 'modern' woman in a society where women had basically no civil rights. She was able to do that because she was independently wealthy, so did not have to depend on her father, brother or husband. If she marries, all her wealth reverts to the husband; unless you get tight settlements, right? So Austen's primary concern, which I think is because of her own situation where she was dependent on the men in her life, colors her rendering of Mary.
Yes. I cannot dislike Mary. Her worst moment - and it was bad - was hoping for Tom's death. But she was genuinely kind to Fanny and honest about her misgivings regarding Edmund's ordination. She did not deserve Edmund's shocked patronizing moralizing over her response to Maria's adultery. He and his father would have hushed it all up if they could. They certainly tried. It was only when they could not persuade Maris to return to Rushworth that they cast her off in the face of unavoidable public disgrace. Why are we to judge Mary's response more harshly? I do wonder what Austen's real view was here. She was not so judgmental of Lydia and Wickham. Yet Wickham was far worse than Crawford.
Another literary giant who owes her a debt is Thackery. It's hard to imaging Becky Sharpe in a world in which there had been no Elizabeth Bennett.