#jane austen: genius

[bethanydelleman]

It's such a small moment, but the fact that Mrs. Norris tries to get Tom to play cards by suggesting they will up the ante for him, but only against Dr. Grant, is such a complex and horrible thing

“My dear Tom,” cried his aunt soon afterwards, “as you are not dancing, I dare say you will have no objection to join us in a rubber; shall you?” Then leaving her seat, and coming to him to enforce the proposal, added in a whisper, “We want to make a table for Mrs. Rushworth, you know. Your mother is quite anxious about it, but cannot very well spare time to sit down herself, because of her fringe. Now, you and I and Dr. Grant will just do; and though we play but half-crowns, you know, you may bet half-guineas with him.”

Firstly, Mrs. Norris must be aware that Tom has a gambling problem, she was around when Sir Thomas sold the Mansfield living. In order to flatter Mrs. Rushworth with a game, she is tempting Tom with his principle vice. In fact, this even proves she knows because she's using it against him.

Second, she constantly talks about how Sir Thomas is in financial peril, Fanny cannot have a horse! But she sees nothing wrong with Tom gambling a significant amount of money for her own ends, which proves a good deal of her frugality is self-serving or pointedly cruel.

Third, much like she offered Henry's carriage to get scratched up on the way to Sotherton, she offers Dr. Grant's money against Tom's but indicates that she will still play for a lower amount. While she wants to tempt Tom to play, she will not spend her own money.

Fourth (speculation), Mrs. Norris hates Dr. Grant and is probably asking Tom to play so that she has a better chance to beat him. We know Sir Thomas doesn't want his wife as a partner in whist.

Mansfield Park is so amazing because this tiny, seemingly insignificant moments reveal so much about each character!

[diana-daphne]

Best book ever written, nothing will ever be funnier than this, Jane Austen I love you more than anyone else in the world <3

[alasforher]

red, white & royal blue (2023) dir. matthew lópez / perfume genius (orig. elvis presley), ‘can’t help falling in love’ / william shakespeare, as you like it / casey mcquiston, red, white & royal blue / perfume genius (orig. elvis presley), ‘can’t help falling in love’ / pride & prejudice (2005) dir. joe wright / casey mcquiston, red, white & royal blue / red, white & royal blue (2023) dir. matthew lópez / pride & prejudice (2005) dir. joe wright

[pristina-nomine]

Tagged by @pasdetrois to list my 9 favorite books of 2023 or 9 books on my 2024 tbr list ✨ Thank you so much! Those up there are my favs from last year's.

Tagging: @marthanielsn @artemideaddams @mathilda-1819-1820 @girldante @solostinmysea @thepointlessmasterpiece

[thelonelybrilliance]

shoutout (derogatory) to the one critic Maria and I love to drag re: Jane Austen, who wrote a bunch of muddled, tortured reviews of her books but ALSO an "ode" in which he lavished her with unwilling praise and also begged the universe to provide a second Jane Austen to properly attack and critique her

[itspileofgoodthings]

writing is so embarrassing because it’s like “so here’s this self-insert for ME”

and it like. almost always is that. all the time.

[universoausteniano]

"Solte as rédeas da sua fantasia e entregue-se à sua imaginação, para os vôos mais arrojados".

- Jane Austen (Orgulho e Preconceito)

[ceaselesslyinlove]

once again very overwhelmed with how obvious it is that the heroine of emma, with any other author, really should be jane fairfax or even harriet smith, but miss austen was like “no 😌💅 this story shall be about the rich spoiled girl who only i like and despite her flaws, she deserves a happy ending too”

[metamehta]

You're telling me I spent all this time aspiring to be Elizabeth Bennet when I could have been aiming to be Mrs.Allen?

[solibrie]

never watch a movie. it will make your brain go crazy

[moss-flesh]

i will never not absolutely lose it when i hear/read the line

“if i loved you less, i might be able to talk about it more.”

JANE AUSTEN YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD

[bethanydelleman]

"How very differently we feel!—Not think they will do each other any good! This will certainly be the beginning of one of our quarrels about Emma, Mr. Knightley.” (Mrs. Weston, Ch 5)

“We think so very differently on this point, Mr. Knightley, that there can be no use in canvassing it. We shall only be making each other more angry." (Emma, Ch 8)

Jane Austen is brilliant. How similar are these two statements! How well the author shows how Emma has taken on some of Mrs. Weston's manner and style, which makes sense since Emma was raised by her.

Both of them basically say, "let's agree to disagree" which of course Mr. Knightley does not accept because he's certain he's right on both points (Emma and Harriet will be a damaging friendship and Emma influenced Harriet incorrectly).

Emma and Mrs. Weston, rightly or wrongly, stand up to Mr. Knightley. Yet, both women also attempt to smooth over the argument and make peace. They are both used to Knightley, this is how Mrs. Weston has taught Emma to deal with him.

[mosylufanfic]

Hi! I hope you don't mind me asking, but your posts about Jane Austen's works have really gotten me curious about them. I have three questions: (1) What was the first novel you read? (2) What is your top pairing of all the novels? (3) What book do you recommend to start with Austen's works?

Ooooo, Jane Austen, one of my first fandoms (after Star Wars). I'll try to answer your questions in order.

The first novel I read was Pride and Prejudice, and actually, I had to take three cracks at it before I managed. My first try was at the age of 14, because my grandma (seeing me read giant stacks of Regency romance novels) told me that P&P was basically the original, so I gave it a shot. But the complex language defeated me (although I did get a few laughs out of the snarkiest bits) and I tapped out around the time of the Netherfield visit. I tried again at 16, feeling that if I was going to be Well Read I should read this book. I bounced off it again, right around the same place. (Nothing about that particular moment in the text, it was just about as much as I could wade through before I gave up.) The third time was required reading over the summer before an AP Lit class, and I watched the 1995 P&P with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle first. (To all the 2005 stans screaming, guys, this was in 1998 and I was watching on a VCR. I'm old, yo.) So I got all the plot points down, then read the book. And then I got it, why this book has been beloved for 200 years. Every time I re-read it, some new facet or interpretation makes itself known and I reaffirm that Jane Austen is a goddamn genius.

My top pairing wavers between my two favorite books. Sometimes it's Darcy/Elizabeth, and sometimes it's Anne/Wentworth (from Persuasion). Which is funny because Lizzie and Anne are such different people. But I love them.

I don't know if recommend is the right term. But a lot of people do read P&P first because it's the most famous, and there are the most adaptations etc out there. I'm not a purist about reading the book first, because the language is complex and the world they move in is very alien to modern readers. Which book you try first depends on what calls to you.

[pristina-nomine]

Like Amelia in Lovers' Vows, Fanny is unmoved by the temptations of wealth, status and sexual conquest. When she is given the rare opportunity to express her feelings, she does not hold back, as is shown in her gentle, but spirited, defence of her right to her 'negative’:

I should have thought …. that every woman must have felt the possibility of a man's not being approved, not being loved by some one of her sex, at least, let him be ever so generally agreeable. Let him have all the perfections in the world, I think it ought not to be set down as certain, that a man must be acceptable to every woman he may happen to like himself…. In my situation, it would have been the extreme of vanity to be forming expectation on Mr Crawford… How then was I to be - to be in love with him the moment he said he was with me? How was I to have an attachment at his service, as soon as it was asked for?"' (MP, p. 353)

This speech is remarkable for its encapsulation of the paradoxes of courship conduct for women, particularly those of a low status. Fanny's ‘settled dislike' of Crawford is not enough for Sir Thomas, or indeed Edmund, because Crawford is perceived as a socially acceptable ‘catch'; yet, paradoxically, it is precisely Fanny's lowly social status which precludes her from forming any expectations of Henry in the first place. Furthermore, when she is condescended to be noticed by a man of means, a man whom she has no right to consider in the first place, she is immediately expected to switch on her feelings, 'as soon as it was asked for’. […] Fanny, of course, is not in Amelia’s position of choosing her own husband, but she nevertheless exercises her right to refusal, as do most of Jane Austen's heroines. […] Austen has Henry Tilney advocating ‘women's power of refusal' in Northanger Abbey, but in Pride and Prejudice she conveys the limitations of a woman's 'no' in Mr Collins's and Darcy's refusal to accept Elizabeth's refusal. […] In Mansfield Park, Henry's reluctance to accept Fanny's refusal is proof of his gross selfishness. Even when she is softened by his conduct at Portsmouth, she still hopes to be released from his attentions: 'might not it be fairly supposed, that he would not much longer persevere in a suit so distressing to her?' (MP, p. 414).

- Paula Byrne, The Genius of Jane Austen. Her Love of Theatre and Why She Is a Hit in Hollywood

[someinstant]

OP, my friend, you will never get over it. Never. And what a gift, right? To have this wry, perceptive voice from more than two centuries ago speaking to us about how it feels to be overlooked and belittled and misunderstood by the people who should love us best, how ridiculous and petty we can be to each other, how love takes work and patience and understanding and resolve, and how forgiveness and grace can be such small human acts and still feel miraculous.

So I just read Persuasion for the first time last weekend and oh my GOD I am fucking feral about it. The sharp asides! The social commentary on class and outer presentation versus inner character! The ABSOLUTE ANGSTY PERFECTION that is Anne/Frederick!!! I went through the entire Ao3 tag and watched the 1995 movie twice, and I STILL cannot get over it!

[fictionadventurer]

Maybe Jane Austen's real genius was that, unlike other authors at the time, she didn't have long sections where characters share their backstory. Or rather, when she did it, she set it up like a mystery so we'd want to know the backstory.

Instead of having a character be like, "Here's three chapters about my life," soon after showing up in the novel, she'd sprinkle little clues through the story that make us wonder, "What's Colonel Brandon's deal?" and then closer to the end of the story, Colonel Brandon would tell us what his deal was. We'd wonder "Why does Mr. Darcy do all those horrible things?" and then he'd give an explanation that includes a lot of backstory.

And these infodumps always come in response to significant moments of the story. She'd engage our minds and our emotions and then give us the infodump at a point when we care about the information it contains. Compared to some other authors (even some that came long after) it seems like a significant innovation.