The Austen Awards Poll 6

Which character are you least likely to take a road trip with?


A) Mary Musgrove, the hypochondrical* sister in Persuasion


                     

B) Mr. Collin’s, the brown nosing cousin in Pride and Prejudice


                     

C) Mrs. Bennet, the fussy, loud mouthed mother in Pride and Prejudice


                        

D) Mrs. Jennings, the gossiping neighbor in Sense and Sensibility


                        


Happy Voting!

*Yes, I made up “hypochondrical”. Please use it in daily conversation. Tell your friends.

How to Write a Novel like Jane

In case you were ever wondering how to write like Jane Austen, her recipe for greatness, the following is a Highly Scientific analysis of her methods.

                                         
1. Your Heroine should live in poverty or come from the middle class. (Emma was the exception.) This makes her (or them) easy to relate to and adds conflict to the story. Especially if the man they will eventually fall in love with is rich.

                                          
2. Your Heroine should receive an unwanted proposal, from a member of the clergy or otherwise. The proposer should either be A) extremely idiotic and comical in nature or B) a bad guy in disguise (See 8). It could even be from the Hero but there are rules about that, like it can’t work out the first time.

                                      
3. There should be a misunderstanding between your Hero and Heroine, either they don’t agree on something or they can’t tell each other how they feel. Or your Heroine might think that the Hero’s dad is a murderer. Whatever it is, non-communication and hurt feelings are key.

4. If you really want to make things juicy add a Secret Scandal to the mix. Unwanted pregnancies, unwarranted marriages, a history of imprudent behavior, a secret that will keep your Heroine away from the man she loves.
                                          

(Lucy Steele is both the cause of Elinor’s unhappiness as well as a very annoying minor character. Score: 2)

5. If you really want to write like Jane, aggravating characters are a must. Loud mouthed, dim-witted, pompous, vain minor characters will make your Heroine shine by comparison and add comedy (and angst) for your readers.

                                     
6. Be sure to make a lot of sarcastic observations of your characters. Tongue in cheek is always a safe bet. Just try to keep the comments coming from you, in third person and not your Heroine, otherwise she might end up spoiling everyone else’s picnic.

                                 
7. Broken Hearts are a key ingredient. This may be procured by any number of means including: falling in love with a Cad (See 8), realizing you made a mistake, or watching the object of your affection fall under the power of another. Every girl likes to be jilted in love now and then.

                                      
8. When in doubt, add a Cad, a rogue, a man of questionable intentions. Someone to distract your Heroine from her true love.

                                         
9. Now that you’ve messed up everyone’s lives, make sure you fix it before the end. Remember, a comedy has to end with a wedding. Except for the annoying characters, they deserve what they get.

For those who need a visual, I’ve included this Highly Scientific Chart:

	poverty/reduced circumstances	Unwanted Proposal	Misunder-standing	Secret Scandal	Annoying Minor Characters	Sarcasm	Broken Heart	Cad
Pride & Prejudice	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Sense & Sensibility	X		X	X	X	X	X	X
Emma		X	X	X	X	X	ish	X
Northanger Abbey	X	ish	X	ish	X	X	ish	ish
Mansfield Park	X	X		X	X	X	X	X
Persuasion	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

Spoiler Alert: They all have happy endings.

As far as character names go, you can just recycle your favorite names again and again. And for the book titles try to stick with proper or abstract nouns (the names of people, places, or qualities/ideas).
Now you’ve got it. All you need to know.

Happy Writing!

Jane’s Closet, Episode 3, Darcy Edition

I don’t think men and women shared closet space back then, so the title should really be Darcy’s Closet in the first place. I just wanted everyone to know for any guys out there who are participating or for any ladies who’d like to give your guy a hint (Hint: REGENCY CLOTHES ARE EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE…too forward? I did minimize the font.) here are some items for sale that would suit your Mr. Darcy.

From sugar352

HistoricSeams

             

HistoricalDesigns (see if you can get him to jump in the pool wearing this)

   

and ElegantScot (this shop is AMAZING)

        

Alas, some men will never see the light. So for all you ladies out there who love a man in period clothing, enjoy the eye candy. Guys…take notes.

        

Enjoy the day! Happy Reading!

Austen Email

Today just for fun, what if some of Austen’s characters were real and their stories were being lived out today? Since we’ve been talking about the importance of letters in Jane’s novels and how to write a letter like Jane, here are examples of what some of her most famous character’s inboxes might look like:

Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice

                   

Elinor Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility

                     

Anne Elliot, Persuasion

                       

Unfortunately not all of the books have inboxes but if you go to the website you can see Mr. Darcy’s inbox and Catherine Morland’s as well. They also have other famous inboxes for LOTR, Harry Potter, Dickens, Star Wars, even historical figures.

Happy Reading!

The Austen Awards Poll 5

And now for my personal favorite:

Which character would you most like to punch in the face?


A) Lucy Steele, who manipulates Elinor in Sense and Sensibility


                                   

B) Lydia Bennet, boy crazed sister who almost ruins the family in Pride and Prejudice


                                   

C) Mary Crawford, who is okay with people dying so long as can get rich from it, in Mansfield Park


                                

D) Mrs. Elton, who is always self-effacing, to the point of being a braggart in Emma


                                      

E) Isabella Thorpe, who manipulates others' love for money in Northanger Abbey


                                        

F) Sir Walter Elliot, who is too overly fond of mirrors to appreciate his daughter in Persuasion


                                    

G) Aunt Norris, who is constantly talking down to the heroine in Mansfield Park


                               

H) Fanny Dashwood, who manipulates her husband to give the Dashwood sisters almost nothing to live on and then kicks them out of the house in Sense and Sensibility

                                

I) Caroline Bingley, because she's snobby, judgemental, and what kind of person doesn't like Jane Bennet?

I know, it’s hard to pick just one.


Happy Voting!

Writing a Letter Like Jane

                   

It’s crazy to think that in the Regency time period, people would not only write letters (an almost lost art) but they would also write daily in some cases. For us it’s  not such a big deal; we also write daily, in the form of tweets, statuses, texts, and emails. Sometimes even blogs.

But imagine a world where a 17 mile journey takes a day, where letter writing is the only form of communication you have with your loved ones. You can’t just pick up a phone and call an old friend, much less facebook stalk them to see what they’re up to. If you want to know how someone is, if you want to share some news, you have to find a quill, find some ink, paper, an ink blotter, sit down, and actually write. Would you say more or less in your letters? Would you choose your words more carefully?

Jane wrote thousands of letters in her lifetime, most of which were burned by her sister Cassandra upon Jane’s death. We can only speculate why. But the letters that remain are a great view into life of the Regency time period, by a woman who was more than candid in her opinions. Here are a few excerpts from a letter to her sister Cassandra.

MY DEAREST CASSANDRA,
I have borne the arrival of your letter to-day extremely well; anybody might have thought it was giving me pleasure. I am very glad you find so much to be satisfied with at Cheltenham. While the waters agree, everything else is trifling...A letter arrived for you from Charles last Thursday. They are all safe and pretty well in Keppel St., the children decidedly better for Broadstairs; and he writes principally to ask when it will be convenient to us to receive Miss P., the little girls, and himself. They would be ready to set off in ten days from the time of his writing, to pay their visits in Hampshire and Berkshire, and he would prefer coming to Chawton first...I have answered him, and said that we hoped it might suit them to wait till the last week in Septr., as we could not ask them sooner, either on your account or the want of room. I mentioned the 23rd as the probable day of your return. When you have once left Cheltenham I shall grudge every half-day wasted on the road. If there were but a coach from Hungerford to Chawton! I have desired him to let me hear again soon...He does not include a maid in the list to be accommodated, but if they bring one, as I suppose they will, we shall have no bed in the house even then for Charles himself -- let alone Henry. But what can we do?…Thank you, my back has given me scarcely any pain for many days. I have an idea that agitation does it as much harm as fatigue, and that I was ill at the time of your going from the very circumstance of your going. I am nursing myself up now into as beautiful a state as I can, because I hear that Dr. White means to call on me before he leaves the country…Sir Tho. Miller is dead. I treat you with a dead baronet in almost every letter...So you have C. Craven among you, as well as the Duke of Orleans and Mr. Pocock. But it mortifies me that you have not added one to the stock of common acquaintance. Do pray meet with somebody belonging to yourself. I am quite weary of your knowing nobody...Mrs. Digweed parts with both Hannah and old cook; the former will not give up her lover, who is a man of bad character; the latter is guilty only of being unequal to anything…Success to the pianoforte! I trust it will drive you away. We hear now that there is to be no honey this year. Bad news for us. We must husband our present stock of mead, and I am sorry to perceive that our twenty gallons is very nearly out. I cannot comprehend how the fourteen gallons could last so long...We do not much like Mr. Cooper's new sermons. They are fuller of regeneration and conversion than ever, with the addition of his zeal in the cause of the Bible Society...Martha's love to Mary and Caroline, and she is extremely glad to find they like the pelisse. The Debarys are indeed odious! We are to see my brother to-morrow, but for only one night. I had no idea that he would care for the races without Edward. Remember me to all.
Yours very affectionately,
J. AUSTEN.


The rest of this letter, as well as many others, can be found here.

If you want to write letters like Jane, or letter writing period (it really is wonderful to get real mail instead of just bills, and to keep letters from friends) here are a few things that I like to have on hand:

1. Good quality paper. I usually get a package of cream colored paper from Wal-mart or Target, the kind with no lines. One package will last you a while. Pick up some nice envelopes while you’re there.

2. A good pen. I actually do have a feather pen and ink well, which I use occasionally but a good writing pen works just as well.

3. A wax seal (and wax). It’s a little nerdy but a lot awesome to have your own wax seal to use when you’re writing. I have two, one has my first initial* and one was a wedding present with our last initial. Wax comes in all different colors, mine is a shimmery brown.


In Jane’s time they didn’t have envelopes, instead they folded the letters themselves (hence the need for a wax seal). Check out this website for some letter folding techniques.

If you’ve never written a letter to anyone (or you haven’t in a while) I encourage you to do so. You’ll find it quite agreeable.

* The above picture is from a post by a girl who discusses her newfound love for Austen, letter writing, Regency manners, and Persuasion. Lovely pictures.

**I recommend getting a seal with your first initial as last initials are more likely to change. They also have some seals that are symbols like flowers, hearts, Chinese symbols, celtic symbols, etc.

Happy Reading!

Letter Writing in Jane’s Novels

During Jane Austen’s time, letter writing was a vital way of passing news (gossip), declaring one’s feelings, and keeping in touch with loved ones. Jane weaves the act of letter writing into her  novels to move the plot forward and to give further dimension to her characters.

**Spoiler Alert, if you’ve never read the books or you haven’t seen the movies don’t watch the clips. You can read the post but the clips will give it all away.**

Of course, the most famous is from Pride and Prejudice. Described by Caroline Bingley as one who writes “uncommonly fast” (although he denies it) Mr. Darcy does write often. In Chapter 10 we find the famous scene where Caroline is trying to flirt with Darcy, who’s having none of it, as he would rather have a misunderstanding with Eliza Bennett, as he writes to his sister Georgiana.

                    

Then there is the famous letter of explanation, which reveals much of Darcy and the infamous Mr. Wickam.
                     

Don’t forget the two rather humorous letters at the end, from Mr. Bennett to Mr. Collins and from Lydia to Elizabeth. Let’s just say Lizzie’s a lot nicer than I would be.


In Sense and Sensibility the characters exchange letters quite often. It is through a letter from Sir John Middleton that the ladies are able to get their cottage. Marianne writes letters to Willoughby at all hours of the night,  Willoughby writes a letter to Marianne which we find short and to the point at least, and Lucy Steele’s letter to Edward Ferrars is given as well. Austen shows us just how much the written word has the power to break our hearts and set us free.

                


The only letters we find in Mansfield Park are near the end, when Fanny has been banished to her parent’s home. Edmund writes to her, and we are able to better understand his thoughts and feelings toward Mary Crawford, much to the distress of Fanny. Later on Mary herself writes to Fanny, giving more clues to her callous character than anyone would wish possible.

                                 


In Emma Miss Bates and her mother eagerly await their letters from Jane Fairfax for entertainment and news, and near the end there is a rather lengthy letter from Frank Churchill, giving an explanation for his behavior. I’m not sure if it counts as a letter but Harriet Smith receives a rather misleading letter from Mr. Elton. Whether the letter or Emma is the one who misleads is up to the reader/viewer to decide.

                    


The only letter I know of in Northanger Abbey (correct me if I’m wrong) is to Catherine from her brother James, announcing some distressing news and urging Catherine to “beware how you give your heart – believe me.” Very good advice.

                      


Finally, the letter we’ve all been waiting for, my favorite, the one in Persuasion. Yes, there’s another letter revealing more about Mr. Elliot’s character but no one cares. Not when the other letter finally arrives.
                    

(I actually like this video, except for the unfortunate music clashes here and there.)


Happy Reading!