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A great article that defines the Regency Period of Jane Austen’s time and explains what was going on in English politics and nobility while she was writing. 

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It would have been interesting to watch before reading the books. You don’t really think about words like this because they make sense in context. 

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Country Dance Medley (32 bars) Miss Moore's Rant, Revenge, and Earl Breadalbain’s Reel (7:28) “Scottish tunes were popular in the Regency ballroom. The orchestra at the elite Almack’s Assembly Rooms in London was from Edinburgh, conducted by Neil Gow, grandson of the celebrated Scottish violinist and composer of the same name. Revenge is still popular as an English country dance tune.” (Willcox, 1793; Perkins MS, 1790; Wilson, 1816) (retrieved from: http://www.bfv.com/regency/)

It is interesting to think about what a dance to this song would have looked like since we only practiced one dance this year. It seems pretty slow, so I imagine that there were ample opportunities for flirting between men and women! 

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Another sister-in-law who died in childbed was Fanny Palmer. Jane liked this delicate-featured pretty young blonde, who was just seventeen when she married brother Charles in Bermuda. She drew on her sister-in-law's experience as a naval wife when she created the character of Mrs. Croft in Persuasion.

The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things (Paula Byrne, 99)

I really like the idea of Mrs. Croft being inspired by one of Austen’s sister-in-laws. When I read the part about Fanny’s unexpected death, it made me sad for Austen. But I also wonder if Austen may have made Mrs. Croft such a wonderful and happy character to make it so Fanny could live on through her literature. Perhaps it was as if Austen wrote the way things should have been for Fanny.

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Anne recollected with pleasure the next morning her promise of going to Mrs. Smith; meaning that it should engage her from home at the time when Mr. Elliot would be most likely to call; for to avoid Mr. Elliot was almost a first object.

Persuasion, Jane Austen (Norton Critical Edition 135). 

I always gravitate towards quotes like these because I feel like they speak to me on a very contemporary level. Austen is writing this novel in the 19th century and yet she is describing something that I know many girls do now in 2016. It is that unfortunate awkwardness where you know a man has romantic feelings for you and for whatever reason, you do not reciprocate those feelings. For Anne it is because she has “a Captain Wentworth”. I think it is funny that at this point she knows she does not want to marry him, but at the same time she wants to avoid actually confronting the issue. How very much like women of today! 

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I GOT EMMA WOODHOUSE (not sure if I should be happy about that though)

Here’s what buzzfeed says: You give great advice, even if you don’t always follow it yourself. You’re talented, confident and self-assured, but you can admit when you’re wrong. You’re a bit of a homebody who loves relaxing with family and friends.I GOT EMMA WOODHOUSE (not sure if I should be happy about that tho)

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I’m not sure if this is the same thing Prof. Rehn was talking about in class, but it’s basically an article about Austen’s biggest fans dressing up and meeting up! It seems pretty interesting. 

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LOL “A woman who hates you is playing the pianoforte” and “You are in a garden, and you are astonished”.

Do you think this counts as sort of an inforgraphic???

Check out this Jane Austen bingo card I found on twitter! My favorites include: “A charming man attempts to flirt with you. This is terrible,” and “A woman who is not your mother treats you like her own daughter. Your actual mother is dead or ridiculous.”

https://twitter.com/FionaWilson_/status/724634033586638850

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This movie looks interesting. As I haven’t read the book, I have no idea what it’s about. I’ll have to add this to my list of summer movies to watch! 

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Sir Walter thought much of Mrs. Wallis; she was said to be an excessively pretty woman, beautiful. 'He longed to see her. He hoped she might make some amends for the many very plain faces he was continually passing in the streets. The worst part of Bath was, the number of its plain women. He did not mean to say that there were no pretty women, but the number of plain was all out of proportion. he had frequently observed, as he walked, that one handsome face could be followed by thirty, or five and thirty frights'

Persuasion, Jane Austen (Norton Critical Edition 99-100)

The epitome of Sir Walter’s vanity! I also must add that Sir Walter, being in at least his mid 50s, was probably not so good looking himself. I do not mean to say that people in their 50s cannot be good looking, but I doubt he is as handsome as he thinks he is! I also think it’s humorous that he refers to unattractive ladies as “frights”. As if these woman are so hideous that it scares him. Looks are obviously the most important thing to this man. It sort of makes you love to hate him in a way. He’s a funny character, but when you really think about a quote like this it’s pretty screwed up that he actually thinks this way about women. 

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So Proud :’)

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Anne could not immediately fall into a quotation again... She roused herself to say, as they struck into another path, 'Is not this one of the ways to Winthrop?' But nobody heard, or, at least, nobody answered her.

Persuasion, Jane Austen (Norton Critical Edition, 61). 

Dear lord, Anne is infuriating sometimes! AND HER FRIENDS! She never has the courage to talk and when she does, no one actually listens to her. It’s not as if Anne is an idiot, so I don’t understand why no one ever pays attention to her. I also don’t understand why she is always so quiet. I comprehend that Austen does it, so that we observe the world of the novel through Anne’s consciousness, but it bothers me that she doesn’t speak more when she obviously has some good things to say. 

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I loved how this movie broke the fourth wall!  I think it adds an extra element to the story, especially at the end. It is definitely more humorous with this film technique included. 

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These are so pretty and not even the oldest editions! I can’t even imagine how beautiful an original copy would look like in the custom binding like what we saw in the library at the beginning of the year. 

Jane Austen’s Novels 

Illustrated by Hugh Thomson & C E Brock with an introduction by Austin Dobson London Macmillan and Co Limited 1900 - 1905

An attractive period binding of a classic illustrated edition in the publishers salmon coloured cloth with swirling art nouveau design covers.

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They had no conversation together, no intercourse but what the commonest civility required. Once so much to each other! No nothing!

Persuasion, Jane Austen (Norton Critical Edition 46). 

I chose this quote from Persuasion because I believe that it is a good example of FID in the novel. Here we are given a piece of the narration, but told through Anne’s voice. I believe that Austen does this very frequently in order to shape a story that is filtered through the thoughts, emotions, and reactions of her protagonist. We definitely get a sense of how upset Anne is about the loss of her relationship with Wentworth through this use of FID. 

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Question: would this have been considered an average church or a really nice church? To me it seems gorgeous, but knowing that Austen was not that wealthy it makes me think that her family might not have been able to afford an extravagant resting place. I’m curious...

England’s Winchester Cathedral dates back to 1093 and is the longest gothic cathedral in Europe. It’s also the final resting place of author Jane Austen. The ancient crypt is permanently flooded with water, and a modern sculpture by Antony Gormley now stands reflecting in the center. 

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I chose this particular passage from Emma specifically because I found it quite humorous even as a contemporary reader. The meaning of the passage is, in my opinion, obvious; the narrator is basically saying that the only people worth talking about are those who are getting married or those who are dead. The interesting part of rewriting this was that it was easy for me to rewrite Austen in 140 characters or less. It was much more difficult to figure out how to consolidate the original quote to fit in the restriction AND include the #whittierthanausten. Additionally, choosing this quote illuminated (for me) the way that Austen is able to state things like this in a way that is very manner-of-fact; it is a clear assumption that only dead people or married people matter. The narrator seems unaware that what is stated is actually extremely outlandish. Austen is able to do this through her ability to slip humorous statements into her novels that are simultaneously funny and a critique of her society.

My favorite quotes and the ones that I retweeted were all my favorites because of the “tweeters” ability to rewrite Austen in a very contemporary way. I thought the most clever tweets were the ones that sounded like tweets that my peers would write today. I think that a lot of Emma has to do with critiquing the higher classes of Austen’s society and this is done through the exaggeration of things Emma and her friends do. For example the quote  "Oh! I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other;" translated into  "Oh hell no! you'll treat me right, or you won't treat me at all." by Amanda Blazey shows how utterly ridiculous the people are in their expectations and expressions. The translation only emphasizes this.