Romeo/Juliet? Give me a story like Darcy/Lizzie.

I loved this exchange between Mr. Elliot and Anne so much because it pretty much expresses my exact thoughts when it comes to social interaction. I always value clever people in my life to discuss books, movies, music, philosophy; there is no better company in the world than a clever friend who can make you laugh and challenge your mind at the same time!

As I was working on this infographic, I found that I couldn’t think of anything that was totally a correct way to social climb. Everything is either totally unacceptable, or only acceptable if you do it in a certain way. While there are “do”s included in the image, they are only under a heading that is deemed “If you do it right.” I found that really interesting because it points out exactly how much of a sneaky affair attempting to improve one’s social standing was in Austen’s time.  

Ok, so I know this isn’t music from the time, or anything like that, but I love this song so much because I think it’s something we can all agree with and/or relate to. this girl is brilliant and this song makes me laugh so hard! 

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. 2nd ed. Ed. Patricia Meyer Spacks. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., (1816) 2013. Print. ---. Sense and Sensibility. Ed. Claudia L. Johnson. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., (1811) 2002. Print.

We have talked about Jane Austen’s interest in the every day and the common place in class, but I think this is the first time we have seen evidence of someone from Austen’s own time admiring her for this interest. Later in the chapter, Scott points out that “A friend of ours, whom the author never saw or heard of, was at once recognized by his own family as the original Mr. Bennet,” (Sir Walter Scott, quoted by Byrne, 302). We see one of Austen’s contemporaries recognizing the power of an author writing about what their readers will know and recognize. This is something that I think is still happening today, we all have people that we think “Oh, this person reminds me so much of Lydia!” or “Wow, you’re basically Emma, aren’t you?” I often think that my father is very much a Mr. Bennet in some of the things he does, though I know not everyone would consider that a good thing. But Austen’s interest in the common place is something that can span across centuries. We were asked in class why we thought Austen didn’t focus a lot on possessions or clothing; I think it is for this reason: possessions, clothing, housing, all of this will change over time. At one point, it was a mark of wealth that you possessed a piano, now, it is relatively simple to go out and buy one. But the one thing that will not change, no matter how much time passes, is the type of people we encounter in our lives. We will all inevitably know a Catherine de Bourgh, we have all dated a Darcy, every one has known a Wickham or Willoughby. It is the type of people that will never go out of style and that’s why Austen was so interested in them.

As an author and poet myself, I know the power of names for characters or titles for works. It is one of the things I struggle the most with when I am writing a piece because I don’t know how to choose really good names for characters. What really intimidates me when I try to think of names for characters are two types of authors: people like JRR Tolken, who creates breathtakingly exotic names that have a sense of fantasy and mystery about them; and people like Jane Austen, who evokes an entire history and political knowledge with just one name. Giving her character the name of Norris would undoubtedly signal to any of her educated readers the entire history that surrounded Robert Norris and suggest exactly how a reader should feel about the character. With just one name, Austen tells her readers so much about not only how they should feel about this character, but also hints at her own view on this political matter by portraying this Norris in such a villainous light. It’s amazing what Austen did with this name; this is something that I think contemporary readers would miss out on because we are not familiar with this history (at least, not in America). It’s too bad that we might miss out on this nod to Robert Norris and his role in the slave trade, it would enrich our reading and understanding of this novel so much and point out exactly how in tune to her political surroundings Austen was. It is the little things like this that prove Austen was so much more than merely a writer of romance.