The Realness of Jane Austen: Finding Jane in Small Moments
Focusing on the book:
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne
Presentation Leader: Malcolm Fredeking
by Vonnie Alto, Regional Coordinator & Karen Kinzey, Secretary

Our region met at the Hillsboro Public Library where we held a book sale, recapped the AGM, and determined our 2025 programs. Lifetime member Joann Graham served as our hostess.

Malcolm Fredeking, a retired high school English teacher and an independent scholar, presented on “The Realness of Jane Austen: Finding Jane in Small Moments” with a focus on the book, The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things by Paula Byrne. 

Malcolm was initially drawn to Jane Austen after viewing the 1980 production of Pride and Prejudice and realized he was mining a serious craftsman.

He synthesized his research by stating that Austen's realness is found in her letters revealing her wit, brilliance, and sharpness.  In her fiction, she focused on real heroines who made their own mistakes and learned from it.

Malcolm noted that Austen’s writings highlights the quiet, intimate moments of daily life and compared the scenes in her novels to a Vermeer painting. She wants to grab the moment which is why Austen is around today and why her characters fascinate us.

We don't know for sure how Austen wrote. Maybe her portable writing desk wasn't with her all the time. She may have preferred a table or a stand. It's interesting that her sister, Cassandra never said when and how Austen used the desk. We know that Jane took the portable writing desk with her when she traveled but who knows how often she used it as the desk was big and heavy.  Did she take it with her when she traveled? Did she actually use it? We don't really know what actually happened. We do know that Austen needed a quiet place like Steventon to write.

Malcolm referenced famous writers who were influenced by Austen’s realness (such as Virginia Woolf who was inspired by Austen to create a room of her own) and biographers who explored the real world of her life and writings.

However, not much really is known about Austen which leaves us all to speculate, who was she really? What is it about her life that we want to know?

Insightfully, Austen's world can be brought to life through small moments and objects.

The rediscovery of Jane Austen continues with biographers who explore her realness such as Carol Shields in Jane Austen (Penguin Lives edition) who noted that Jane gave us the real world and reinvented the structure of the modern novel. She made it new and clean.

Paula Byrne in The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things acknowledges the quiet, intimate moments of Jane as revealed in the vellum notebooks, her library subscriptions, and her portable writing desk which influenced Austen's writings, impacted her life, and are key to understanding her realness and evolution as a writer.

Although Malcolm disagreed with Bryne's statement that Austen required no teacher, he agreed with Byrne's observation that part of Austen's genius is her command of language. Language intrigued Austen as it does for all writers. We get a sense that she loved language, loved to play with words, even giggle and have fun in her letters to Cassandra.

Although not a deep book, Malcolm noted that the author enjoys examining objects which became a very personal read for Malcolm, especially the three chapters he addressed. Malcolm focused on Chapter 3: “The Vellum Notebooks,” Chapter 4: “The Subscription List,” and Chapter 16: “The Laptop Portable Writing Desk,” as these chapters resonates with his perspective as an educator.

Malcolm explored the influence of the vellum notebooks (Chapter 3) on Jane's evolving writing style which reveal Austen's unrestrained voice since they were not written for public consumption and often include sharp observations of various people's character and foibles.

What would Malcolm say to Austen if he could meet her? It's OK to have scenes with two male characters, something that is missing in her novels.

While most of the novels that Austen read were borrowed from a library, we don't know who all influenced her writing. We don't know everything she read and who affected her the most. We just don't know. In chapter 4 ("The Subscription List"), Malcolm observed that Byrne successfully examined which authors Austen was exposed to, but may have overestimated Frances Burney's influence and that of other female authors on Austen's writing as we can’t fully know all of Austen’s influences or who affected her the most. However, he praised Byrne's conclusions on Austen's development of a new type of female protagonist which changed the art form of the novel as a genre.

In Malcolm's discussion of Chapter 16 ("The Laptop Portable Writing Desk"), he emphasized the significance of Mr. Austen's purchase of a writing desk for his daughter which was an extravagant gift. The desk represented not only a substantial financial investment but also his strong encouragement of Jane's writing and her literary aspirations. However, Malcolm noted that Byrne did not fully explore how the desk "influenced" or "inspired" Austen's creativity and writing.

Malcolm notes that Jane's father could have discouraged her from writing but instead gave her the green light to write because writing is how kids learn. Therefore, the writing desk represents a green light from her father to go for it.

Austen wrote unrestrained. By age 10-11, Austen was seriously writing as evidenced by her Juvenilia. Malcolm noted that we see her as a thinker who had fun writing. By age 17, Austen  was writing Lady Susan, which is very sophisticated writing for a 17-19 year old girl.

Malcolm added that Jane understood the world around her in part from her upbringing as she was surrounded by 5 brothers and the many schoolboys that her father tutored who lived at the rectory as boarders. It gave her a wider sensibility. She heard the jokes and saw how others behaved so she was not shocked by anything which is why she's not surprised by the behavior of Wickham or Mr. Collins.

As a result, Austen's fictional world resonates as real because of Austen's experience with small ordinary moments and the objects she utilized.      

Thank you Malcolm for an intriguing presentation! Your insight raises questions in our minds leaving us to ponder Austen's realness--the small moments and objects that define her work and demonstrate her excellence as a writer. 

A permanent exhibit that showcases rare autos, many built in Cleveland with information about the models, mechanical specifics, and a a history of the car companies.

Stunning, elegant beauties!

A feast for the eyes!

"All Dolled Up - 200 Years of Dolls & Miniatures" surveyed a history of dolls “from the 1830s to present-day—including porcelain and rag dolls, Barbie dolls, and the American Girl dolls--and of course, fashion.

Captured on film are historic and vintage dolls  such as the Madame Alexandra doll and its spin off spin off of literature dolls such as the Louisa May Alcott's The Little Women Dolls.

Seemingly every aspect of dolls was portrayed in an array of doll vignettes.

This exhibit explored the psychology of how children experience dolls and the many ways that children connect with their dolls. How fascinating it is to ponder the relationship of a doll to a child: "what were dolls made from, how were they played with, and how real were they in the child's mind?"  

The exhibit noted that dolls stir the imagination and provide a confidant to children in which they confide their "childish trials."

Dolls are also treasured companions. They are loved, given names and birthdays, they're hugged, taken on travels and travel with other doll companions. They are also often pictured in portraits with children.

Author G. Stanley Hall and A. Caswell Ellis in their book, A Study of Dolls (1897), wrote that, "a doll can be taken anywhere and treated every way as a sure favorite."

Dolls have social lives and participate in doll parties complete with miniature tea sets. Dolls receive mail in the form of tiny letters created by the child who owns the doll.

Of course, dolls even lead secret lives.  When children and grown ups are out of the room, dolls come alive. There's many imaginative doll stories about this happening such as A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1905).   

There was also doll feeding included crying and wetting dolls, doll dishes and food made for dolls, or children using their imagination to create their own dishes from all sorts of items such as walnut shells for doll bowls.

Historical forms of transportation were shown, as dolls had their own transportation and rode in carriages led by toy horses

Doll houses and miniature rooms  and doll collecting is another aspect of dolls. Often children inherited a family of dolls. Frequently, dolls and dollhouses were passed down to the next generation often at Christmas.

Fashion dolls imitated the fashions of the era. They were primarily made to sell fashionable clothing and were purchased by the wealthy. They "wore detailed gowns and accessories that mirrored real clothing."

The historical aspect of dolls was depicted in other ways. The exhibit noted that most dolls of color were home made. African American children often held white dolls because of their availability and the pervasive prejudice that existed. When white children played with black dolls, it was the black dolls that served the doll families--play imitating life and oppression in historical eras. 

Then there's paper dolls which are more affordable and easier to make at home from "scraps of wallpaper, tissue paper, and other ephemera to reflect the latest fashions."

There's also doll scrapbooks and albums with clippings from newspapers, magazines, and catalogs depicting a variety of miniature rooms as a backdrop for playing with dolls. 

Toy shops sold wardrobes and doll accessories. Those who could afford it purchased ready made doll clothes and accessories or hand made their own from scraps of worn out dresses or from home sewn projects. Ditto for doll furnishings which were also handmade by children and their family members. However, magazines and books provided instructions for sewing doll furnishings such as mattresses, pillows, beddings, and quilts. 

Children learned how to sew by creating wardrobes and accessories for their dolls with or without a pattern. Catalog companies such as McCalls and Butterick sold doll clothing patterns. Some dolls were tucked into bed with a hand stitched doll sized quilt.

Storied dolls were also profiled as exemplified by the American Girl Dolls where they help tell stories of historical times past .

How fascinating to explore the history of dolls, their many uses, and and how they evolved!