November 22, 2008
We Swoon for Jane
Playing in select cities now, "Becoming Jane" stars Anne Hathaway and depicts a fictionalized romance for Ms. Austen.
Not only can we see Jane find love on the big screen this summer, but a whole slew of Austen-inspired books can help us be more like the unconventional heroine.Not that she ever really went away, but Jane Austen is back. Two big-screen movies and several novels inspired by her come out this year, a whole new slew of PBS adaptations are slated for early next year and even a handful of guidebooks are in bookstores now for those Janeites who want a little more Regency-era England in their everyday lives.
Why all this adoration? The novels themselves are part of the draw, of course, and the charm of a more refined era. But also the way Jane Austen was quietly unconventional in an era full of social rules. Her novels highlight the tension between abiding by the customs of the day and breaking free of them. While her heroines are smart and practical instead of swooning, they often marry happily anyway. (Although it should be noted amidst all of today's "Where's my Mr. Darcy?" fervor, Jane herself decided to remain single.)
And that's why we're highlighting this all-things-Jane trend here: For all her petticoats and calling cards, Jane Austen did things her own way ...quietly but forcefully. Here's your guide to the best of this year's nouveau Jane:
The movies
Becoming Jane: See Jane swoon. If only in the movies, our dear author finally finds true love – a semi-fictionalized account based on a known relationship but unknown affair. Playing now.
The Jane Austen Book Club: Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Jane Austen narratives are played out amongst members of a contemporary book club in California. Opens September 21.
Masterpiece Theater: Next January, PBS will run four new adaptations for a season called "The Complete Jane Austen." And they're throwing in a biographical drama about her lost loves for good measure.
The handbooks
The best of the lot is definitely The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World. Margaret C. Sullivan, who also edits the Austenblog, gives us an intelligent and fun companion to Austen's novels, highlighting the social customs with plenty of illustrations and bulleted lists. With sections about how to pay a morning call and how to marry off your daughter, the book is great to give as a gift or to place on your own bedside table. The book also contains a short biography and a glossary, for those of us who've always wondered at the difference between a chaise and a barouche.
Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders is similar in that it also explains society's rigorous codes of behavior (how to turn down a marriage proposal, when it's acceptable to sit down at a dance), and watercolors are scattered throughout the book.
101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen is broken into, yes, just more than 100 sections that range from biographical notes to social customs and back stories about many of her novels.
Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love is more contrived than the others; the author answers letters to aspiring heroines as if Jane Austen were an advice columnist today.
Jane Austen's Guide to Dating takes a more contemporary approach but seems somehow more in keeping with that Janeite spirit. Writer Lauren Henderson advises prospective heroines to be witty but not cynical and to never settle. It also includes quizzes to decide which Austen character you and your dates most resemble, along with a compatibility chart.
The Jane Austen Cookbook: Lucky for us, a good friend who lived with the Austens for many years wrote down more than 100 recipes served at family dinners, parties and balls. The recipes – which have been modernized so that you don't have to chop off a mutton neck yourself – include buttered prawns, pigeon pie and apple puffs. Sounds like the makings for a delightful Austen-themed party to us.
A book that focuses on tea customs during Austen's time is also available. Tea with Jane Austen explains the different times of day and settings when tea would have been served, from breakfasts to fancy balls. Historic facts, book excerpts and commentary appear alongside a few recipes for cakes, punch ... and water gruel.
The novels
Jane and the Barque of Frailty: This book is the ninth in the mystery series that casts Jane Austen as a sleuth. Wait, no fair judging if you haven't read one: What sounds like a hopelessly cheesy idea is a perfectly delightful series by Stephanie Barron, who combines some events from Jane's life with fiction and provides footnotes along the way to add historic detail.
Me and Mr. Darcy: A novel involving a 37-year-old bookstore owner who takes a group tour of Austen's England. The twist is that she meets the "real" Mr. Darcy of "Pride and Prejudice" fame and has to question what exactly her perfect storybook man is all about.
Other new novels include Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, which involves time-travel; Austenland, which involves a British resort called Pembrook Park, where guests live like the characters in Austen's novels; and even a "create your own adventure" send-up, Lost in Austen.
The accoutrements
The Jane Austen doll and puppet and action figure have been around for a while, but we can't risk that you might not have discovered them yet. T-shirts and bumper stickers are also out there for the finding, to say nothing of the amusing YouTube videos.
Would Jane have satirized all of us for romanticizing the past and wanting a little of her world in our lives, when we have so many of the social freedoms that she would have welcomed? Probably. But it's all great fun, anyway.
Why all this adoration? The novels themselves are part of the draw, of course, and the charm of a more refined era. But also the way Jane Austen was quietly unconventional in an era full of social rules. Her novels highlight the tension between abiding by the customs of the day and breaking free of them. While her heroines are smart and practical instead of swooning, they often marry happily anyway. (Although it should be noted amidst all of today's "Where's my Mr. Darcy?" fervor, Jane herself decided to remain single.)
And that's why we're highlighting this all-things-Jane trend here: For all her petticoats and calling cards, Jane Austen did things her own way ...quietly but forcefully. Here's your guide to the best of this year's nouveau Jane:
The movies
Becoming Jane: See Jane swoon. If only in the movies, our dear author finally finds true love – a semi-fictionalized account based on a known relationship but unknown affair. Playing now.
The Jane Austen Book Club: Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, Jane Austen narratives are played out amongst members of a contemporary book club in California. Opens September 21.
Masterpiece Theater: Next January, PBS will run four new adaptations for a season called "The Complete Jane Austen." And they're throwing in a biographical drama about her lost loves for good measure.
The handbooks
The best of the handbooks for Jane wanna-bes.
Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders is similar in that it also explains society's rigorous codes of behavior (how to turn down a marriage proposal, when it's acceptable to sit down at a dance), and watercolors are scattered throughout the book.
101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen is broken into, yes, just more than 100 sections that range from biographical notes to social customs and back stories about many of her novels.
Dear Jane Austen: A Heroine's Guide to Life and Love is more contrived than the others; the author answers letters to aspiring heroines as if Jane Austen were an advice columnist today.
Jane Austen's Guide to Dating takes a more contemporary approach but seems somehow more in keeping with that Janeite spirit. Writer Lauren Henderson advises prospective heroines to be witty but not cynical and to never settle. It also includes quizzes to decide which Austen character you and your dates most resemble, along with a compatibility chart.
The Jane Austen Cookbook: Lucky for us, a good friend who lived with the Austens for many years wrote down more than 100 recipes served at family dinners, parties and balls. The recipes – which have been modernized so that you don't have to chop off a mutton neck yourself – include buttered prawns, pigeon pie and apple puffs. Sounds like the makings for a delightful Austen-themed party to us.
You can even drink your tea just like Jane did.
A book that focuses on tea customs during Austen's time is also available. Tea with Jane Austen explains the different times of day and settings when tea would have been served, from breakfasts to fancy balls. Historic facts, book excerpts and commentary appear alongside a few recipes for cakes, punch ... and water gruel.
The novels
Jane and the Barque of Frailty: This book is the ninth in the mystery series that casts Jane Austen as a sleuth. Wait, no fair judging if you haven't read one: What sounds like a hopelessly cheesy idea is a perfectly delightful series by Stephanie Barron, who combines some events from Jane's life with fiction and provides footnotes along the way to add historic detail.
Me and Mr. Darcy: A novel involving a 37-year-old bookstore owner who takes a group tour of Austen's England. The twist is that she meets the "real" Mr. Darcy of "Pride and Prejudice" fame and has to question what exactly her perfect storybook man is all about.
Other new novels include Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, which involves time-travel; Austenland, which involves a British resort called Pembrook Park, where guests live like the characters in Austen's novels; and even a "create your own adventure" send-up, Lost in Austen.
The accoutrements
The Jane Austen doll and puppet and action figure have been around for a while, but we can't risk that you might not have discovered them yet. T-shirts and bumper stickers are also out there for the finding, to say nothing of the amusing YouTube videos.
Would Jane have satirized all of us for romanticizing the past and wanting a little of her world in our lives, when we have so many of the social freedoms that she would have welcomed? Probably. But it's all great fun, anyway.
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