RE- READING PERSUASION, MY FAVOURITE AUSTEN NOVEL

This month's book is Persuasion. We've read Jane Austen's major novels in six months with a small mixed -aged group of female readers at the public library here in our small town . Since my JA reading club's latest meeting (which was rather disappointing, do you remember?)   I've started thinking about how the same girls/ ladies who said they didn't like Emma (some of them without even reading it) will approach to this mature work, to Jane's Anne Elliot and to her Captain Wentworth. If the younger ones didn't like naughty sparkling Emma, will they like loyal, generous but  rather plain Anne?

Well, let's say , I just love this novel and  I simply want to  get caught in its re-reading for my own pleasure without worrying too much. I'm not lucky in my real life. I know very few people who like the same things I do, but in the blogosphere I'm sure there are plenty who can understand my deep esteem for such a talented, unique writer. I 'm so glad to the Net for the many satisfying, interesting, challenging, enriching acquaintances I've made in less than two years!

Our meeting should be on the last Saturday of June and tonight I'll start leafing through Persuasion again in search for the pleasure it has always succeeded in giving to me.

I checked my blogs to see how much I had already written about Persuasion but ... not so much! Only one post. Here it is. You 'll find also videos from the 1995/2007 adaptations as well as a clip of Greg Wise reading one of the best passages from the novel. It's all for today. Just to have a start. I'll be back in the next days with other posts about Persuasion.

 INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Persuasion was Jane Austen's last completed novel, written between summer 1815 and summer 1816. In 1816 the author fell into the lingering illness which eventually killed her, in July 1817.

Austen herself may have suspected the plot lacked her normal sparkle, since she thought the original ending was 'tame and flat', and rewrote it (the revised ending has a number of hanging threads which, perversely, leave a piquant taste). In March 1817 she told her niece Fanny Knight that she had another novel ready

for publication, but added: 'You will not like it, so you need not be impatient. You may perhaps like the Heroine, as she is almost too good for me.' Discriminating critics have, more often, found it her most mature—if least funny—work. The novel was published posthumously in a four-volume bundle along with  Northanger Abbey (her least mature work), by John Murray, in December 1817 (dated 1818 on the title page), together with an informative 'Biographical Notice of the Author' written by Jane's brother (and sometime unofficial literary agent) Henry Austen. The novel's action can be precisely placed (thanks to the Baronetage entry on the first page) as being over nine months,summer 1814 to spring 1815.

As  usual , preparing my next meeting at the library, I'll propose some questions from my curious quiz book. You'll find the answers here on my blog before the meeting takes place. Let's see how well you know Persuasion.

I / I How old is Anne Elliot?


1/2 What is the dominant element in Sir Walter's character?

1/3 Why is the period (1814) propitious for the letting out of fine country houses like Kellynch Hall? And who duly rents the establishment?

1/4 How are the Crofts related to the Wentworths?

1/15 What is the 'domestic hurricane' in the Musgrovehousehold?

1/16 Bath rings to the bawling of street vendors (such as muffinmen and milk-men) and the 'ceaseless clink of pattens'? What are these?

1/17 What does Sir Walter regret in his heir, William's, otherwise satisfactory appearance?

1/18 How long must Mr William Elliot decently mourn his deceased wife, before being able to remarry?

1/19 How big is the blister on Mrs Croft's heel?

1/20 What, in Admiral Croft's view, is James Benwick's principal failing?

1/21 What kind of acquaintance does Sir Walter tell the Dalrymples he has with Captain Wentworth?

1/22 How old is William Elliot?

1/23 How much has Captain Wentworth in prize money, to support him in civilian life?

1/24 When Captain Harville tells Anne 'if I could but make you comprehend what a man suffers when he takes a last look at his wife and children, and watches the boat he has sent them off in, as long as it is in sight, and then turns away and says, "God knows whether we ever meet again!",' what, exactly, is he picturing?

1/25 What is Anne's final good turn in the novel to those less fortunate than her lucky self?

This post is part of the event Jane in June hosted at Book Rat by Misty.

So leaving your comment  here you can get a chance (or another chance) to win two Austen based books!

This double giveaway will go on all the month through and the winner will be announced on the 30th.

Please, do not forget your e-mail address!

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LOVE AND FREINDSHIP AND OTHER EARLY WORKS

When I studied Jane Austen at university I imagined her a middle-aged, strong -willed , intelligent woman who happened to live in the wrong age to fulfil her wish for independence and was , for that reason, quite angry for her unlucky fate. I thought her as proud as Elizabeth, as sensible and good mannered as Elinore, quite reserved and very generous like Anne Elliot. Anyhow, I got the image of the serious, reserved spinster feeling rather superior to many other women who had to come to a compromise with marriage.

Reading her minor works, Lady Susan last summer and these Juvenilia this weekend gave me a new image of Jane Austen. That of a lively, open-minded, humorous young woman who loved laughing, reading, gossiping and being under the spotlight.

Love and Freindship (Austen  wrote freind and freindship all the story through!) is the demonstration that her six major novels did not spring fully formed from Austen’s mind. She had a long literary apprenticeship supported and nurtured by her large, loving and scholarly family. Jane was born in 1775, the 7th of 8 children. Life at the Rectory at Steventon was entertaining and educational, the children were often staging plays or publishing magazines. During her teenage Jane wrote 3 volumes (the notebooks still exist – one in the Bodleian Library; the other two in the British Museum) of absurd but amusing stories and skits to be read aloud to entertain her family. Love and Freindship is the second of these volumes. She wrote Love and Freindship and Other Early Works between 1790-93 , when she was 15/17. This volume contains two short stories Love and Freindship and Lesley Castle .

In the pair of delightfully silly short stories Austen lampoons sentimental and Gothic fictions of the day with disrespectful parodies of the ridiculous overabundance in this novels of clichès such as love at first sight, elopements, long-lost relatives, fainting, fatal riding accidents, adultery and castles.

LOVE AND FREINDSHIP

In the first story, written in the epistolary form , the heroine Laura writes to Marianne, the daughter of her friend, Isabel. Here’s a detailed summary of the content or you can even read the whole story as Austen wrote it here.

It was lovely to imagine young Jane reading it aloud and all her dear laughing around her. There are several hilarious silly passages ,featuring an improbable series of faints, which made me laugh too:

(from letter 8)

"She (Sophia) was all Sensibility and Feeling. We flew into each other's arms and after having exchanged vows of mutual Freindship for the rest of our Lives, instantly unfolded to each other the most inward secrets of our Hearts. -- We were interrupted in the delightfull Employment by the entrance of Augustus (Edward's freind), who was just returned from a solitary ramble.Never did I see such an affecting Scene as was the meeting of Edward and Augustus.

"My Life! my Soul!" (exclaimed the former) "My Adorable Angel!" (replied the latter), as they flew into each other's arms. It was too pathetic for the feelings of Sophia and myself -- We fainted alternately on a sofa".

(from letter 9)

The beautifull Augustus was arrested and we were all undone. Such perfidious Treachery in the merciless perpetrators of the Deed will shock your gentle nature, Dearest Marianne, as much as it then affected the Delicate Sensibility of Edward, Sophia, your Laura, and of Augustus himself. To compleat such unparalelled Barbarity, we were informed that an Execution in the House would shortly take place. Ah! what could we do but what we did! We sighed and fainted on the sofa.

(from letter 13)

“I screamed and instantly ran mad. -- We remained thus mutually deprived of our Senses some minutes, and on regaining them were deprived of them again. For an Hour and a Quarter did we continue in this unfortunate Situation -- Sophia fainting every moment and I running Mad as often”.

The cult of sensibility – in which emotions are irresistible and overpowering and plots far-fetched and convoluted- was at its heights during Austen’s teenage years and scenes of fainting, raving heroines were inescapable.

To convey her satirical view of love and friendship, Jane Austen makes these themes oversimplified and stereotypical. They become paradoxical and make us laugh.

The device she uses to make sentimental clichés comical is exaggeration. For instance, the hasty decision to get married make Edward and Laura’s love at first sight rather improbable .This also shows that Jane Austen considered the romantic notion of sensibility as a myth. An improbable one.

So reading this short story can be just  fun but it can also give us an insight to understand and appreciate Austen’s method of pointing out the flaws of previous romantic views of love and friendship through satirical representations of anecdotes.

LESLEY CASTLE

Lesley Castle was probably written in early 1792 (when Jane was 16). It contains some amusing bits, a number of separate sub-plots and supporting characters. Peculiar is Jane Austen’s gleeful narrative employment of scandalous actions like seduction, elopement and divorce. She would tell about them in her major novels too, of course. We all remember the scandalous elopements of Whickham and Lydia in P&P or of Henry Crawford and married Maria Rushworth in Mansfield Park . But we can notice a big difference in Austen’s treatment of scandalous actions : both elopements in the novels are condemned while, here, in Lesley Castle when Louisa abandons her husband and child to run off with two other men, not only she isn’t punished but at the end of the story her ex- husband reports that they have both converted to Roman Catholicism, obtained an annulment, married other people and “are at present very good friends, have quite forgiven all past errors and intend in the future to be very good neighbours”.

This gleeful dealing with scandalous facts may be the reason why her family resisted the temptation to publish these Early Works until 1922. Notoriously, Jane’s sister Cassandra, who survived her by almost 30 years, destroyed in part her letters because she did not think them appropriately refined for the prudish Victorian era.

You can read Lesley Castle, An Unfinished Novel in Letters online clicking here

My lovely edition of this early works by Austen contains also:

- The History of England written when Jane was fifteen (1791) . It is a parody which pokes fun at widely used schoolroom history books such as Oliver Goldsmith's 1771 The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II;

- A Collection of Letters, which reveals Austen consciously experimenting with writing techniques and characters sketches. It is commonly said that Lady Greville of “Letter the Third” is the prototype for Lady Catherine De Burgh from P&P.

You can read Jane Austen’s The History of England online

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Sarah S. G. Frantz, assistant professor in English Literature at Fayetteville State University, stated that “the stories collected in this volume, complete with the natural spelling mistakes of an enterprising writer with less than three years of formal education, demonstrate the lively mind and ready wit of a teenage girl living in the late 18th century. They would be fascinating enough in their own right for what they reveal about life and literature, love and friendship, at that time. The fact that their creator has become one of the most famous, best loved authors of British literature is, in some respects, merely an added bonus”.
N.B. Since this post is part of the Jane in June event hosted by Misty at BookRat, leaving your comment you will be entered in the double giveaway announced here and running all through the month. You'll  find it also in the  right sidebar, "Two Books, One Winner".

WELCOME TO JANE IN JUNE & DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!

This is a blog post opening this month's great event: JANE IN JUNE: lots of Austen - based fun all over the blogosphere coordinated by Misty at  Book Rat . Here are some of mine contributions to the event:

1.Interview with Beth Pattillo, author of "Jane Austen ruined my life" and "Mr Darcy broke my heart" on Fly High! with giveaway of one of her novels :  CLICK AND READ. Go and comment to have a chance to win the delightful Mr Darcy Broke My Heart.

2. This month will be dedicated to the re-reading of my favourite among Jane Austen's six , Persuasion  (preparing the 6th and last meeting of my book club, let's hope I can finish the experience with less disappointment than  at the end of our latest meeting)

3.Review of The Matters at Mansfield (from the series Mr and Mrs Darcy's Mysteries by Carrie Bebris) on My Jane Austen Book Club

4. June 27th Journal of the last meeting of my JA reading club on My Jane Austen Book Club

5. Post about Jane Austen's juvenilia : Love and Freindship

GIVEAWAYS!!!

1.Beth Pattillo, Mr Darcy Broke My Heart (on Fly High!)

2  Laura Viera Rigler, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict + Jane Austen and Juliette Shapiro, Sanditon. (here on My Jane Austen Book Club)

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To get the chance to win Mr Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattilo, comment her interview on Fly High (HERE) adding your e-mail address.

To win instead the other two books (2 books 1 winner),  comment any of the posts you 'll find on My Jane Austen Book Club for JANE IN JUNE. The more posts you comment, the more chances you have to win them!

The names of the two winners will be announced on 30th June. Both giveaways are open worldwide.

Journal of the 5th meeting or ... on disappointment

(look at my face...how good am I  at pretending? failed! )

Since last Saturday afternoon I have been in a very strange mood. Blue? I didn't want to write about it. It hurt. BuI kept on wondering : "how would Jane (Austen) react to such an unpleasant situation"? Writing, of course. Wit, irony and satire. She would brilliantly made it laughable. But I'm not Jane. I haven't got her stingy wit and her genius for writing. But I think that to tell about it can help me.

So, to the point.

The meeting of the reading club to discuss Emma. Can you believe it? What I feared most last time for Mansfield Park (do you remember the Vicar of Dibley video I used as warm-up?) came true this time for       " my beloved Emma". None of the present had read or re-read the book. Precisely:

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  some  had read the book long before
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  some  had watched the 1996 film long before and never read the book
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  2 never read the book, nor watched any adaptation or didn't even know what the story was about

Gosh!

(watching fragments from BBC Emma 2009)

Everything was so strange, but I didn't understand at first. I asked how they had enjoyed Emma and ... nobody  dared answer. The first to say something ( more than something ) was Sig.ra Letizia (do you remember Miss Bates?) : she had read the book long ago and never liked it. "That Emma is insufferable!" And she started reciting , almost by heart,  the introduction to her Italian edition of the book, the only pages from that book she had read for the meeting .  The girls started chatting and laughing but none of them,  invited,  wanted to join the conversation. They didn't know what to say, they remembered very little or just didn't know what we were talking about!

I was puzzled, disoriented and could hardly count on  my usual patience in these situations. I 'm pretty much used to that at school where students are very often  not motivated to read or analyse what I propose but ... from the members of a reading club, who joined it willingly and voluntarily,  I just didn't expect such behaviour!

So darling ladies and girls, what are you supposed to be in a reading club for?

To meet new people ? To socialize and have an excuse to leave home and escape routines?

To spend time in a beautiful library pleasantly chatting? To see fragments of my several Austen adaptations at the end of our meetings? All of them very good reasons but ... what about reading?

( At the end of the meeting, watching Mr Knightley's proposal )

So... there I am ... I can just imagine my face,  trying to pretend smiling and to disguise  my disappointment. Suffering deeply  inside, but going on asking and answering.

The worst had yet to come. It was with a question, a simple freezing one, from one of the youngest readers, Valentina (16): "But why do we have to read Jane Austen? Can't we read anything else?" And there I was , worse than before, gasping speechless at the most incredible question. Why do we read Jane Austen in a JA Book Club? What did she believe we would read in a JA Book Club? I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Instead,  I started asking about what she liked reading and an interesting discussion about books, reading for learning or for entertainment, reading contemporary writers or the classics came out.

(Thanks goodness, it was over ...)

Then,  again Valentina asked me: "Why do you like Jane Austen so much? She only wrote six novels and they are all alike: balls, courtship, marriage. Once you've read one, you've read them all! Please, tell us why you like them so much" . I felt as if I were on a trial , I was the accused.  I had to defend myself but from what? From my love for Jane Austen and Regency stuff or  Victorian literature? I actually read and have read lots of very different books in my life but Jane Austen  and Victorian novels are what I love reading most. That is what I tried to tell them , about reading books for fun or as a duty, to learn or to escape. Reading the books I really love is for me,  as I already wrote quoting Tolkien, "recovery, escape and consolation". We mentioned Pavese, Pirandello, Kundera, Dante and many others. You can learn a lot from their books but you can't escape reality, you have to dive into it,  and , often,  you find no consolation, no positiveness,  no hope.

After this animated discussion, I asked whether they wanted to see the fragments I had prepared from BBC Emma 2009 (with Italian subs) and they agreed. They seemed to like them but I went home feeling so confused and uneasy that ... I wondered: "Do I want to read and discuss  my favourite Austen, Persuasion, with these reading group? Does it have any sense?

So dear friends, all of you Janeites I met online, I'm so happy you exist and I can share with you. Thanks for being there! Before leaving you I just wanted to ask you:

- How would you answer Valentina ? (By the way she is one of my students, she's in the third year, she came to the club invited by other girls) Why do we so much love Jane Austen?

- Do you think I was wrong ? And in what was I wrong? (Because, you know, I go on feeling a bit guilty)

GETTING READY TO TOMORROW'S MEETING

Tomorrow is Emma's day so I'm putting  order among my several notes and materials and wanted to share some other bits with you.

1. SIR WALTER SCOTT ON EMMA

Reviewing Emma for the Quarterly Review (1816), Sir Walter Scott characterized its strengths and weaknesses:

The author's knowledge of the world, and the peculiar tact with which she presents characters that the reader cannot fail to recognize, reminds us something of the merits of the Flemish school of painting. The subjects are not often elegant, and certainly never grand; but they are finished to nature, and with a precision which delights the reader....

Her merits consist much in the force of a narrative conducted with much neatness and point, and a quiet yet comic dialogue, in which the characters of the speakers evolve themselves with dramatic effect. The faults arise from the minute detail which the author's plan comprephends. Characters of folly or simplicity, such as those of old Woodhouse and Miss Bates, are ridiculous when first presented, but if too often brought forward or too long dwelt upon, their prosing is apt to become as tiresome in fiction as in real society.

2. SOME QUESTIONS FOR THE DISCUSSION OF THE NOVEL

1. Emma is clever but continually mistaken, kindhearted but capable of callous behavior. Austen commented that Emma is a heroine “no one but myself will much like.” Do you find Emma likable? Why or why not? How can a character as intelligent as Emma be wrong so often?

2. Emma experiences several major revelations in the novel that fundamentally change her understanding of herself and those around her. Which revelation do you think is most important to Emma’s development, and why?

3.Emma is filled with dialogue in which characters misunderstand each other. How does humor work in the novel?

4. Emma both questions and upholds traditional class distinctions. What message do you think the novel ultimately conveys about class?

5. In what ways, if at all, might Emma be considered a feminist novel?

6. Frank Churchill and Mr. Knightley represent two different sets of values and two different embodiment of manhood. What values  does each of them represent? How does the novel judge these values?

7. Is Mr Knightley a father figure to Emma? Are they a perfect match?

8. In Emma we have - just hinted at - the stories of two children separated from their families for financial difficulties, Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill. Then Emma and her father's relationship, Miss Bates and her mother's. How are family ties depicted in this novel?

9. Love courtship and marriage are among the main themes in this novel too. After reading 4 novels, what else do we get about these issues in the 5th, Emma?

10. If compared to the disappointing quick ( or skipped)   final declarations and proposals in the other novels, Mr Knightley's eventual revelation of his feelings is really detailed and touching . What do you think about these scene which can be considered rather unusual in Austen so far? Is the ending as genuinely happy as it is presented to be, or does Austen subtly inject a note of subversive irony into it?

3. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT EMMA ( 11-25)

1/11 What do we deduce from the fact that, in twenty-one years Emma has not met the Martin family?
The Martins live in the adjoining Donwell village/parish, not Highbury, hence Emma is likely to see them on a daily basis. And, as she explains to  Harriet, they are prosperous farmers, neither poor nor gentry. So on the one hand there is no reason for her to think of them as possible recipients of her charity, and on the other hand she cannot know them as social equals. They, of course, know her by sight.

1/12 Who did Miss Nash's sister marry (very advantageously)?
A linen-draper.

1/13 Who is the best whist player in Highbury?
Mr Elton. He is not, we deduce, 'high church'.


1/14 How large a contingent of servants and cattle does it take to get the five-strong Woodhouse party three-quarters of a mile to Randalls, on Christmas Eve?
Four servants and four horses.


1/15 What piece of land separates Randalls from Hartfield?
The  'common field', symbolically enough.


1/16 How long is it since Jane Fairfax was in Highbury?
Two years—about the same time that Mr Elton came and, presumably, the old vicar died.

1/17 Who was Jane Fairfax's father?
Lieutenant Fairfax, an infantry officer, who married Mrs Bates's youngest daughter. He subsequently died in action abroad. She followed with a consumption.


1/18 How much money did Miss Campbell bring to her marriage, by way of dowry? And how much are the other eligible ladies in the novel worth?
Miss Campbell brought her lucky husband £12,000. Augusta Hawkins (later Elton) is worth £10,000 and Emma, most desirable of all, £30,000. These sums can be multiplied fifty-fold to reach approximate modern-day values.

1/19 What is Mr Elton's first name? And Mr Knightley's? And Mrs Weston's? And Mr Woodhouse's?  Philip, George, Anne, Henry

1/20 What does Mr Knightley do with his last stored apples of the year?
He gives them to the Bateses—more particularly to the visibly ailing Jane. Vitamin deficiency was known, if not by name, then by the sufferer's pallid complexion (the blemish in Jane which the duplicitous Frank points out to Emma). The apples furnish the only lie we catch Mr Knightley in when he reassures the Bateses he has plenty of the fruit left—something later indignantly contradicted by his steward, William Larkins, who evidently disapproves of Donwell's bounty being given away.


1/21 With whom did Augusta Hawkins principally reside at Bath?
Mrs Partridge—chaperone and (genteel) boarding-house keeper. The name suggests hunting: not, of course, for game, but marriage partners.


1/22 What is the name of Mrs Elton's cook?
Wright. Mrs Elton is assiduous in collecting 'receipts' (that is, recipes) for Wright from the Highbury families. She intends to entertain in style. One assumes that when she served the bachelor vicar, life was easier for Wright.

1/23 Who is whose caro sposo and who is whose caro sposa?
Mr Elton—his wife (or possibly Jane Austen, or possibly some proofreader at John Murray's) is not sure about Italian gender.


1/24 What is Mrs Weston doing when she breaks the news of Frank's duplicity to Emma?
She is at 'her work'—seven months pregnant, she is sewing in preparation, we may assume, for her soon-to-be-born child. Knitting was considered somewhat low class and would have been less likely for someone of Mrs Weston's station. Specifically, she is sewing her 'broad hems', that
is, dresses for the baby with a large turn-up at the hem, so that it can be let down as the child grows. She has also, we learn, made a first set of caps.
 
1/25 How long has Mr Knightley been in love with Emma?
'Since you were thirteen at least'. Presumably he found Isabella toostupid (and like her father) for his taste and let John take her.

THOUGHTS ON EMMA - THIS MONTH'S HERO, MR KNIGHTLEY. MR PERFECTION?

Mr. Knightley can be considered as the novel’s model of good sense. But, please lets's not go on considering him a fatherly figure. Isn't he more a very  tender passionate lover? The fact that he is much older than Emma has produced this stereotype of him , that of  a father figure to Emma who has always had a weak real one in Mr Woodhouse. Mr Knightley scolds her and rebukes her when she 's wrong, he tries to make her understand her mistakes,  but more as a dear affectionate friend, an older admirer , than a fatherly presence. When he finally declares his love to her he finds even the word "friend" unacceptable: "Emma,that I fear is a word ... - no I have no wish." 

 

Knightley’s love for Emma is the one emotion he cannot govern fully. It leads to his only lapses of judgment and self-control. Before even meeting Frank, Knightley decides that he does not like him. It gradually becomes clear that Knightley feels jealous. When Knightley believes Emma has become too attached to Frank, he acts with uncharacteristic impulsiveness in running away to London. His declaration of love on his return bursts out uncontrollably, unlike most of his prudent, previous well-planned actions. Yet Mr Knightley’s loss of control humanizes him rather than making him seem like a failure.

 

 From his very first conversation with Emma and her father in Chapter 1, his purpose—to correct the excesses and missteps of those around him—is clear. He is unfailingly honest but tempers his honesty with tact and kindheartedness. Almost always, we can depend upon him to provide the correct evaluation of the other characters’ behavior and personal worth. He intuitively understands and kindly makes allowances for Mr. Woodhouse’s whims; he is sympathetic and protective of the women in the community, including Jane, Harriet, and Miss Bates; and, most of all, even though he frequently disapproves of her behavior, he can't stay away from Emma, he never deserts her.

Like Emma, Knightley stands out in comparison to his peers. His brother, Mr. John Knightley lacks his unfailing kindness and tact. Both Frank and Knightley are perceptive, warm-hearted, and dynamic; but whereas Frank uses his intelligence to conceal his real feelings and invent clever compliments to please those around him, Knightley uses his intelligence to discern right moral conduct. Knightley has little use for cleverness for its own sake; he rates propriety and concern for others more highly.

Is Mr Knightley a Mr Perfection meant to mild Emma's imperfection? Is he too perfect to be true? I like him very much for his temper and for his wisdom, for his kindness and his generousity. Impossible to find a Mr Knightley in real life? Well, who cares? We can find one each time we leaf through Jane Austen's Emma.  Isn't this the reason why we love reading so much? Isn't it because  we can find "recovery, escape and consolation"? And, especially, a Mr Knightley, a Mr Darcy, a Captain Wentworth ....

THOUGHTS ON EMMA - THIS MONTH'S HEROINE

4 days to go. Next Saturday afternoon , I will be discussing Emma at the reading club. The more I read it, the more I like it. I know most readers prefer Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, but I also know  many critics generally regard Emma as Austen's most carefully crafted or skillfully written novel. So I do not feel lonely in my sympathy for Miss Woodhouse and her  story, though I'm not a scholar or  a critic.

Austen herself acknowledged that Emma might present a problem for readers, "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." And much about Emma is indeed unlikable; she is snobbish, vain, manipulative, power-hungry, self-deluded, often indifferent to the feelings of others, and on at least one occasion terribly cruel ( at Box Hill , to Miss Bates).

But do these traits necessarily make her unlikable? Do her admirable traits redeem her, such as her love for her father, her wit,  her sense of social responsibility, and her gradual admission of error? Maybe. But, honestly, what I really love in her is the fact that she has flaws. She is really imperfect, so human.

Does the comedy of watching Emma the Egoist get her comeuppance through a series of errors and admit she deserved her comeuppance make her likable? Although Emma knows what the right thing to do is, she still behaves badly; does this all too common human trait make her sympathetic because readers can identify with her?

I can't identify with Emma, though I can sympathize with her,  but being more an Elinore or an Ann Elliot, I actually admire Emma , Marianne or Elizabeth Bennet. I even envy them!

The attitude of the narrator is another consideration in evaluating Emma. Though most of the novel presents Emma's point of view, an omniscient narrator tells the story. Do the narrator's choice of language, her tone, the details she adds, and her comments upon both Emma and the action affect the way we feel about Emma? The narrator clearly presents Emma's faults and her misguided behavior and unsparingly identifies them as such, but does the narrator also suggest a sympathy or even an affection for Emma that helps to moderate the reader's negative response to her? Or is even the narrator's attitude unable to overcome the negative effect of her faults and irresponsible behavior?

Clever  question... but I can't feel any hostility in the narrating voice, I do not think she is leading readers to dislike Emma. I'm sure the narrator likes Emma a lot when she smiles ( mind you, smiles not laughs) at her defects:

"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very

little to distress or vex her.

She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father; and had, in consequence of her sister's marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses; and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in affection .

( ... ) The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her.

Sorrow came--a gentle sorrow--but not at all in the shape of any disagreeable consciousness.--Miss Taylor married." (... )

Another question I would like to raise about the reader's response to Emma is this: even if Emma is unlikable or unsympathetic ( which I do not think) , is the novel automatically unlikable or flawed?

I find this novel so entertaining for many a good reason: The Eltons, Mr Woodhouse, Miss Bates, Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax, Emma & Harriet's relationship... It is  pure fun!

Which of the other Austen heroines most shares with Emma?

Though I find her quite peculiar and unique in a brief overview of  fiction heroines, I think she shares much with Catherine Morland. Catherine doesn't have Emma's social background (Miss Woodhouse is  the wealthiest among Austen female protagonists, isn't she?) , not her intelligence nor beauty, the first is younger than the latter, but they have the same approach to reality. In which sense? They very often tend to  misinterpret reality or misjudge people, they have got a naive nature easily deceivable because they have very little experience of the world. They are rather impulsive and can't cope with their own sentiments. They try to "manufacture" events in their lives but often juxtapose what they think or reckon to what really happens. They finally understand and regret their mistakes helped by very intelligent, wise, sensitive and good-sensed partners they fall in love with and are loved by. They are very lucky indeed. Aren' t they?

But  Mr Knightley, this month's hero,  will be the subject of another blogpost in the next days. He deserves a post of his own.

So I'll leave you to the answers to some of the questions I posted few days ago.

The first 10. OK?

I / I The first sentence o/Emma—as of all Jane Austen's novels—is epigrammatic and memorable. The first epithet ascribed to Emma in it is 'handsome'. What is the overtone of the term?

That she is less than beautiful, that she is self-possessed, that she is more powerful than a mere 'Belle' (like her sister). The first description of Mr Elton is that he is 'a very pretty young man'. How different our initial impression of the heroine would be if the first sentence began: 'Emma Woodhouse, pretty, clever, and rich . . .'

1/2 How long has Isabella been married? Where does she live, and what do we deduce from these facts? She has been married seven years and is six years older than Emma. John Knightley, a younger son, could not inherit the Donwell estate so he married early and married rich—the elder Miss Woodhouse, with her thousands in the Consols. The John Knightleys live in Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, in what is now central London, but which in their day was the northern limit of the capital.

1/3 What game do Mr Woodhouse and Emma play of an evening, at Hartfield?

Backgammon—a board game which nowadays has suggestions of the sinful casino. They apparently (from later references) play for 'sixpences' when visitors come. The point being made is that theirs is not an evangelical household.

1/4 How old is Mr Knightley?

He is 37 or 38. Why, one goes on to wonder, has he never married? Either because he is waiting for Emma, or he has had to get his estate in order. It is not excessively far-fetched (if rather un-Austenish) to suspect that Mr Knightley has a respectable lower-class mistress tucked away somewhere; not, obviously, in Donwell, to offend the neighbours; but maybe some innkeeper's wife/widow or similar, whom he visits when he goes to Richmond or Kingston markets.three years older than Frank, and twelve years younger than Mr Knightley. Mr Elton would have been ordained for three or four years, and done a first curacy before getting the living of Highbury. He has it, presumably, by virtue of his ingratiating manner, excellent character, and 'pretty' looks: he seems to have no family connections or 'interest' around Highbury.

1/6 How often does Frank see his father?

Once a year, in London. He did not attend his father's wedding.

1/7 Who was the widowed Mrs Bates's husband?

The Revd Mr Bates—a former vicar at Highbury. He was not, evidently, the vicar immediately before Mr Elton (who has just taken up the living). Talkative as the Bates household is, they never talk about him.

1/8 How old is Harriet, what distinguishes her from the other forty pupils at Mrs Goddard's, and who are her parents?

She is 17, a beauty, and 'the natural daughter of somebody' (a somebody in 'trade', as we eventually discover). She has, as the novel opens, been recently raised from 'the condition of scholar [that is, ordinary pupil] to that of parlour-boarder' (that is, she lives, as one of the family, with Mrs Goddard). Harriet evidently knows nothing of her father (nor her mother). Mrs Goddard may (but vouchsafes nothing to Emma). Harriet is, one presumes, not of local origin—otherwise gossip would supply the name of her parents.

1/9 What colour (precisely) are Emma's eyes? They are of 'the true hazle' and 'brilliant'.

1/10 How many children does Isabella have, and what are their names?

Five. In descending order: Henry, John, Bella, George, and baby Emma, aged eight months. She has been married seven years or so. Emma sketched them all two years ago, when there were just the four children. Emma is a fond aunt, we deduce.

  

NEWS - A WEB COMEDY FOR JANE AUSTEN ADDICTS!

Have you read or heard of Laurie Viera Rigler's Austen based novels? The first one is CONFESSIONS OF JANE AUSTEN ADDICT and the latest is RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT? ( which I read and reviewed last summer on FLY HIGH!  - HERE) It was great fun reading about a Regency girl' s time travelling in our time. And now I'd like to complete the journey reading Confessions. I know I should have done the opposite but , never mind!

Now I'd like to spread the news that amazing Laurie has created an amazing original script for a 20-episode web series based on her two novels: SEX AND THE AUSTEN GIRL.

Two young women, COURTNEY STONE of present-day Los Angeles, and JANE MANSFIELD of 1813 England, inexplicably switch bodies, time periods, and lives — one from Regency England, the other from 21st-century Los Angeles — debate the pros and cons of life and love in today's world vs. Jane Austen's world.

Watch the first episode

"Meeting men ",  HERE .

THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED THE WEB SERIES

1. After nursing a broken engagement with Jane Austen novels and Absolut, Courtney Stone wakes up and finds herself not in her Los Angeles bedroom or even in her own body, but inside the bedchamber of a woman in Regency England. Who but an Austen addict like herself could concoct such a fantasy?

Not only is Courtney stuck in another woman’s life, she is forced to pretend she actually is that woman; and despite knowing nothing about her, she manages to fool even the most astute observer. But not even her level of Austen mania has prepared Courtney for the chamber pots and filthy coaching inns of nineteenth-century England, let alone the realities of being a single woman who must fend off suffocating chaperones, condom-less seducers, and marriages of convenience.

This looking-glass Austen world is not without its charms, however. There are journeys to Bath and London, balls in the Assembly Rooms, and the enigmatic Mr. Edgeworth, who may not be a familiar species of philanderer after all. But when Courtney’s borrowed brain serves up memories that are not her own, the ultimate identity crisis ensues. Will she ever get her real life back, and does she even want to?

(from Laurie Viera Rigler site http://www.janeaustenaddict.com/)

2. Part comedy, part love story, part time-bending social commentary, RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT is the story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in the body and life of twenty-first-century Los Angeleno Courtney Stone. Jane had long wished to escape the confines of a life where she could not live alone or travel alone, and where her only career options were marriage or maiden aunt. But leaving 1813 England behind and awakening in a high-tech, low-morality world is not what she had in mind. Nor is Courtney's tiny urban box of an apartment in Echo Park, complete with bars on the windows and graffiti on the gate. Gone are the rolling lawns and hovering servants of Jane's family estate. Nothing—not even her own face in the mirror—is the same. The only thing that is familiar, and the only thing she seems to have in common with the strange woman in whose life she has mysteriously landed, is a love of Jane Austen.

Not everything about the twenty-first century is disagreeable. Such as the delightful glass box in which tiny figures act out scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Or the machines that give light, play music, cool food, and even wash clothes. And Jane may have become a woman of no rank and little fortune, but she has her first taste of privacy, independence, even the chance to earn her own money. Granted, if she wants to leave the immediate neighborhood on her own she may have to learn to drive the roaring, horseless metal carriage. And oh what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wants—even to men without a proper introduction.

There are, however, complications. Such as the job she has no idea how to do, a dwindling bank account, and a growing pile of bills. Then there are the confusing memories that are not her own. Most confusing are her feelings for Courtney's friend Wes and ex-fiancé Frank, both of whom, she is told, have betrayed her. Although she finds herself falling for Wes, what is she to make of a world in which flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations?

With only the words of Jane Austen and a mysterious lady to guide her, Jane cannot help but wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clear—if returning is even an option.

(from Laurie Viera Rigler site http://www.janeaustenaddict.com/) 

A new episode of SEX AND THE AUSTEN GIRL posts every Monday on

http://babelgum.com/sexandtheaustengirl

IN A WEEK IT'LL BE EMMA DISCUSSION!

Emma was written between January 1814 and March 1815. The setting of the narrative's action would appear to be recent: 1813-14. By this period, Austen was a known and successful writer. Like Sense and Sensibility, the work was published on commission by the distinguished house of John Murray. It was published ('by the author of Pride and Prejudice, etc.') in December 1815 (dated 1816 on the title page). The novel was dedicated to the Prince Regent, at the request of the Carlton House Librarian, the Revd James Stanier Clarke.

As usual, here are some questions from John Sutherland and Deirdre Le Faye, SO  YOU THINK YOU KNOW JANE AUSTEN! Quizbook 2005

I usually choose the easiest ones, that is level one, brass tacks. Do  you think they are easy?

I / I The first sentence of Emma—as of all Jane Austen's novels—is epigrammatic and memorable. The first epithet ascribed to Emma in it is 'handsome'. What is the overtone of the term?

1/2 How long has Isabella been married? Where does she live, and what do we deduce from these facts?

1/3 What game do Mr Woodhouse and Emma play of an evening, at Hartfield?

1/4 How old is Mr Knightley?

1/5 How old is Mr Elton?

1/6 How often does Frank see his father?

1/7 Who was the widowed Mrs Bates's husband?

1/8 How old is Harriet, what distinguishes her from the other

forty pupils at Mrs Goddard's, and who are her parents?

1/9 What colour (precisely) are Emma's eyes?

1/10 How many children does Isabella have, and what are their names?

1/11 What do we deduce from the fact that, in twenty-one years, Emma has not met the Martin family?

1/12 Who did Miss Nash's sister marry (very advantageously)?

1/13 Who is the best whist player in Highbury?
 
1/14 How large a contingent of servants and cattle does it take to get the five-strong Woodhouse party three-quarters of a mile to Randalls, on Christmas Eve?

1/15 What piece of land separates Randalls from Hartfield?

1/16 How long is it since Jane Fairfax was in Highbury?

1/17 Who was Jane Fairfax's father?

1/18 How much money did Miss Campbell bring to her marriage, by way of dowry? And how much are the other eligible ladies in the novel worth?

1/19 What is Mr Elton's first name? And Mr Knightley's? And Mrs Weston's? And Mr Woodhouse's?

1/20 What does Mr Knightley do with his last stored apples of the year?

1/21 With whom did Augusta Hawkins principally reside at Bath?

1/22 What is the name of Mrs Elton's cook?

1/23 Who is whose caro sposo and who is whose caro sposa?

1/24 What is Mrs Weston doing when she breaks the news of Frank's duplicity to Emma?

1/25 How long has Mr Knightley been in love with Emma?
 
Enjoy your reading or re-reading and , if you feel like and are interested in, have a look at these posts of mine about EMMA and its several adaptations:
 

(1996 movie - Gwyneth Paltrow & Jeremy Northam)

(ITV Emma -1996 Katie Beckinsale & Mark Strong)

(BBC EMMA 2009 - Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller)

1. Waiting for the new Emma or ...the ambiguous pleasure of liberty
2. Emma 2009: You will not ask me my secret? Yes, you're wise. But I cannot be. I must tell you...