Imitation
Have you ever, gentle reader, found that, when amongst the company of a person or persons from the Southern Climes, you find yourself using "y'all" and "sugar" and wishing for some sweet tea? Or perhaps you have read lately about Ms Spears affectation of a British accent, no doubt occasioned by the presence of one from Great Britain so close to her. It is true, then, that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I find myself, after eight days of total immersion in all things Austen, to be thinking and feeling in her language. I desire to use the phrases "exceedingly vexed", "most disagreeable" and such, to have farthings and shillings in my pockets, to be torn as to whether to wear my sprigged or my dotted muslin, and to have my suitor carry me about the county in a barouche or curricle, not that I am even quite sure what those conveyances are. How sad that my husband has no desire to put on a waistcoat and dance with me in someone's parlor..... or that we cannot take long country walks, hither and yon, to admire the scenery and discuss what to do about the servants or our younger sibling's most headstrong behaviour.
In the past fortnight I have seen Persuasion three times (twice on TV, and once in a DVD rental), seen Northanger Abbey once (last night), and reread most of the novels. Last week I was most exceedingly unwell, and was forced to retire to the couch for two entire days during the week. There, combined with this most recent weekend, and today's holiday, I was able to find such time as to peruse Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion, and reread Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, in their entirety. I am utterly infused with Jane-ness.
And I find that my opinions on her works have altered from my youth. While still treasuring P and P and Persuasion, I confess that I enjoyed S and S much less than I had hoped, while being delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. I don't think I will even attempt Emma, as it reminds me most painfully of Gwynneth Paltrow ...
As I once took a class on Romanticism, I found that Northanger Abbey was quite a clever send up of those romantic novels such as The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho, and that it contains some quite witty writing, such as, in a scene between two matrons:
"Mrs Allen had no similar information to give, no similar triumphs to press on the unwilling and unbelieving ear of her friend, and was forced to sit and appear to listen to all these maternal effusions, consoling herself, however, with the discovery, which her keen eyes soon made, that the lace on Mrs Thorpe's pelisse was not half so handsome as that on her own".
And Henry Tilney is really quite witty and clever himself, and more of a real person than some of the more serious Austen heroes.
Furthermore, Mansfield Park used to be my least favorite of the novels, mainly due to the total insipidness of Fanny's character, but now I find that the rest of the novel is quite good, and has more realistic characters and and a more compelling plot.
The questions now, is what to do next? I can't really bring myself to re-reread the novels, but who else has her discerning wit and talent for drawing room conversation? Who else can finely describe a person in only a few sentences, or elicit sympathy for the lives of the barely rich who find themselves trapped by convention? I have read George Eliot, but she is less witty, I have read Charles Dickens, but he is less refined and less romantic. Jane Austen's greatest flaw was that she only wrote six novels....
And for the record, I think the recent television version of Persuasion is quite as good as the 1995 BBC version with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. The former has some odd direction, and plays most loosely with the novel. But the latter commits a far greater sin. All but the last scene are done most tastefully, with realistic crumbs on the table, beer for breakfast, and muddy skirt hems. But the last scene, after Anne and Wentworth are married, shows them sailing off on a ship, on another of his commissions. There is no ship in the book! Anne does not sail off on a ship!!!!! THERE IS NO SHIP! It is most shocking, and really, I was almost unable to breathe, upon seeing this flagrant disregard for the text. Why they would feel the need to tack that complete falsehood on at the end is completely beyond my powers to discern! Most disagreeable!
In the past fortnight I have seen Persuasion three times (twice on TV, and once in a DVD rental), seen Northanger Abbey once (last night), and reread most of the novels. Last week I was most exceedingly unwell, and was forced to retire to the couch for two entire days during the week. There, combined with this most recent weekend, and today's holiday, I was able to find such time as to peruse Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion, and reread Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, in their entirety. I am utterly infused with Jane-ness.
And I find that my opinions on her works have altered from my youth. While still treasuring P and P and Persuasion, I confess that I enjoyed S and S much less than I had hoped, while being delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. I don't think I will even attempt Emma, as it reminds me most painfully of Gwynneth Paltrow ...
As I once took a class on Romanticism, I found that Northanger Abbey was quite a clever send up of those romantic novels such as The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho, and that it contains some quite witty writing, such as, in a scene between two matrons:
"Mrs Allen had no similar information to give, no similar triumphs to press on the unwilling and unbelieving ear of her friend, and was forced to sit and appear to listen to all these maternal effusions, consoling herself, however, with the discovery, which her keen eyes soon made, that the lace on Mrs Thorpe's pelisse was not half so handsome as that on her own".
And Henry Tilney is really quite witty and clever himself, and more of a real person than some of the more serious Austen heroes.
Furthermore, Mansfield Park used to be my least favorite of the novels, mainly due to the total insipidness of Fanny's character, but now I find that the rest of the novel is quite good, and has more realistic characters and and a more compelling plot.
The questions now, is what to do next? I can't really bring myself to re-reread the novels, but who else has her discerning wit and talent for drawing room conversation? Who else can finely describe a person in only a few sentences, or elicit sympathy for the lives of the barely rich who find themselves trapped by convention? I have read George Eliot, but she is less witty, I have read Charles Dickens, but he is less refined and less romantic. Jane Austen's greatest flaw was that she only wrote six novels....
And for the record, I think the recent television version of Persuasion is quite as good as the 1995 BBC version with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. The former has some odd direction, and plays most loosely with the novel. But the latter commits a far greater sin. All but the last scene are done most tastefully, with realistic crumbs on the table, beer for breakfast, and muddy skirt hems. But the last scene, after Anne and Wentworth are married, shows them sailing off on a ship, on another of his commissions. There is no ship in the book! Anne does not sail off on a ship!!!!! THERE IS NO SHIP! It is most shocking, and really, I was almost unable to breathe, upon seeing this flagrant disregard for the text. Why they would feel the need to tack that complete falsehood on at the end is completely beyond my powers to discern! Most disagreeable!
posted by Shelly at 12:39 PM
3 Comments:
You read The Monk and Mysteries of Udolpho, too?
Try Emma. She's nothing like Gwyneth Paltrow. Although if you're worried, get a copy of the A&E version with Kate Beckinsale first.
Had I not known better, I might have thought that the overload of Jane to be the cause of your unwellness. Would most likely have done me in.
I read The Monk, only read about Mysteries of Udolpho.
The Kate Beckinsdale version of Emma is the one that PBS will play later this spring as part of the Jane Austen series.
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