Saturday 29 March 2014

Jane Austen Quote of the Week 265

We have in the past on this blog quoted from the letter Jane wrote to Cassandra on November 17, 1798 where she said:
 
"...I was too proud to make any inquiries..."
 
Also, we have discussed the Jane and Tom connection.  I ran across the following post made by my late friend, Ashton Dennis on the Male Voices in Praise of Jane Austen web site that I have preserved.  The post is titled:  "I was too proud to make any inquiries" Jane Austen's Eleventh Letter."  In this post he discussed the question "Was Jane Austen ever in love?"  Ashton says this in the second paragraph:
 
Let me begin with an observation: If Goethe himself or even if one of the Russians had written this letter for a fictional character, he would have been very proud of himself—and for good reason. I find the letter to be very interesting and very affecting and I suspect that you will as well. Several biographers point to the most important passages in the letter, the ones dealing with her meeting with Madame Lefroy, but I want to do something more. I will discuss those in the context of other passages in the letter because only in that way can the full impact be felt.
 
Now, if that piques your interest, you may read his most interesting thoughts on this subject here:  Was Jane Austen ever in love?  I highly recommend it.
Yrs aff'ly,

Linda the Librarian

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