Recently I casually re-posted a meme I saw online: Tell me your favorite Jane Austen character without telling me your favorite Jane Austen character.
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting a terribly strong response, and I thought the people who did respond would probably post memes or pictures of their favorite characters. Instead, I got quotes. Lots of quotes. What followed was an impressive array of favorite sayings from both the movie and book versions of Jane Austen. Some of them were iconic and instantly recognizable; others less so. Can you identify the characters represented below?
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well.” This one is, of course, in the “instantly recognizable” category. Our favorite Regency female says this to her sister Jane. I was this many years old when I recognized the double irony in this saying. Not only does Elizabeth love few people, but some of the people she loves she doesn’t even think well of!
“I’m half agony, half hope.” From my second favorite Austen swooner ever. One of the lines that made me fall in love with Persuasion, it was a rich payoff for slogging through a novel that had, frankly, seemed less than stellar up until then.
“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” From a truth-teller to someone who desperately needs a smack upside the head. And he loves her enough to give it to her, uncaring of the consequences! This quote only hints at the depths of his devotion to her.
This humorous quote from someone who only speaks the truth by accident: “You give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person.”
Here’s a lovely, swoon worthy quote: “A man does not recover from such a devotion of the heart to such a woman. He ought not- he does not.”
“Give me an occupation, Miss Dashwood, or I shall run mad..” Another swoon worthy quote from a world class brooder. Austen does them so well, doesn’t she?
Wise words for today, or any age: “I think it ought not to be set down as certain that a man must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself.”
These quotes are a bit more obscure: “I never saw such a woman. She would certainly be a fearsome thing to behold.”
“She was sensible and clever; but eager in everything: her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was everything but prudent.”
“That will just do for me, you know. I shall be sure to say three dull things as soon as ever I open my mouth, shan’t I?”
And I’ve saved the best for last:
“In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
Now, for the giveaway! Last month I released the audiobook version of Elizabeth and the Fleur de Lys, a Pride and Prejudice variation set during the French Revolution! This is Darcy and Elizabeth as you have never seen them before. If you long for a dashing, mysterious hero and a heroine who risks everything for love, this is the story for you! 😊 Narrated by the fabulous Duncan Galloway, who brings the story to life in unforgettable fashion! If you comment below by midnight, EST on Sunday, April 23rd, I will enter you into a drawing for one of five free downloads. Good luck!
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