Once upon a “Bad Tuesday”

The following is Mariana’s companion article for the marvellous calendar that she had made earlier and I’ve posted here. Thank you so much, Mariana!

-xxx-

This is something I’ve started a while ago after reading Ellen Moody’s calendars. Like her I was trying to find patterns in Jane’s books, just that I was looking for them hoping to make the connection with Tom Lefroy –the dates and events that matched those from Jane’s surviving letters written in the years she met and ‘flirt’ with her “Irish friend”.

As per one of her articles, “A Startling Pattern: Bad Tuesday”, Tuesday seems to be “repeatedly a pivotal day in Austen's novels, a day on which some embarrassing or mortifying incident or series of incidents occurs (at a ball, a change of home) which sets off an important change in the plot.”

In P&P, the last ball at Netherfield during which Darcy becomes aware that everyone is saying Bingley will marry Jane and leads him to separate them, occurs on a Tuesday. There is a very similar event in S&S: the first traumatic day which is specifically named as Tuesday is the day when Marianne and her family expected Willoughby to make her an offer, but instead he comes to tell he’s been sent away to London by his reach aunt. Another book in which Jane chose to send away the gentleman on a Tuesday is Emma. Frank leaves Highbury on Shrove Tuesday but not before trying to confess to Emma his love for Jane and their secret engagement.

After reading Jane’s letters ‘between the lines’ and with the help of BJF JA/TL Timeline article, here’s my special calendar with all those pivotal Tuesdays I’ve found in her surviving letters.

In Jane’s first 2 surviving letters, one day gets mentioned repeatedly which happens to be a Tuesday: January 19th 1796, and I believe this was the day Tom Lefroy returned to London, after their last ball at Ashe, during which Jane was also expecting an “offer” (one reason to believe that Jane was talking about an offer in marriage is her statement: “I mean to confine myself in future to Mr. Tom Lefroy” and that someone drew Tom’s picture for her):

1. On Sunday January 10 1796, Jane added few more lines to her 1st surviving letter which she started the day before. She talks about her cousins, the Coopers, but I believe this was more a sing of her disappointment in not having her sister home before Tom’s departure, and so not able to meet her “Irish friend”: “By not returning till the 19th you will exactly contrive to miss seeing the Coopers, which I suppose it is your wish to do.”

2. At the beginning of her 2nd surviving letter (January 14-16, 1796) Jane shows again disappointment in not having Cassandra coming home before Tom’s departure. She’s even telling her sister how little she cares about the ball that will be held when Tom is gone (I assume this one was on Friday like all previous balls): “I do not at all expect to see you on Tuesday, since matters have fallen out so unpleasantly; and if you are not able to return till after that day, it will hardly be possible for us to send for you before Saturday [January 23], though for my own part I care so little about the ball [January 22] that it would be no sacrifice to me to give it up for the sake of seeing you two days earlier.”


Another Tuesday I’ve discovered in her 1st surviving letter is the day she visited Mrs Lefroy at Ashe: January 5th, 1796.: “…he [Tom] is ashamed of coming to Steventon, and ran away when we called on Mrs. Lefroy a few days ago.” Most likely the visit took place after she sent her missing letter (January 2-4, 1796) and that’s the reason I think it was on Tuesday. By saying “few days ago” on Saturday morning, it means that more than 2 days passed since this visit.

This is matching again a Tuesday in P&P – the day when Miss Bingley writes to Jane inviting her for dinner at Netherfield Park. Probably the ball at Ashe has been confirmed, or announced during this visit (same as in P&P), after Jane sent her missing letter, and that’s the reason to have it communicated to Cassandra only on January 9th: “I can expose myself, however, only once more, because he leaves the country soon after next Friday [another reason to believe Tom’s departure probably took place onTuesday19th and explains Jane’s hopes to have her sister returning home till this date] , on which day we are to have a dance at Ashe after all.”


One more important Tuesday I’ve ‘picked’ from Jane’s letters is the day she spent in Cork Street –London, August (23) 1796, on the same street if not the same house, where Tom’s great-uncle Langlois lived. Although it can not be confirmed, I still believe this short letter and the missing one (25-29 August, 1796) sent from Rowling-Kent are related to Tom Lefroy. In the first letter we have from Kent, Jane apologizes for the length of her previous one “I am sorry that you found such a conciseness in the strains of my first letter” and promises to make amends for it when they will meet “by some elaborate details, which I shall shortly begin composing”. Jane sent 3 more letters to her sister before returning home, but none of them contained those secret details that I believe were referring to Tom Lefroy and her short visit in Cork Street. Most likely they’ve been communicated in person, as Jane mentioned, when she met Cassandra – an indication these details were not safe to be sent in a letter.

There are similar events in P&P and S&S: Jane Bennet is encouraged by her sister to go to London hoping she’ll meet Mr Bingley again, but instead she’ll send letters (the first one very short) filled with “elaborate details” about Miss Bingley’s plan to have her brother married to Georgiana Darcy: “an event which will secure the happiness of so many”. In S&S, the day Willoughby leaves his card, which Marianne sees when they come in form the morning's drive, it’s mentioned again to be a Tuesday -a week after their arrival in London. Also, the central traumatic moment wherein Willoughby humiliates Marianne at the ball is dated, as per Ellen’s calendar, on Tuesday January 16, 1798.


The last pivotal date for Jane and Tom’s story seems to be again a day when he returned to London after visiting Ashe, in November 1798. Most likely Tom’s departure was related to his brother’s “imprudent marriage” (November 5th, 1798 -reference JA/TL timeline) and probably it took place the day after the news reached them, on Tuesday 6th or Tuesday 13th –the day before Mrs Lefroy’s visit to Steventon (Wednesday November 14th).

This is again only an assumption but it just happens to be a very good match of a pivotal date in S&S: Tuesday November 7th, 1797 (as per Ellen Moody’s calendar) is the day when Willoughby has been sent away to London by his reach aunt. Between 6 and 7 November, Mrs. Smith had discovered Willoughby's affair with Miss Williams and demanded Willoughby marry her as price of her forbearance.


…and the link for a ‘matching video’ on YT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cYTRTOaW3k&feature=channel

All pictures belong to Mariana Gheorghe

Jane Austen Quote of the Week – Week 62

My apologies for the belated quote this week, but I finally managed to pull something from Jane Austen’s first written novel. Northanger Abbey, Chapter X.

It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire; how little it is biased by the texture of their muslin, and how unsusceptible of peculiar tenderness towards the spotted, the sprigged, the mull or the jackonet. Woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone. No man will admire her the more, no woman will like her the better for it. Neatness and fashion are enough for the former, and a something of shabbiness or impropriety will be most endearing to the latter.

I am most impressed by the quote in bold. Woman is fine for her own satisfaction alone. Why, is it not so true? We often unconsciously or consciously compare ourselves with other women, or with what a person of opposite gender that we admire would think of us. But is it not amazing to be happy, just happy and accepts ourselves the way ourselves are? Accepting myself the way I am, with flaws and blemishes? For each and everyone of us is unique in our own ways?

Oh dear oh dear. Seemingly, I have found my new favourite quote. Thank you so much, Jane!

Pic: Catherine Morland, from Mollands.net (submitted by Laurel Ann)

Mariana's amazing calendar!

Our dearest Mariana gave a belated but very beautiful and much appreciated birthday gift for Becoming Jane Fansite. A collection of Jane Austen & Tom Lefroy calendar, tailored-suit for December 1795 until November 1798. Very handsome indeed and deserves to be printed out and framed to admire. So thank you so much Mariana, and hope all of you enjoy them as much as I do! All pictures belong to Mariana Gheorghe.

Christmas time December 1795


1 January 1796

2 January 1796

5 January 1796
8 January 1796
9 January 1796
16 January 1796

3 August 1796

October 1796

17 November 1798

Jane Austen Quote Week 61

Funny that we’re into Sanditon since last week, for I’d pick another Sanditon theme a month ago just for preparation. Well, Linda dearest, great mind and all…

Anyway, Sanditon quote this week is an inspiration of healthy attitude towards our own health. Or rather, human’s occasional unhealthy attitude towards health as described here, from Sanditon Chapter 10:

‘Disorders and recoveries so very much out of the common way, seemed more like the amusement of eager minds in want of employment than of actual afflictions and relief. The Parkers were no doubt a family of imagination and quick feelings – and while the eldest brother found vent for his superfluity of sensation as a projector, the sisters were perhaps driven to dissipate theirs in the invention of odd complaints.’

The Parker sisters should really talk to Mrs. Bennet, for she also loved to complain about her health in order to gain other’s compassion (or perhaps due to lack of conversational themes). And of course Jane Austen despised such a habit. Why, she was very ill at the end of her life, but she still maintained a high spirit and even wrote some poems a few days before her death. What a woman!

But of course the bottom-line is that we should maintain our health, our prime capital the best we can. And if we unfortunately are presented with illness, we must seek beyond the sickness to see what caused it and what changes we can make in our lives to alleviate it. We are so fortunate to live in the 21st century with advance medical knowledge; one would wonder why there are souls who still take pleasure in demanding attentions from others by exaggerating their illness, instead of taking self-command and responsibility to deal with it.

I hope I’m not too harsh, and that dear friends here do not misinterpret my words as being cruel or so. I certainly do not mean to offend anyone who is currently ill and unable to perform as usual. I used to be ill myself, and I realised the power and importance of self-commitment to recover and stay healthy ever since. Blessings for you all.

Pic: Florence Nightingale, the Western epitome of ground-breaking medical woman. I wish Jane Austen would have known her (or did Florence read Jane’s novels?). Picture from Wikipedia.

Jane Austen Quote - Week 60 by Linda

From Sanditon, Chapter 8 in the Penguin Classics:

The two ladies continued walking together till rejoined by the others, who, as they issued from the library, were followed by a young Whitby running off with five volumes under his arm to Sir Edward’s gig - and Sir Edward, approaching Charlotte, said, "You may perceive what has been our occupation. My sister wanted my counsel in the selection of some books. We have many leisure hours and read a great deal. I am no indiscriminate novel reader. The mere trash of the common circulating library, I hold in the highest contempt. You will never hear me advocating those puerile emanations which detail nothing but discordant principles incapable of amalgamation, or those vapid tissues of ordinary occurrences from which no useful deductions can be drawn. In vain may we put them into a literary alembic; we distil nothing which can add to science. You understand me, I am sure?"

"I am not quite certain that I do. But if you will describe the sort of novels which you do approve, I dare say it will give me a clearer idea."

“Most willingly, fair questioner. The novels which I approve are such as display human nature with grandeur; such as show her in the sublimities of intense feeling; such as exhibit the progress of strong passion from the first germ of incipient susceptibility to the utmost energies of reason half-dethroned; where we see the strong spark of woman’s captivations elicit such fire in the soul of man as leads him – (though at the risk of some aberration from the strict line of primitive obligations) - to hazard all, dare all, achieve all, to obtain her. Such are the works which I peruse with delight and, I hope I may say, with amelioration. They hold forth the most splendid portraitures of high conceptions, unbounded views, illimitable ardour, indomptible decision. And even when the event is mainly anti-prosperous to the high-toned machinations of the prime character -- the potent, pervading hero of the story -- it leaves us full of generous emotions for him; our hearts are paralyzed. T’were pseudo-philosophy to assert that we do not feel more enwrapped by the brilliancy of his career than by the tranquil and morbid virtues of any opposing character. Our approbation of the latter is but eleemosynary. These are the novels which enlarge the primitive capabilities of the heart; and it cannot impugn the sense or be any dereliction of the character of the most anti-puerile man, to be conversant with.”

"If I understand you aright," said Charlotte, "our taste in novels is not at all the same."

END OF QUOTE

This is a very long quote, but I could not bear to leave anything out in order to shorten it. The paragraphs following my quote are also recommended for more enlightenment on the subject of ‘novels’. I used the Penguin Classic edition, 1974 with an introduction by Margaret Drabble that had Lady Susan and The Watsons also. I had marked up my copy and there were markings such as “T.L.?” where I had wondered if she were writing about you-know-who. I will try to get to that quote later on. Sanditon is the last book Jane wrote and therefore I can see it is highly charged with meanings about several subjects. It bears a lot more looking into. I get the sense that there are more treasures to be found in it.

My main point/question is: how does the opinion of novels, quoted above, reflect her own opinions/writings?

Linda the Librarian

Pic: 'Girl Reading At a Sunlit Window' by Carl Vilhelm Holsoe, from Booksdofurnisharoom

Becoming Jane piano music sheet

Michelle, you are to love this information. Thanks to our new friend Janeen; she informed me of the existence of a wonderful piano book containing piano music scores of many period drama musics, including Becoming Jane's! The Piano Solos Film Music: The Costume Drama Collection. BJ music scores in this adoring music book are An Adoring Heart, First Impression, Lady Gresham, Runaways, and Selbourne Wood.

But not only that, dear friends, for the book also has piano sheet for Dangerous Liaison, The Portrait of a Lady, A Passage to India, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Sense and Sensibility, and Little Women, to name some.

It is a bit dear, GBP 14.95, and only available in themusicroom.com in UK (no, not even in Music Room Australia!), so perhaps Rachel is the lucky one here to have a low shipping price :-D

Janeen has offered to write a review on this music book once she receives hers; so I'm very eager to post her review here for us all to read!

Pic: Front cover to "The Piano Solos Film Music: The Costume Drama Collection", from themusicroom.com

Thank you Mariana! BJF toddler two years old!

If I can hide myself like an ostrich hiding its head underground, I would. For I forgot (EEPS!) that last May 24 was our anniversary! Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen... Becoming Jane Fansite is two years old already!

And the one dearest friend who reminded me (us) is none other than our Mariana! She even sent this beautiful Youtube video by Needingyourvoice as a belated birthday present.



Beautiful, beautiful video indeed! No wonder it won first place in AmeliaKate09's Valentines Day Contest and first place in Volz545's Jane Austen Character/Couple contest. I have no idea how I missed that! Oh wait... I was in the middle of the sea, doing field work. No wonder :-D

Quote of the Week- Week 59

My chosen quote for this week is from Pride and Prejudice. I think that the character of Miss Caroline Bingley is fascinating and is often forgotten in the midst of all the other fantastic Austen characters. She is a brilliant example of Jane's ability to observe people and their flawed personalities. Miss Bingley is so shallow and so vindictive; a great character to keep the audience entertained.

She has always felt alot (in the only way she knows) for Mr Darcy. In chapter 11, she is fully aware how Darcy has started to devote his attention to Elizabeth and she hates it. To put the scene in context, Elizabeth has just walked from her home to be with her sister who has taken ill in the Darcy/Bingley company. Miss Bingley dislikes reading but in an attempt to impress Mr Darcy, she is reading the second volume of the novel in which he is currently reading. In an exasperated desperation for attention, she exclaims:

"How pleasant it is to spend an evening in this way! I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!—When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

Elizabeth is frank and openly speaks her mind to Darcy, whereas Caroline is very reserved in an effort to please and endear him. Jane Bennet may have been fooled by Carolines apparent friendliness but Elizabeth always saw through her mask. Caroline Bingley is in complete contrast to Elizabeth Bennets genuine, intelligent persona and this is what makes the chemistry between these characters so intriguing.

Pic 1: Elizabeth and Caroline Bingley
Pic 2: Elizabeth and Darcy

Quote of the Week 58

I am luckily in the process of studying Persuasion ... how can it be work?! I am also mid-way through preparations for an upcoming Shakespeare exam, so I had to seize on this weeks' quote. It's from Persuasion, chapter 11. Anne is in Lyme, and is entertaining Benwick:


For, though shy, he did not seem reserved; it had rather the appearance of feelings glad to burst their usual restraints; and having talked of poetry, the richness of the present age, and gone through a brief comparison of opinion as to the first-rate poets, trying to ascertain whether Marmion or The Lady of the Lake were to be preferred, and how ranked the Giaour and The Bride of Abydos; and moreover, how the Giaour was to be pronounced, he showed himself so intimately acquainted with all the tenderest songs of the one poet, and all the impassioned descriptions of hopeless agony of the other; he repeated, with such tremulous feeling, the various lines which imaged a broken heart, or a mind destroyed by wretchedness, and looked so entirely as if he meant to be understood, that she ventured to hope he did not always read only poetry, and to say, that she thought it was the misfortune of poetry to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoyed it completely; and that the strong feelings which alone could estimate it truly were the very feelings which ought to taste it but sparingly.


This is a very different type of quote for me, and I love it ... Anne is a magnificently constructed character - I wouldn't mind having her for a friend! (In the flesh, anyway.) I believe the power of poetry lies in its ability to say so much, in so few words. I love Anne's thoughts, regarding poetry and Benwick: all good things in moderation. The dangers of too much inward literary excess??

One of my greatest pleasures in life is finding my soul in anothers' written words. Sometimes it's poetry, sometimes a play, a diary, a novel. It would be ideal for this communion through words to have an outward equivalent, but sometimes life doesn't provide for that. At any rate, I love Anne's thoughts, and I'm going to continue dwelling on them. Brilliant novel.


Pic: Anne Elliot from: muohio

Jane Austen Quote – Week 57

Jane Austen has a very unique advice for family planning! But of course; knowing well that excessive number of children did not bode well with family’s prosperity, particularly if they were poor. Well, or at least she was clever enough to suggest a simple method of family planning, in a dark time where healthy birth control was unheard of. This is from a letter where she was talking about a Mrs. Deedes giving birth to another child:

I would recommend to her and Mr D. the simple regimen of separate rooms.

LOL! I say: laugh out loud! What a witty woman! Makes me wonder why they never thought of having a decent family planning program in ye olde days. Perhaps due to lack of hygienic technology...

By the way, the quote was taken from Jane’s letter to Fanny Knight, 20-21 February 1817, a few months before Jane’s own death. Obviously, she still retained her sense of humour. Oh, and I snatched the quote from Dominique Enright’s very interesting compilation of ‘The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen’, p. 114. Amazing read, truly.

Pic: four cute children are already rather unmanageable. How about 8 or 10? Yeah, these are Victorian children, not Georgian... From this site

Emma- open-air theatrical production

My most recent post was about an event in the uk and now I have another for you Brit fans out there....or others who dont mind travelling a considerable distance!

In various open-air locations around the uk, there is to be a theatrical version of Emma this summer.

For more details, please visit the heartbreak productions site

The tour begins on July 1st in Leamington Spa and ends on August 29th at the national trust site, Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire.

I am going to look into getting tickets this weekend as some of the venues are beautiful in their own right; add Emma and Mr Knightley into the mix and it will be magical!

Pic: Emma and Knightley

Quote of the Week 56 by Linda

Let us take a look at the happy ending in the final paragraph of Pride and Prejudice:

With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.

What I gather from this is that we should be grateful for all events in our lives because we never know which event may result in something good (that we would wish for). We take the good with the bad.

Alas, we may even learn a lesson from the bad. To top that, a strange thing happened on the way home while listening to the radio. A song came on and the few words I heard made my ears perk up. The words were: Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. The song was by Garth Brooks named “Unanswered Prayers”. Those particular words were in reference to the fact that in his youth he had prayed for a special girl at school and it didn’t happen. Instead he ended up with his most beloved wife for which he thanked God for his ‘unanswered prayer’.

So you see, we cannot be certain about the outcome of the good/bad events of our lives. ‘Tis best left to the Higher Power.

Linda, your Friendly Philosopher, er, the Librarian


Pic: Lizzie & Darcy (1995) from: Flickr

JA Fans In London

We have received a very exciting email today from Ali at Faber and Faber Publishing House in London. On Saturday 27th there is a 'How to Read: Jane Austen' course.

I am going to paste the information she provided below:

Saturday 27 June 2009:

Faber and Faber, Bloomsbury House, 74-77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DA

In the first of an exciting series of How to Read courses from the Faber Academy, John Mullan will lead you through the intriguing minutiae of Austen’s fiction, believing that the closer you look, the more you see.

Virginia Woolf said that ‘of all great writers she [Austen] is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness’, but catching this act is our purpose. We will examine the content of her novels – her interest in courtship, or money, or impoliteness – but also at how she writes. The classes are designed to help readers recognise the audacity of some of Austen's narrative techniques and see that this genteel and conservative woman was a great innovator in the art of fiction. Quite simply, this is a day for those who love Jane Austen’s novels.

The day will take place at the beautiful Georgian offices of independent publisher, Faber and Faber, and there are no hard and fast criteria for attendance, save the following:
To have read Jane Austen’s novels
To come with a lively, open mind
To ask interesting questions and be prepared to have your opinions challenged

Course cost: £100 (inclusive of VAT)

Coming soon: Jeanette Winterson on Virginia Woolf; John Carey on William Golding; Claire Keegan on Anton Chekhov; Maxim Jakubowski on Raymond Chandler.
Call Patrick on +44 (0) 20 7927 3822 for more details

Course outline
10-10.30 A cunning Jane Austen Literary Quiz
10.30-11.30 Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice: topics - illness and letters
11.30-11.45 Coffee
11.45-12.45 Mansfield Park: topics - acting and dialogue
12.45-1.45 Lunch
1.45-2.45 Guest speaker on Austen's life
2.45-3.45 Emma: topics - blunders and free indirect style
3.45-4 Tea
4-5 Persuasion and Northanger Abbey: topics - feelings and Bath

About the tutors

John Mullan is Professor of English at University College London. He is the author of How Novels Work (OUP) and Sentiment and Sociability: The Language of Feeling in the Eightenth Century (OUP). He has published widely on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature. A broadcaster and journalist as well as an academic, he writes a weekly column on contemporary fiction for The Guardian.

About Faber

Faber and Faber is the last of the great independent publishing houses in London. We were established in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber and our first editor was T. S. Eliot. Among our list of authors we are proud to publish five Booker Prize winners and eleven Nobel Laureates. We are particularly well-known for our unrivalled list of modern poets and playwrights, as well as for publishing writers of prize-winning fiction and general non-fiction. More (link to www.faber.co.uk)


To make a booking:

Contact Patrick on either patrickk@faber.co.uk or +44 (0) 20 7927 3822Alternatively, write to Patrick Keogh, Faber and Faber, 74-77 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DA

If any of you do decide to take up this wonderful offer then please do ensure that you let all of us know your comments and thoughts on your experience.

Thanks again Ali for providing us with the information. For any of you that cant make this course (like me! Sob sob!), I did ask Ali whether any other similar courses may be repeated later in the year. She said that if they have the interest and many people sign up for this one then that may well be the case. I will keep you posted......

Pic 1: Emma+Knightley

Pic 2: Anne Hathaway as Jane

Quote of the Week- Week 55

This weeks quote is from the wonderful Mansfield Park.

"Oh! I know nothing of your furlongs, but I am sure it is a very long wood, and that we have been winding in and out ever since we came into it; and therefore, when I say that we have walked a mile in it, I must speak within compass."

"We have been exactly a quarter of an hour here," said Edmund, taking out his watch. "Do you think we are walking four miles an hour?"

"Oh! do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch."

A few steps farther brought them out at the bottom of the very walk they had been talking of; and standing back, well shaded and sheltered, and looking over a ha-ha into the park, was a comfortable-sized bench, on which they all sat down.

This is taken from chapter 9 of the novel and is spoken by Mary Crawford (this antagonist gets all the best lines!) Mary Crawford, Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram are taking a walk in the wood and Mary and Edmund are debating the distance in which they have walked.

Mary is a very skeptical character and I think that there is some depth to this line (in bold). I might be completely wrong in my stance so please do correct me if you think I am.

I think that Jane Austen has some very philosophical thinking and is highly aware of not only the people, but the society and philosophy of her time. I think that we can see examples of this in her novels, i.e. my chosen quote of the week. I think that this line is questioning the concept of truth and certainty; highly philosophical principles. I love it.

I would really like to explore more of her lines to analyse them and wonder whether she sometimes did have a philosophical purpose when she was writing........

Pic 1: Mary, Edmund and Fanny, taken from the Austen Prose Site

We Have Knightley Photos!

Three photos of Johnny Lee Miller as Knightley Courtesy of Pemberley

What do you think! I think he looks five foot tall! Oh gosh, I am so horrid.

I've just seen new photos of Romola as Emma and I like them a lot better than the first offerings. New Austen to look forward to - much excitment. :)

Pics 1: Jonny Lee Miller as Knightley from: Pemberley

Pic 2: Romola Garai as Emma from: Romola Garai

Quote of the Week 54

Rachel posted a beautiful quote from Emma last week, and in honour of the recent news about filiming of Emma 2009, I have chosen to quote from the same novel this week.

Emma & her family are en route to the Weston's Christmas Party, and she falls into discussion with her brother-in-law, John Knightley. He 'slyly' suggests that Mr Elton 'seems to have a great deal of good-will' towards Emma. She replies:

'I thank you; but I assure you you are quite mistaken. Mr Elton and I are very good friends, and nothing more,' and she walked on, amusing herself in the consideration of the blunders which often arise from a partial knowledge of circumstances, of the mistakes which people of high pretensions to judgment are for ever falling into; and not very well pleased with her brother for imagining her blind and ignorant, and in want of counsel. He said no more.

Emma, Chapter 13

I love the irony here. John Knightley is of course, correct, and Emma herself is missing the obvious signs in front of her. I love how we can convince ourselves of 'the truth' around us, misinterpreting other's motivations through the filter of our own desires.

Besides the irony (and fairly good summary of Emma), I love this quote because once again Miss Austen hits the proverbial nail on the head. '...she walked on, amusing herself in the consideration of the blunders which often arise from a partial knowledge of circumstances...' I can't count the number of times I have leapt to premature judgements which at best have been embarrassing and at worst ... well, acutely embarrassing! (and harmful, etc). 'Partial knowledge of circumstances' is a very curious state-of-being. Hmm. I need to keep thinking on this one. There is a lot in this little sentence, isn't there?!

Pics 1 & 2: Kate Beckinsale as Emma from: Strangegirl

Emma 2009! Casting, News & Set Photos

Last November we blogged about rumours that the BBC were producing a mini-series of Emma for 2009. I am embarrassed to admit that I forgot about this project (yes, I know! my fave. Austen, too) but after googling Austen during the week, discovered that Emma 2009 is currently filming!

The cast is:

Romola Garai as Emma

Johnny Lee Miller as Knightley

Michael Gambon as Mr Woodhouse

Jodhi May as Mrs Weston

Christina Cole as Mrs Elton

Blake Ritson as Mr Elton

Rupert Evans as Frank Churchill

Louise Dylan as Harriet Smith

(more info at IMDB's Emma 2009 & BBC Press Release)

Thanks to AustenBlog for the head's up: here are some set photos: Emma Filming in Kent

Ironically enough some of these faces are not Austenly-unfamiliar: Johnny Lee Miller (Knightley) was Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park 1999, and Blake Ritson (Elton) was Edmund Bertram in MP 2007. Christina Cole played Caroline Bingley in Lost in Austen.

It looks like it'll be four parts, 240 minutes, with a release date of October 2009.

So ... opinions?? It's a pretty 'young and sexy' lineup, I think. I'm a bit deflated by Garai as Emma to tell the truth, for I don't really like her as an actress, but I think she was marvelous in Atonement. Johnny Lee Miller? Couldn't believe it at first, but I am very curious. I love Michael Gambon. Not too hot on the look. The hair scares me. But still, more Austen to look forward too! (Should I say now that Beckinsale's Emma is my favourite?)

But ... the hair, Louisa!

Pic 1: Romola Garai as Emma (2009) from: Pemberley

Pic 2: Romola Garai and Jodhi May as Mrs Weston from: Pemberley

Quote of the Week - Week 53 by Rachel

As you all know, I have been away but I have come back to some amazing quotes posted by the other ladies. The quote I have chosen for this week may not have the same depth but it is from our dear Emma and I love it nevertheless.

It is taken from chapter 12, Emma, and it appears after Frank Churchill promises Emma two dances at the next ball. Emma then receives a letter from Mrs Weston warning her that Mrs Churchill is ill and that Frank had been called home by his uncle. Prior to departure, Frank pays a visit upon Emma:

"But you will come again," said Emma. "This will not be your only visit to Randalls."

"Ah!- (shaking his head)- the uncertainty of when I may be able to return!- I shall try for it with a zeal!- It will be the object of all my thoughts and cares!- and if my uncle and aunt go to town this spring- bit I am afraid- they did not stir last spring- I am afraid it is a custom gone for ever."

"Our poor ball must be quite given up."

"Ah! that ball!- why did we wait for any thing?-why not seize the pleasure at once?-How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!- You told us it would be so.- Oh! Miss Woodhouse, why are you always so right?"

"Indeed, I am very sorry to be right in this instance. I would much rather have been merry than wise."

The highlighted line is sooooooo Emma! So passionate, so forthright and so wise. I only wish that we would all take heed of her wisdom. Especially in the world where we live now; everything is revolved around our schedules and our limited time! Why prepare to be happy? Everyday should be filled with pleasures as life is too short to plan happiness in our diaries!! This quote just leaped out at me as I know for sure that I want to be one of those people who "seize pleasure at once."

Pic 1: Jane Austen Today
Pic 2: Emma by C.E. Brock (1908), Pemberley.com

Jane Austen’s forgiveness

I’ve been thinking about forgiveness as of late, particularly of forgiving myself and also others that have hurt me. I realise that forgiveness is not easy to achieve, and I often wonder how Jane fared on the subject. I also remembered that I had a very dusty file about Jane’s forgiveness towards Tom Lefroy. Still a theory of course, but Linda’s question in the last week’s quote made me realise that it was time for me to dust off the file, sit nicely, and finish it. Hence, this article, very belatedly.

So the theory is simple: that prior to her death, Jane Austen has forgiven Thomas Langlois Lefroy for leaving her to marry Mary Paul. True, after reading her novels and letters, I cannot deny that Jane felt very bitter about Tom leaving her, and it was rather inevitable. But I firmly believe that she gradually understood why Tom left her, and the process was reflected in her novels. Please be mindful that I believe that Miss Austen was not only inspired by Tom Lefroy; no… she was too smart just to obtain her inspiration from a single person. But I firmly believe that Tom Lefroy was still Jane’s major influence in her novels, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Therefore, it is important for me to chronologically visit Jane Austen’s novels one by one and extract supporting hints. Looking back and forth to our own JA/TL timeline and having a better understanding of another main character, i.e. Anthony Lefroy (Tom Lefroy’s younger brother) will also help first readers here. I also have to stress out how subjective this article is, and that I analyse Jane Austen’s perceptions on Tom Lefroy and Anthony Lefroy that influenced her characters in her own novels. My gratitude in advance for various people that have contributed to the thinking and sleuthing processes of Team Jane during the last two years.


Northanger Abbey


In this context and in a nutshell, Northanger Abbey was Jane's memory of Tom Lefroy when they were still young, when hope still lingered in the air. Yes, yes, I hear you… NA was written circa 1797, and the general knowledge is that Jane and Tom were never in contact anymore after January 1796. So…?

Well, several Austen investigators, e.g. Jon Spence (‘Becoming Jane Austen’) and Claire Tomalin (‘Jane Austen’s Life’), paired with various research in this blog have strongly indicated that JA and TL still resumed their contact well beyond 1797. See JA/TL timeline for details. So, as I said earlier, NA was the fresh scent of JA/TL romance if I may say so. By the first time she wrote NA, Jane Austen was still full of love and hope for TL, and thus TL was effused in the personification of Henry Tilney (clergyman, gardening, clever conversation...). November 1798 brought the nightmare for Jane Austen, for Tom left to Ireland (not to see Mary, but to see his family) – and I believe that it was in strong association with Anthony Lefroy’s elopement (might never been proven, but I strongly believe it was an elopement instead of a sweet and nice marriage). Hence the beautiful drama in Jane Austen’s life ended.

Bottom-line of NA: Henry Tilney = Tom Lefroy. Catherine Morland was of course Jane Austen. Happy thoughts. No young black goat here... only the scary old General Tilney. He might be the great uncle Langlois...


Sense & Sensibility


Written circa 1811, well beyond her final separation with Tom Lefroy circa November 1798, Sense & Sensibility was the first novel which clearly indicated Jane Austen’s mixed opinion of Tom Lefroy. Here, Jane saw Tom as BOTH John Willoughby and Edward Ferrars. Our dissections on Mansfield Park led me to believe that Tom finally disclosed the true nature of Anthony Lefroy’s elopement. I am still uncertain of the approximate time, but most definitely I believe that Tom finally confided in Jane about his brother (see this post). We will eventually arrive in MP, but before that I just want to know that by the time SS was written, Jane still had troubles in grasping the fact that Tom had to leave her to save his family.

Yes, deep inside, Jane believed that Tom would not leave her for money like that. But Tom did not give her enough information (eh, typical man… thinking that all women are from Venus, hence possessing the ability to read minds); hence Jane also saw him as Willoughby (how come Willoughby and Wickham all start with W? As in Wicked?). This John Willoughby of Allenham was a coward who left Marianne for a very rich Miss Grey and thus still deserves age-old spankings.

Nonetheless, Jane Austen still had soft spot for Willoughby, for then she made him calling on Marianne... well, Elinor, and confessed to the elder Miss Dashwood that he still loved Marianne despite everything. Jane still believed that Willoughby had a good side…that Tom Lefroy had a good side. Her believe was magnified by Edward Ferrars' character; a character that fell in love with a good, smart woman (Elinor) after engaging with a silly girl (Lucy Steele). From an observer’s viewpoint, I see that Mary Paul was so NOT Lucy Steele; Miss Paul was too good a woman to be the model of Miss Steele. I am more inclined to see Mary Paul as the inspiration of Miss Grey. But again, that was Jane's perspective at that time, and I do not judge her at all (she could just create Lucy Steele ‘just for fun’... not referring to Mary Paul directly).

Bottom-line of SS: John Willoughby + Edward Ferrars = Tom Lefroy


Pride & Prejudice


Before I resume with PP, I have to thank Arnie Perlstein for his discussions with me more than a year ago. In relation to my article here that Anthony Lefroy was the main reason for Tom Lefroy to return to Ireland in November 1798, Arnie’s theory was simply put as: George Wickham = Anthony Lefroy. Both conducted elopement and both had forced two gentlemen (Fitzwilliam Darcy/Tom Lefroy) to clean up their messes. Makes no sense? Read on…

Somehow, between 1811 -1813, Jane came to terms with the role of Anthony Lefroy in changing the entire course of her life with Tom Lefroy. Hence, as she revised First Impression into Pride & Prejudice, she added the character Wickham - who to me was worse than Willoughby, for at least Willoughby loved Marianne, though he loved Sophia Grey's money better. I’m not sure if the first drafts of First Impression had Wickham (or someone akin to him) in it… worth checking…

In 1812/1813, Jane saw Anthony as Wickham - a bastard who ran away with an immature girl and disturbed the growing interactions between Darcy and Lizzy. In the real world, Anthony Lefroy was this young man who ran away with a girl (Elizabeth Wilkin) and hence disturbing the budding romance between JA and TL. In Wickham’s case, Darcy (who shared a bit of Lefroy in his seriousness) had to go down the streets of London for damage controls (did Tom do the same thing? Only in the streets of York instead of London?).

But Jane did not know back then that Tom did that NOT only because he had to, but also because he wanted to. Tom loved Anthony, I believe, hence his action was a brotherly love action, and not only out of responsibility. The evidence of Tom's affection towards Anthony was not only him helping little brother Anthony to gain the title of Barrack Master (see Fay’s ‘Jane Austen’s Letters’), but also Tom's closeness with Thomas Edward Preston Lefroy (TEPL). For why would he share such a bond with his nephew if he was not in good terms with Anthony? That would be awkward. Had Tom Lefroy been in a bad speaking term with Anthony Lefroy, Tom would not commission TEPL for the Cadell letter, and hence there would be no MOTIVE for TEPL to obtain the Cadell paper.

And who was Tom Lefroy in PP? Well, I tend to see Tom not only as Darcy/Lizzy combo (see Jon Spence for more info), but also as Charles Bingley (and hence Jane Austen herself as Jane Bennet). See this old post as another reference.

Bottom-line of PP: Tom Lefroy was NOT George Wickham. Lefroy was more of Bingley instead. Now the case went directly to Anthony Lefroy, who was more or less portrayed as Wickham here. That brings us to Mansfield Park.


Mansfield Park

Written in 1814, MP is indeed Jane's tribute to Tom Lefroy; hence the weird, unmatched feeling with other novels (thanks to Nadia Radovici for her amazing, out-of-print book!). I sense that before writing MP, Jane truly came to terms with the true nature of Tom's leaving to Ireland in Nov 1798 (and hence, also Anthony Lefroy's marrying Elizabeth Wilkin).

I see Tom's characters were split into both Fanny Price (shy and reserved but smart) and Edmund Bertram (kind, serious, an excellent clergyman-to-be). Michelle and I had dissected MP in a rather lengthy fashion here; hence I am not to repeat it again. And what of Tom Bertram? Ah…Wikipedia says:

Tom Bertram: The elder son of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram; he is seven years older than Fanny. Tom is principally interested in carousing in London society and enjoying the pleasures of the theatre with his friend Mr Yates. Tom incurs large debts, forcing Sir Thomas to sell the church position that was to have gone to Edmund, Tom's younger brother. One celebratory journey leaves Tom with a fever.

Tom Bertram had a bit of Anthony Lefroy, again to me in Jane's perspective. I don't know how well Jane knew Anthony's character, hence I keep saying 'perspective'. Because marrying to an undesirable woman does not equal to a bad guy. Anthony might be bored with all the society pretence and scruples, and he wanted to break all the rules by marrying Elizabeth Wilkin. But Jane would not know this. Jane started to see Anthony as not the 100% wicked guy… he was just a lost case here. A poor, lost soul. She also reduced his importance in the story, unlike Wickham's role in PP.

Bottom-line of MP: Fanny Price + Edmund Bertram = Tom Lefroy. The black goat Anthony Lefroy was now Thomas Bertram instead.


Emma


In 1815, after the strange, rather out of place MP, came Emma. Now, Emma was very cheerful compared to MP, and to me, she's on par with PP in the brilliance. More, perhaps. And Emma, correct me if I'm wrong, has NO direct reference to a character akin to Willougby, and no Wickham or Tom Bertram either. All good and happy, despite the hidden mocks, puns, and jokes. Emma has Frank Churchill, who to me was Tom Lefroy himself. In Emma, Jane Austen had come to understand Tom in almost perfection. By now, she might have seen Anthony in different light, hence her understanding towards Tom's difficulty and her forgiving him for leaving her. See this post for more reference of Tom Lefroy (and Ireland) in Emma. Oh, and Frank Churchill was about three and twenty when he was introduced in Emma (Tom Lefroy was twenty years old when he met Jane Austen), and he (like Tom Lefroy) had a good singing voice as well!

Bottom-line Emma: Tom Lefroy = Frank Churchill + Charles Dixon. Anthony Lefroy? Uh, I couldn’t find him. Perhaps some of you could…


Persuasion

The last punch and evidence of Jane's understanding and forgiving Tom was Persuasion. There, we find no Willoughby and no Wickham/Tom Bertram, not even Frank Churchill (who despite him lying to everybody, everybody still loved him. Like Jane to Tom). In Persuasion, we find only Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot. Back to the first dot of the cycle: Northanger Abbey. Back to Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland.

In Persuasion, Jane came to terms with Anthony's marriage and Tom's actions towards it. She had forgiven Tom (and also Anthony for that). There was William Elliot, who according to Wikipedia, was 'a relation and the heir presumptive of Sir Walter, who became estranged from the family when he wed a woman of much lower social rank, for her fortune.' Sounds like Anthony Lefroy to me… but I don't think William Elliot was even 25% Anthony now. But Miss Austen still had to have an antagonist in her story, and hence poor William Elliot’s role.

By the way, I think dear Charles Musgrove is Harris Bigg-Wither. You know Charles… a nice guy, husband of Mary Musgrove (nee Elliot) and heir to the Musgrove estate. He originally wanted to marry Anne but had to settle with Mary (much to the disappointment of the Musgrove family, and to his misfortune) when Anne refused him due to her eternal love for Wentworth.

Bottom-line Persuasion: Tom Lefroy = Captain Wentworth. Jane Austen = Anne Elliot. Here, Jane had finally forgiven Tom Lefroy for leaving her. She had finally come to terms with the past. Tom Lefroy left Jane Austen for family honour, and Miss Austen respected and forgave Tom for that.


Bottom-line for me: Forgiveness can be extremely hard to do. But if it brings peace to us… like I believe it did Jane… why can’t we forgive others? And most importantly, ourselves… for our stupid past?

Pic 1: Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy) and Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) in 'Becoming Jane'

Pic 2: Northanger Abbey 2007, from fanpop.com

Pic 3: Sense & Sensibility 2008 cast, from BBC UK

Pic 4: Pride & Prejudice 2005 wallpaper, from vistawallpaper.com

Pic 5: Mansfield Park 2007, from fanpop.com

Pic 6: Emma 1995, from photobucket.com

Pic 7: Persuasion 2007, from videodetective.com

JA-inspired Sci-fi movies

Okay Janeites, don't kill the messenger. It's a few months old news anyway, but it might worth knowing, in case some of you (like myself) are avid fans of both Jane Austen and sci-fi. So the story from sci-fi site io9 goes... that we are to have three JA-inspired sci-fi movies. Claps or collapse, your choice my dear friends.

First is the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, a movie based on the recently published (ahm, rather twisted) novel of the same title. Amazon.com informed me about this book yesterday, and the first few pages of the novel caught my attention to the point of me laughing merrily...so honestly, I'm tempted to read more (just don't shoot me...). I am uncertain of my degree of affinity to the book, so I might tell you much later on...

Second is the Pride & Predators, to be produced by Elton John (yeah, that Elton John the song writer and singer). It's about alien attack in the Regency world... etc etc etc... ahem, and shooting is to begin in London later this year. Again, don't shoot the messenger.

Third is the movie version of Lost in Austen by Columbia Pictures, as we have reported earlier. Well, since LIA incorporates time warp journeys elegantly, I am very much looking forward to this one... perhaps by the end of the year? Not sure. I know for sure I love the ITV series version tho!

I guess, in spite of everything, I'm still happy that Jane Austen's works reach far into the 21st century, and even to the stars and the alien world!

Pic 1: Keira Knightley now must face the Predator! Pic from io9