Reading Group Discussion of “Jane Austen: Myth, Reality, and Global Celebrity”
Online Course from Futurelearn.com
at Mirabella Retirement Community
Hostess: Ceil Huntington
Discussion Leader: Marcia Hamley
By Vonnie Alto, Secretary
 
Ceil Huntington hosted our March meeting at the elegant Mirabella Retirement Community on Bond Avenue and SW River Street in Portland. It was beautifully catered by the resident chef which included gourmet hamburgers, fresh vegetables, caviar, and coffee. Members added to the buffet by bringing clementine cake, oranges, tarts, cookies, breads, and other pastries as well as grapes, cherry tomatoes, olives, tea sandwiches, petite quiches, and mini strawberry croissants.
 
Pauline Beard, Professor Emeritus, was acknowledged as our 2019 Tribute Grant Honoree for her many years of contributions to our region.
 
We received an update on the Jane Austen garden plaque at Chawton House that we’re co-sponsoring with the Southern Oregon JASNA region. The quote on the plaque is from Pride and Prejudice: “As the weather was fine, they had a pleasant walk of about half mile across the park.”
 
Jane Austen enthusiast, Marcia Hamley, led a most engrossing discussion on what we learned from the 3 week online course, “Jane Austen: Myth, Reality, and Global Celebrity” given at Futurelearn.com by Jane Austen experts Gillian Dow and Kim Simpson. Marcia gave a culturally erudite in depth overview of the course, complete with a handout of recommended reading, the course outline,  portraits of Jane Austen, and the article, “A New Portrait of Jane Austen” by Melissa Dring: <https://www.janeausten.co.uk/the-jane-austen-portrait/> 
 
Marcia noted that the course puts events into the context of Jane Austen’s life and how it affected her and her artistry--such as war, bank failures, French Revolution, American Revolution.
 
An insightful discussion followed where we both learned and gave input on female education and reading in the 18th century and in Jane Austen’s novels, what Jane Austen means to us and others, the places that mattered to Jane Austen, what Jane Austen would have read, what Jane Austen’s reading tells us about her novels, artistic and financial influences on Jane Austen, her legacy, and how Jane Austen has been described to the world through biographies, portraits, and film.
 
Much time was spent discussing what Jane Austen actually looked like. How intriguing it was to analyze the various portraits of Jane Austen! We looked at how Jane’s sister Cassandra’s sketch of her grew and evolved from an unfinished grimacing, "cranky" face into the finished portrait now on the new ten-pound bank note. We all agreed that her family promoted an image of the Victorian ideal when in fact, Jane probably looked different from the portraits.  
 
The commentary flew fast and furious among our group. So lively was it that nearly every subject imaginable was addressed. 
 
Insights gleaned from our discussion produced a melange of interesting tidbits and even oddities:

• The early translations of Jane Austen’s works (first in French) were rewrites that did not contain the true meaning of her text. Subsequently, Pride and Prejudice was abridged, with a few excerpts printed as a magazine serial! Sense and Sensibility was rewritten, including the ending! And Emma was promoted as a guide to English manners! Since Jane lived across the channel, she probably knew nothing about them.
• Marcia noted that, “Jane focuses on characters.” Both Marcia and Arnie Perlstein agreed that Jane Austen depicts a "beautiful world.”
• The silences in Jane Austen’s novels allows artistic interpretation, especially when translated to film.
• Passion summarizes the course. Jane didn’t write for dull elves. She expected her readers to interact with her text.
• Lauri Conway said that Pride and Prejudice is a good entry into Jane’s books. “It’s bright and sparkly,” Marcia noted.

• Regarding theater, Arnie said that Jane wrote about seeing this play or that play. Pauline Beard noted that the early writings of Jane was geared towards the theater.

 
We explored Jane’s world of finance:

• Jane Austen valued love over money, a reoccurring theme in her books. Member, Bill Boyd noted that, “You could have love without money” which creates a problem. Therefore, Jane was not an idealist but practical.

• It was also noted that Jane wasn’t impoverished but poor.

 
We also discussed if Jane was a feminist or not.

• Jane wanted to make sure that her heroines ended up well off within the accepted confines of society.
• Once again, Bill Boyd offered an enlightening perspective. There are “no Cinderella heroines” in a Jane Austen novel. “They didn’t marry princes. They married relatively ordinary people.”

 
In terms of education, women had to learn to play music and learn other accomplishments while young men studied classical subjects and went on grand tours. Women didn’t go on grand tours unless they were wealthy.

• Marcia noted that Jane, Cassandra, and Cousin Jane Cooper hated boarding school and appreciated the importance of a liberal education at home.
• Jane got quite a liberal upbringing. She was educated by her father and had her father’s library at Godmersham. She read women novelists, and also Shakespeare, and Richardson. Arnie Perlstein said she read everything.
• Most of Jane’s education was at home. Her father took in boys to educate. Jane was inquisitive and read what they read. 
• Arnie pointed out that Jane was mistress of all she surveyed. She was fortunate to live in a home with a gigantic library, probably holed up reading all that she found there. She likely digested enormously her father’s library in order to  have written her parody, A History of England.

 
Regarding Lady Susan:

• Marcia noted that Lady Susan is “a fabulous book. Jane Austen disapproves of her behavior but makes you love her.” 
• Pauline Beard added,”Look at the love child, the couple’s love child, the elopements. Jane was with it.” Pauline further noted that in an essay on Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf observed, “Of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness.”

 
Of course, we delved into love and marriage.

• In 1802, Jane got engaged to Harris Biggs-Wither, the brother of close friends but then then backed out of it. She was pressured from her family to marry rich.
• Sylvia Foster said that the reason why Jane didn’t marry him is that she didn’t respect him.
• Our Region Coordinator, Margaret Christmann added that he was 7 years younger than Jane and more involved with his hounds.
• Why did Jane decide not to get married? Marcia pointed out that “Jane wanted a career as a writer. Pregnancy could kill her.”

 
The dark side was also explored.

• Arnie said that Jane Austen wrote about families and that there’s an undercurrent of abuse in Jane’s novels. Jane was into the dark place.
• Arnie recommended Read Jane Austen for Dummies. There’s also an online article in Persuasions about Fanny as a victim of circumstances. 
• Marcia recommended the biography, Jane Austen, by Claire Tomlin which focuses on Jane Austen’s family and community.
• Arnie mentioned the theory that Jane was poisoned by her sister in-law. A lock of Jane’s hair was discovered with arsenic. This serves as the premise for the film, Miss Jane Austen Regrets. See also The Mysterious Death of Miss Jane Austen by Lindsay Ashford.
• Suzannah Fulton wrote, Jane Austen in Crime, in which the darker side of Jane Austen’s world is explored.  During the time of Jane Austen, criminals were left hanging on hooks on highways.
• For more on the dark side, see Arnie's blog, Sharp Elves Society...Jane Austen's Shadow Stories  http://sharpelvessociety.blogspot.com/

 
We discussed the cult of sensibility.

• Apparently, a lot of literature popularized sensibility, defined as committed to over reacting. People, especially women should be in touch with their emotions to ridiculous degrees. Kim Higgins called them “drama queens.” Marianne in Sense and Sensibility was committed to over reacting over everything. Both Marianne and Elinor have things to learn and both learn from each other. Marianne is the more dramatic example.   
• Cads could be saved. Women could convert them instead of staying away from the Willoughbys of the world.

• Sylvia Foster pointed out that “sense” is equal to the American Revolution while “sensibility” is what the French Revolution was about.
•  Deb Rossi recommended, Jane And Dorothy: A True Story of Sense and Sensibility: The Lives of Jane Austen and Dorothy Wordsworth by Marian Veveers. 

A lively discussion followed on film adaptations:

• Generally most people hate Kiera Knightly in Pride and Prejudice.
• Marcia said that younger women really like the 1995 Kiera Knightly version.
• Marcia is a great fan of the Pride and Prejudice version of Colin Firth and Emma Thompson.
• Marcia noted that it’s very interesting to watch Jane Austen movies now that she’s read the books.   

 
Arnie Perlstein asked, what did you learn that you were surprised?

• The section on money and capital is new to Future Learn which addressed Austen's finances, the harsh reality of the marriage market, attitudes toward money and class through the different characters in her novels, and currency conversion to see what different characters would be worth today.
• Education and women in the period was enlightening. Mary Wollstonecraft advocated that women are rational creatures and should be educated like men. Arnie said that Mary Wollstonecraft lived an unconventional life, lived independently and did what she wanted.
• We also discussed museum exhibits and how Jane Austen displays are curated--particularly the wonderful artifacts from the Jane Austen House Museum: her very small writing desk, her turquoise ring, and most personal of all, a cutting her hair! It was noted that the cutting of hair was a common tradition among families after a death.
• Marna Tisdel said that all databases are interesting with enlightening articles and we can find out who was buying Jane’s books and where.
• Sylvia Foster appreciated the many links to follow. 
• Marcia collected links to read later and made sure she read the course. For more information, see the handout on Recommended Reading. Fortunately, the course will be offered again 2-3 times a year at FutureLearn.com.
• Kim Higgins noted that the course forced us to go out of our comfort zone to look for things in the future.
• Arnie’s tip: Make all files digital. He printed out boxes of files for his study on Jane Austen which gathered dust. Now he has everything digitized which is easier to search and find.
• Marcia saved everything in the course and created a master file of it. However, when Marcia first took it, she reviewed the course without the comments and discussion because there were so many links in the discussions.

 
Thank you, Marcia Hamley for suggesting this topic and leading the discussion. What a fun way to explore Jane Austen!