Jane Austen (1775-1817) remained single all her life, while her female characters enjoyed romantic bliss, marriage and financial security; one of English Literature’s greatest ironies. Even if she would have had a happy marriage with a husband who was supportive of her writing, the possibility of a large family would have meant Austen would not have had the time to write. By not marrying, Austen allowed herself the schedule and space, unhindered by domestic duties or a sex life. She sacrificed financial security to retain the freedom to write and develop as a true artist. It is because of that choice that Austen is considered one of the greatest literary talents of all time.
This was an era when women were supposed to love, honor and obey their husbands, and the only way for most women, including Austen, to obtain financial security was to marry into it. She did not find a Mr. Darcy in real life, but because she lived as a virtuous Christian “spinster”, that was all it took to satisfy Victorian curiosity about her love life.
If she was gay, as some scholars suggest, Austen still could have enjoyed the financial security that marriage brought, while at the same time free to enjoy her same-sex attractions outside of the relationship. The reality is that any relations Jane did have with the same sex were either genuine friendship, or sisterly love, suggesting a sexual bond between Austen and her sister, Cassandra Austen a theory I first read about in 1995, the same year that Colin Firth‘s water-drenched Darcy was etched in my brain.
Is it odd that a strapping, masculine man such as myself would be such a fan of Jane Austen film adaptations? My first Jane Austen film was the MGM production of Pride And Prejudice (1940) starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson. I am simply mad for Ang Lee‘s film of Sense And Sensibility (1995), with a screenplay by star Emma Thompson, who won an Academy Award, and the BBC mini-series of Pride And Prejudice (1995) starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth; I am not certain that I love it as much as the 2005 version directed by Joe Wright starring Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen. There is also Mansfield Park (2005), Northhanger Abbey (2007) and Persuasion (2007) with Sally Hawkins, and Love & Friendship (2016) directed by Whit Stillman, starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny.
I wasn’t so big on the latest Emma (2020), despite having a female-centric team: direction by Autumn de Wilde, from a screenplay by Eleanor Catton. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), Johnny Flynn, Josh O’Connor (The Crown’s Prince Charles), and Bill Nighy. I think I may have had indigestion that night; I owe this movie a second look.
I will admit now to having never read any of her novels, relying on the films for Austen appreciation. I know chicks dig her, especially chicks who dig other chicks from their English Lit class.
Austen’s father was the Oxford-educated rector for an Anglican parish. The family was close, and the seven Austen children grew up in an environment that stressed learning and creative thinking. When Austen was young, she and her siblings were encouraged to read from their father’s extensive library. The children also wrote and acted in their own plays.
To acquire a more formal education, Austen and Cassandra were sent to boarding school where they both caught typhus, and nearly died. Austen’s formal education was cut short by financial constraints, and she returned home and lived with her family the rest of her life.
Fascinated by the stories she read; Austen began to write in bound notebooks during her adolescence. Love And Friendship (1790), written when she was 14 years old, is a parody of romantic fiction organized as a series of love letters. She unveiled her wit and dislike of sensibility, romantic hysteria, a perspective that would characterize much of her writing.
Austen spent her early adulthood helping run the family home, playing piano, attending church, and socializing with neighbors. She attended so many galas that she became an accomplished dancer. Many evenings, she would choose a novel from the shelf and read it aloud to her family, sometimes one of her own.
In 1801, Austen moved to Bath with her father, mother and sister. In 1805, her father died. The family was thrust into financial straits; the three women moved from place to place, between homes of various family members and rented flats. In 1809, they were able to settle down in Austen’s brother Edward Austen‘s cottage.
In her 30s, Austen started to publish her works anonymously.
In 1816, at 41, Austen started to become ill with Addison’s disease. She continued working, editing older works and starting new novels. She died in the summer of 1817.
Her first three novels brought critical acclaim and financial reward, yet it was not until after her death that her brother Henry Austen revealed to the public that she was the real author. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral; the epitaph by her brother James praises Austen’s personal qualities, but does not mention her achievements as a writer.
Austen made the news in 2007, when writer David Lassman submitted to several publishing houses a few of her manuscripts with slight revisions under a different name, and they were all routinely rejected. He chronicled the experience in an article titled Rejecting Jane, a fitting tribute to a writer who is appreciated for her wit.
The terrific Fire Island (2022), directed by Andrew Ahn, and written by and starring Joel Kim Booster, along with co-stars Bowen Yang and Margaret Cho, is pretty much lifted page by page from Austen’s Pride And Prejudice.
