#jane austen;

[crownmemes]

Jane Austen Sentences

(Sentences from Jane Austen. Adjust phrasing where needed)

"Every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters"

"There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends."

"Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way."

"Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion."

"It is very difficult for the prosperous to be humble."

"It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do."

"I have loved none but you."

"There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others."

"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal."

"There are as many forms of love as there are moments in time."

"I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way"

"I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature."

"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more."

"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."

"I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control."

"Business, you know, may bring you money, but friendship hardly ever does."

"How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!"

"Marriage is indeed a manoeuvring business."

"Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable."

"When pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure."

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."

"I have not the pleasure of understanding you."

"I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other."

"I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve."

"The distance is nothing when one has a motive."

"The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it."

"Nobody minds having what is too good for them."

"Without music, life would be a blank to me."

"It is always incomprehensible to a man that a woman should ever refuse an offer of marriage."

"My feelings will not be repressed."

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."

"My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation"

"Angry people are not always wise."

"There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well."

"Those who do not complain are never pitied."

"One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other."

"You hear nothing but truth from me."

"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love."

"One cannot have too large a party."

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from moony moonless sky’s ‘i am an observer, but not by choice.’

[text id: my fist has always been clenched around the handle of an invisible suitcase. / i am always ready to leave. / there is not a single room in this world where i belong.]

[mssarahmorgan]

in the age of remote work we should all be visiting friends like they did in jane austen times. is it raining? stay overnight, you'll catch a chill. coming for a visit? why not stay for a couple months, until the roads...get better?

[wedarkacademia]

[bethanydelleman]

Someone on Reddit keeps getting recommended the Jane Austen subreddit despite knowing nothing about Jane Austen, so they posted an Ask Me Anything. Best response so far:

Sorry JA, no longer a truth universally acknowledged.

[achillieus]

what a shame doctors don’t prescribe vacation to secluded seaside towns like they used to

[hikarry]

You know Aziraphale read this and took the deepest breath

[dostovs]

[unleashed-imagination]

There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.

— Jane Austen

[tossawary]

I saw this play a while back called "Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)", which was a comedic retelling of the events of P&P by five female servants. (Who all worked in the Bennet household, I believe? Cannot remember the exact setting at this point.)

It was very much in an "low-budget improv troupe" style (though it was not actually improv), so Mr. Bingley's exaggerated "love at first sight" meeting with Jane happened while he had his hand stuck in a Pringles can. A karaoke machine made multiple appearances. If you were looking for historical accuracy or a perfect examination of the social nuances, this was not at all the play to watch, but it was pretty amusing, and it was interesting to think about P&P from the perspective of servants who may have only heard about certain events through gossip. Or who might just be mocking certain figures because they don't like them very much. At one point at a party, a tipsy Lydia got her hands on one of the soldiers' guns and fired it at the ceiling while people screamed. It was VERY silly.

Because there were only five actresses, they were switching between roles as needed, putting jackets or colorful dresses over their plain white dresses. The female servant who played the dramatic Mrs. Bennet also played the stiff Mr. Darcy. Another of the female servants played both Bingley siblings (Charles and Caroline) and also Charlotte Lucas, I think? Another played Mary, Lydia, and Mr. Collins, and also Mrs. Gardiner, I believe. Another played Jane, Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Wickham, and Lady Catherine, and so on. The female servant who played Elizabeth played her most of the time. The quick changes and mannerism shifts were quite funny.

But my favorite part may have been that Mr. Bennet was played by a chair. It was a comfy chair with its back to the audience and a newspaper propped up so that someone might be sitting there reading it, and at one point one of the servants went over to the chair to light a pipe, so that smoke rose from behind the chair. Characters talked to the chair sometimes, but the chair never talked back.

So, at one point, Mrs. Bennet was yelling and moaning about how the family was ruined. I think that Lydia, whom the embarrassing and overbearing Mrs. Bennet had been actively encouraging to be silly earlier, had run off with Mr. Wickham here. And Mrs. Bennet cried out, "OH, MR. BENNET, DO SOMETHING!!!"

And everyone on stage looked towards the chair with its back turned, which was fairly obviously empty, and which of course couldn't do anything by itself, because it was a chair. Dead silence again.

And then Mrs. Bennet went back to wailing and crying, while her daughters (Jane, Lizzy) patted her awkwardly on the back. And then I think the another actress came in as a servant to announce someone's arrival or something, moving the comedic retelling along. And that's probably what I remember best out of the entire play: Mr. Bennet could be effectively played by an empty chair with its back turned. It was hilarious.

[luminouslumity]

I relate to this so much! I too occasionally find myself wondering what the original reactions of classic stories were like.

[pend4ri]

" - So what do you recommend to encourage affection...?

- Dancing.

Even if one's partner is barely tolerable."

:) 💙

[syphaa]

tb to this absolutely amazing review

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[bethanydelleman]

I'm really tired of the "woman sad about her arranged marriage" trope, especially if that woman is royalty.

I am sure that many women across time were sad about their arranged marriages, but I'm sure a lot of others were excited, ambivalent, or resigned. Again, especially if you were royalty! I am sure if you were born a princess, you were trained from birth that your whole purpose in life was to marry someone important to solidify the power of the person on the throne. And honestly, it's an important job, if it wasn't, they wouldn't have tried so hard to do it.

That woman isn't just marrying another king or prince, she's going to be an ambassador of her country. She's supposed to be there promoting good relations. She isn't just a woman being sold off, she has a job! Also, if she is marrying the reigning monarch (or the heir), she may well end up running the country if the king is off at war or he dies when the heir is really young. That happened a lot throughout history! (or maybe she marries the third son and helps him find his way to the throne. Good for her)

It just feels like a modern sentiment being projected back. In Romeo and Juliet, when Juliet's mother first brings up marrying her to Paris, Juliet's basically cool with it and says she'll try to like him. She would have known this was going to happen because that is what rich women do, they marry into another family so their two families can be buddies. What else would she even be expecting?

It wouldn't bother me so much except that it's all we see! Give me a story about a woman who is like, "Cool, I shall give it my all!" Or she's like rolling up her sleeves and planning how she's going to get the court on her side and rule France, power behind the throne style (these women are mostly portrayed as villains, but who is to say the king would do a better job?). And also, have a little faith in women's fathers? You think men in the past didn't occasionally consider the happiness of their daughters? Not even a little bit?