What more can be said about the impact and influence of Jane Austen?
In the world of English literature, the woman from Hampshire, England, who wrote just six novels in her brief and largely uneventful life at the dawn of the nineteenth century, must be considered one of the most significant writers of her time. However, as I noted in a post yesterday about the incredible cottage industry of Austen retellings, adaptations, derivatives, and cultural events, she is also one of the most significant writers of our time as well.
Her novels have had an outsize influence in the centuries since her death. Not only are the books themselves beloved — as sharply observed portraits of British society, revolutionary narrative projects and deliciously satisfying romances — but the stories she created have so permeated culture that people around the world care deeply about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, even if they’ve never actually read “Pride and Prejudice.”With her 250th birthday this year, the Austen Industrial Complex has kicked into high gear with festivals, parades, museum exhibits, concerts and all manner of merch, ranging from the classily apt to the flamboyantly absurd. The words “Jane mania” have been used; so has “exh-Aust-ion.”
How to capture this brief life, and the blazing impact that has spread across the globe in her wake? Without further ado: a mere sampling of the wealth, wonder and weirdness Austen has brought to our lives. After all, your semi-quincentennial doesn’t come around every day.
I have a few interesting personal connections to Jane. For one, one of my children is named after Austen, and I grew up in Alton, Illinois. What I didn't know until just a few years ago is that the Jane Austen House, which she wrote most of her novels in Alton, England. And, of course, as a long-time high school English teacher, Austen's Pride & Prejudice was a staple in my AP English curriculum. I used to introduce the 19th century novel of manners as one of the original romantic comedies.
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