Reading Jane Austen
With Annie Lighthart
 
Perhaps we shouldn’t find Jane Austen’s novels as fascinating as we do:  people from another era sit quietly and talk. They politely drink tea. Characters take uneventful walks to neighboring towns. Yet the tensions, passions, and histories in that world of small gestures make the novels of Austen complex, astute, and, in a word, irresistible. This study group will look at four of Austen’s enduring novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion. We’ll consider the questions Austen’s work raises, especially her recurring and timely inquiry into whether the heart and mind stand a chance in a world dominated by status and money.
 
We’ll meet four Saturdays from 10:00 to 1:00:  September 10th, October 8th, November 12th, and December 10th. Participants are asked to read one novel per session and join in a relaxed and friendly discussion. Since Austen’s characters valued good conversation over tea or a meal, we will too:  please feel free to bring your lunch or pick up a cup of tea at the TaborSpace café. 
 
Whether you are new to Austen’s work or a long-time fan, a reader looking to immerse herself in another world or a writer hoping to gain new insights from a past master, this study group welcomes you.
 
The group will meet in the ArtSpace room at TaborSpace (5441 SE Belmont) where there is ample parking and a bus that stops right outside the front door. https://taborspace.org.
 
The fee is $60; scholarship are available. The group is limited to 15. To register, send an email to info@soapstone.org, and a check made out to Soapstone, 622 SE 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214.
 
Annie Lighthart is a writer, teacher, and the author of the poetry collection Iron String.  Her work has been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer’s Almanac and chosen by Naomi Shihab Nye to be placed in Ireland’s Galway University Hospitals as part of their Poems for Patience project.  She has taught at Boston College, with Portland’s Mountain Writers, and with community groups of all ages.

Below are the questions and answers from Nelson's trivia quiz, available to download in both PDF and Excel file formats. Enjoy!

The "Austen Family Revelry" reading group discussion, which took place on March 13, 2016, featured several themed activities, including the movie script scenario:

Margaret Harshbarger took up the challenge and has contributed her movie script proposal, "Sex and Violence on the High Seas:  The Story of Charles Austen, brother of JANE AUSTEN," to be shared on our region's website. Enjoy!

TO:    Krank M. Owt, Head of Studio, EU Productions
FROM:    Annie Ting Formoney (aka Margaret Harshbarger)
RE:    Treatment for a new cheap movie as requested, incorporating JANE AUSTEN
Working Title:    Sex and Violence on the High Seas:  The Story of Charles Austen, brother of JANE AUSTEN

The scene opens with our hero, Charles, on board a sailing ship (one of those old, multi-masted jobs), watching the swabbing and floggings performed by sweat encrusted, naked-torso’d mates.

As his gaze shifts to the sky, the music swells for a flashback to a happy childhood with his beloved sister JANE AUSTEN. Suddenly, he is brutally ripped from her bosom and sent to HM Navy following in the footsteps of his older brother Frank. We watch our young hero as he learns the ropes (literally) and the subtleties of swabbing and flogging.

Flashback fades back to Charles and a frenzy of activity as an enemy ship appears. (All ship scenes can use stock footage for background and battle action (Mutiny of the Bounty, Master and Commander, etc.). After a satisfying scene of brutality and mayhem, the enemy ship is boarded and eventually sunk.

Scene shifts to Charles receiving his naval prize money and hurrying to buy topaz crosses for his sisters Cassandra and JANE AUSTEN.

Scene shifts to the high seas with land in sight. It is Bermuda, the island of Charles’ great love Harriet Palmer, where her father is the Great High Poo-Bah in Charge. On the way to see Harriet, Charles is driven by plantations with lots of evil slave labor (whips and stuff).

He and Harriet, after a steamy love scene, pledge their undying passion. Charles rushes off to her father to ask for her hand in marriage, but Harriet’s father is deaf and thinks Charles wants the older and plainer sister, Frances, and so gives his permission, glad to get her off his hands. When he realizes the mistake, Charles (having been taught manly honour by his sister JANE AUSTEN) rushes from the Governor’s Mansion and departs for a brothel in town to drown his sorrows. (We could have a Voodoo zombie scene here at the brothel, which would really vamp up the sex and violence. This would add 30 minutes to the film’s length. I leave the decision to the producers.)

Scene changes to a violent storm at sea (more stock footage). Charles’s wife is dying in childbirth. (Chance here for crashing waves and thunder corresponding to his wife’s screams and moans.) After a very affecting burial at sea (ten-hankie scene), our hero, who is now captain of the ship gives the command to make for Bermuda. (Swell of romantic music.)

Scene shifts to Charles and Harriet sailing into the sunset, which fades into a scene of JANE AUSTEN reading a letter from Charles, sobbing with joy.

The end.


I feel this movie would do well worldwide, as it will have the maximum of sex and violence. Also, it has the JANE AUSTEN cache and audiences will watch anything British. Viewers, especially in America and Australia, will eat it up. Trust me.

Here are details for the March 13 meeting to the reading group, from our discussion leaders Nelson and Robin Bridwell.

This meeting will be an opportunity for all of us to become better acquainted with Jane Austen’s extended family. Please feel free to prepare yourself for as many of the following activities as you find appealing.
 
Destination: Golden Globes
 
The head of the studio has just called you to complain that they have totally exhausted every conceivable Jane Austen movie plot, and consequently need you to come up with a film script that centers upon another member of her extended family. Present a brief pitch for a new film about another member of her family that you feel could be a box office hit and a significant contender for motion picture awards. At the meeting, the group will vote on “Jannie” awards for the best drama, romance, and comedy.
 
What’s my line?
 
In this variation on the 1950s television quiz show, you can volunteer to play the part of a member of Jane’s extended family. Around the room, other members of the group will take turns asking you one yes/no question until someone has identified who you are.
 
An Austen Weekend
 
As everyone knows, amazing, surprising, and sometimes tragic things happen in bucolic English country estates, especially in Hampshire! As luck would have it, you find yourself invited to spend an idyllic weekend at such a place. Which Austen family member would you bring along with you, and why?
 
Trivia Quiz
 
In this activity, a series of facts will be stated about various members of Jane’s family. For each fact, everyone will be invited to identify which family member this fact applies to. The person who first identifies the correct family member for each fact will win one point. At the end, the person with the most points will win a nifty prize.

Here are the sources for the Bath presentation by Margaret Harshbarger for our January 10, 2016, reading group meeting and discussion:

1. Oxford English Dictionary
2. Pamphlet of #1 Royal Crescent Bath Museum
3. What Matters in Jane Austen by John Mullan
4. England’s Thousand Best Houses by Simon Jenkins
5. Austen Country by Tom Howard
6. The Touring Book of Britain
7. A Frivolous Distinction by Penelope Byrde
8. A Dance with Jane Austen by Susannah Fullerton
9. All Things Austen Vol. 1 by Kirstin Olsen
10. Jane Austen by Brian Wilks
11. Jane Austen’s Town and Country Style by Susan Watkins
12. Jane Austen’s Letters edited by Deirdre Le Faye

~ A woman especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can. ~
 
Dear Janeites,  
 
The tiny book Jane Austen Speaks to Women (Edith Lank, 2000) that inspired this month’s readings contains many quotations from the novels and letters of Jane Austen, sometimes advice as above, so Deb and I wondered what other “advice” books were in vogue during Austen’s time.

​What was Austen reading when she writes the above? What inspired the spirited reply of Elizabeth to Mr. Collins’ proposal: “Do not consider me now as an elegant female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature speaking the truth from her heart” (Chapter 19). Various commentators have pointed out the echo from Mary Wollstonecraft’s: A Vindication of the Rights of Women Chapter 5: “ Speak to them the language of truth and soberness, and away with the lullaby strains of condescending endearment! Let them be taught to respect themselves as rational creatures, and not led to have a passion for their own insipid persons” (emphasis added). Thus Deb and I thought it would be interesting to look at the Vindication (only pieces from Chapter Five and Ten you’ll be glad to hear) to find other resonances with Austen’s lines about women…. Then after reading Susan Ford’s insightful essay on Fordyce’s Sermons (see Lydia’s reaction to Mr. Collins choosing that edifying treatise… end of Chapter 24…), we asked ourselves:

**“What do these works and Austen speaking to women mean for men and women in the 21st century?” **

Attached are Chapters 5 and 10 from Wollstonecraft [scroll down to view or download in PDF format], and here is the link to Susan Allen’s essay: http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol34no1/ford.html, and then some prompts to aid in our discussion that we hope to arrange first in small groups then coming back to the large group… a system that has worked very well in the past. 

Some points to ponder (as much or as little depending on time of course).

1) Answer the question above. **

2) Within the small discussion group (we will divide up the large group as smoothly as possible), you will be asked for two quotations from Austen’s works or the letters to aid in the discussion focusing on categories such as Marriage. Money. Old Age. Courtship. Mothers… these categories might help focus the discussion. You won’t know the category assigned to your group until the very moment… just to keep things exciting!

Finally, read the 1950s so-called advice sheet (a fake?) and see how far men and women have come… or not! http://www.snopes.com/history/document/goodwife.asp. For fun, check back to Wollstonecraft’s last paragraph in Chapter 5 in response to Dr. Fordyce…
 
Deb and I look forward to the discussion! Sunday November 8.

Our November meeting will be held on Sunday, November 8, at 1:00 pm at the Hillsboro Main Library. Please R.S.V.P. to host Marva and let her know if you can bring a treat. Contact us if you need to get in touch with the host.

The reading group theme for November 8 will be "Jane Austen’s Comments to Women," and we will also be selecting themes for the 2016 reading group meetings.

At our September meeting, Pat Fulbright shared news that Mary Cammann, a longtime member of our regional chapter, donated back issues of Persuasions, JASNA's annual peer-reviewed journal, for members to enjoy. Some of the older issues look more like newsletters! 

So that all members can enjoy the archives, members are encouraged to share and borrow issues at regional meetings and events. So be on the lookout at the next meeting to borrow (or bring back?) a past copy of Persuasions -- and enjoy a trip down Jane Austen memory lane!

Deborah Eley referenced several sources during her presentation about "women's work" during Jane Austen's time, at last weekend's reading group discussion event. Below are the titles and links to the sources she used.