Lost In Austen

I read my first Jane Austen novel in seventh grade.  It was Pride and Prejudice, of course.  Since seventh grade, I've read all of her books and have watched just about every movie adaptation I can find.  Truth be told, I love Jane Austen.  Some of my English professors wrote her off as a writer of pretty romances with happy endings, but others gave her the credit she deserved for simply being a wonderful writer.  While authors such as Frances Burney are rarely read nowadays, you can find several shelves of Jane Austen in every bookstore or library.  She is still read for a reason.  Her stories and characters are complex and her writing is some of the best to come out of the Romantic Era.   

My favorite thing about Jane Austen's writing is her characters.  She writes the most beautiful and individualized characters.  Even though they are all deeply flawed, you can't help but love them.   It is rare that one of her characters has no redeeming qualities -- even Mrs. Bennet is very heroic in her own way -- and her heroes and heroines are always far from perfect.  Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy are both prideful and prejudiced.  Anne Elliot allows herself to be swayed by other's opinions.   Fanny Price is quiet.  Emma is self absorbed.  And the rest all have issues entirely their own.  I love that we, as readers can find a heroine or hero who's faults we can commiserate with.  Unfortunately, I relate most with Fanny Price, the least favorite of Jane Austen's heroines.  Others may relate most to Elizabeth or Elinor or Emma.  There is just something about her characters that is so real and familiar.  Some characters we see ourselves in  and others remind us of friends and family.  That's why I love Jane Austen's writing so much.  Its very relatable even two hundred years later. 

I thought spending the month of August on Jane Austen and her work would be the perfect way for me to reboot my blog.   I'll have several essays on her books (Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice for sure) and at least one on the movie adaptations.  I just really want to share my regard for this wonderful author's work.