Category: Jane Austen
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Is Mr. Collins Really That Bad?
We all love to laugh at Mr. Collins, but what about his good qualities? (Yes! He has them!)
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What Did Jane Austen Have to Say About Her Own Novels?
Take a peek into Austen’s letters to find out what she thought about her works and about herself as an author.
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Sailing with Style and Salt Pork: A Look at Regency Packet Ships
In a Jane Austen novel, sea travel usually happens offstage. A letter arrives, Tom Bertram returns, Captain Wentworth is promoted to captain—that sort of thing. But if you lived in Austen’s world and needed to get to the Continent (or the West Indies, or the Cape of Good Hope), you would likely have found yourself…
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Darcy Didn’t Pay Wickham £10,000 to Marry Lydia
Common Pride & Prejudice Misconceptions, Part 3 I blame this common belief on Pride & Prejudice‘s various adaptations. For example, in the 2005 movie, Mr. Bennet speculates about the amount and then nothing else is explained. However, it is untrue. When Mr. Bennet declared that: “Wickham’s a fool if he takes her with a farthing…
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Foreshadow of Things to Come
Well, I am done with Elizabeth Bennet’s Bad Days Okay, so I am almost done with corrections from Kay Springteen’s edit. The book should publish by next week, and I feel that this one is the best variation I’ve written so far. Hopefully, the public will agree. At any rate, although I’ve given you all…
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Did Austen Speak Posh?
In our last blog, we heard how Shakespeare’s English much more resembled the accents of the provinces than the “proper” English favored today by actors and newscasters, the latter being an accent called “Received Pronunciation” or “RP.” Jane Austen had knowledge of and appreciation for Shakespeare. There are parallels between her social comedies and his, Willoughby reads…
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Some Days are Hard
Today’s blog analyzes Jane Austen’s exploration of gender-based violence and oppression in her novels, emphasizing how societal norms silenced women’s voices during her time. Austen’s nuanced portrayals reveal the limitations imposed on women, illustrating themes of coercion, economic pressure, and the struggle for autonomy while critiquing cultural attitudes towards female agency and victim-blaming.
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Tart Treats
In summer months, fruit desserts are always colorful and delicious, and one of my favorites is the tart, making me ponder its history and how available they were during the Regency. They were often found on the table for special days and included among the desserts, though I did not find them listed in the…
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Unusual Regency Hobbies
Shoe making, graveyard picnics, and anthropomorphic taxidermy…just a day in the life of the Regency and Victorian upper class.
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The Prince Regent’s Gift
Jane Austen, born barely three weeks before the publication of Common Sense, was most assuredly a child of the Enlightenment. &&&& Thomas Paine &&&& George Augustus Frederick, eldest child and heir to George III, was also a child of the Enlightenment. He was born in 1762, at a time when his tutors would have been…