One of the essential plot points of Jane Austen’s revered novel Pride and Prejudice is that the opportunistic Mr. Wickham tried to elope with the 15 year old Georgiana Darcy in order to secure her dowry. It is strongly implied that this would have been a disaster, for as soon as Wickham had wedded and… Read more What Could Mr. Darcy Have Done?
Long before Bernie Sanders shook the foundations of the Left-wing American party, Georgian Britain had to contend with Charles James Fox and the Foxite Whigs. Charles Fox was born in London on 24 January 1749, the second surviving son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland and Lady Caroline Lennox. The new newborn Fox was of royal blood, since his… Read more The Foxiest of the Foxite Whigs
The only legitimate child of George, Prince of Wales, and his estranged wife, Caroline of Brunswick, was born on 7 January 1796 – almost nine months exactly after her parent’s wedding night. It was fortunate the royal newlyweds conceived then, because they loathed each other so instantly and profoundly they would never have sex with… Read more Princess Charlotte of Wales
Jane Austen’s novel Emma was first published on 23 December 1815, just in time for Yuletide gift-giving. Emma sold well, and was giving good reviews, including one by Sir Walter Scott. Although Austen famously claimed that the title character, Emma Woodhouse, “handsome, clever, and rich,” was a protagonist that no one but the author “will… Read more Happy Birthday to Emma
Jane Austen came into the world, considerably past her due date, on 16 December 1775 at Steventon Rectory. Her parents had been expecting her arrival for more than three weeks, and since she was the seventh child the stork had bequeathed to the Austen’s, they had been sanguine about their estimation of her appearance and… Read more Happy Birthday Jane Austen!
Beyond doubt, Jane Austen enjoyed reading Gothic novels. She must have read several books in this genre, particularly the ‘female Gothic’ tales of Ann Radcliffe, to parody them so knowledgeably Northanger Abbey, and multiple readings strongly indicates she read them because she liked them. Yes, she mocked the hell out of Gothic conventions, but she… Read more Schauerroman v/s Gothik
Anglophone authors and Jane Austen fans tend to think of the culture and style of the Regency era as uniquely British. While having the Prince Regent was certainly for the UK alone, the larger sociocultural trends of the Regency were European, part of a dynamic give and take of ideas that flourished in spite of… Read more Frauenroman: Deriding Women’s Romances For Centuries
Robert Burns published the poem Halloween on 31 July 1786, when Jane Austen was ten years old. The devoted lover of poetry that she was, she would have doubtlessly have been familiar with it as a teen. But did she celebrate Halloween, the way others did in her time? Alas, we cannot know for sure … but it… Read more Regency Hallowmas
Imagine a world where a married woman could work faithfully for her employer for more than fourteen years, chronically underpaid, yet still be thrown out like garbage because she was pregnant with her husband’s baby. This is exactly what happened to Mrs Dorothy Doar in 1832, which I recently read about in the excellent book… Read more A Regency Crime: The Persecution of Mrs Doar
Thanks to everyone who participated in the comments! It’s never too late to put in your 2 cents worth … feel free to comment if you must have your share of the conversation! Day 1 ~ Just Jane 1813 Day 2 ~ Diary of An Eccentric Day 3 ~ Savvy Verse and Wit Day 4… Read more Fanny Price vs. Mary Crawford – The Debate Rages On!