Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
As a Janeite, it is impossible ignore the siren call when an author announces to the book buying world that her new novel The Cookbook Collector is “a Sense and Sensibility for the digital age.” Whoa! My first reaction was “this is literary suicide.” Why would anyone want to equate themselves to a beacon of... Continue Reading →
I recently finished The Season of Second Chances, by Diane Meier and liked it so much that I didn't want to write about it! I do that sometimes after experiencing a great movie, opera, musical or book. When something touches me profoundly, I want it all to myself. Talking or writing about it somehow takes... Continue Reading →
This week, as I began to reread Pride and Prejudice with my Jane Austen class, I have discovered some prejudices that I have. In reading a book that I know and love so well, I have almost found it hard to understand some people's opinions of it. I will say that most girls in my... Continue Reading →
"So, you are come at last! I began to think I should never see you. I am so ill I can hardly speak. I have not seen a creature the whole morning!"Â Â "I am sorry to find you unwell," replied Anne. "You sent me such a good account of yourself on Thursday!"Â Â "Yes, I made... Continue Reading →
Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and, at fifty-four, was still a very fine man. Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did; nor could the valet of any new made... Continue Reading →
No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be a heroine. Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her. The Narrator, Chapter 1Â Quick Synopsis Catherine Morland the unlikely heroine lives a pretty... Continue Reading →
THE NOVEL Good sense, like hers, will always act when really called upon; and she found that she had been able to name him to her mother, and recall her remembrance of the name, as that of "William's friend," though she could not previously have believed herself capable of uttering a syllable at such a... Continue Reading →
"Me!" cried Fanny..."Indeed you must excuse me. I could not act any thing if you were to give me the world. No, indeed, I cannot act." Fanny Price, Chapter 15 In a popularity poll of Jane Austen's six major novels, Mansfield Park may come close to the bottom, but what a distinction that is in... Continue Reading →
THE NOVEL He was in love, very much in love; and it was a love which, operating on an active, sanguine spirit, of more warmth than delicacy, made her affection appear of greater consequence because it was withheld, and determined him to have the glory, as well as the felicity, of forcing her to love him.... Continue Reading →
THE NOVEL Fanny's last feeling in the visit was disappointment: for the shawl which Edmund was quietly taking from the servant to bring and put round her shoulders was seized by Mr. Crawford's quicker hand, and she was obliged to be indebted to his more prominent attention. The Narrator, Chapter 25 Quick Synopsis Sir Thomas... Continue Reading →
The Novel Jane Austen is renowned for her witty and sometimes cutting dialogue. Her novel Mansfield Park, though considered to contain a more darker subject matter, it still is full of them. Here are a select few that aim to amuse. Do not be surprised that the antagonist Mary Crawford gets all the best lines! "But... Continue Reading →
The Novel Her heart (Fanny) and her judgment were equally against Edmund's decision: she could not acquit his unsteadiness, and his happiness under it made her wretched. The Narrator, Chapter 17 Quick Synopsis Edmund reverses his opposition to act based on concerns for Mary Crawford. Fanny is shocked, Maria and Tom gloat. Henry's flirtations with... Continue Reading →
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