r/janeausten

BBC does Jane Austen so well. With that said, I wouldn’t like the 2020 movie version of Emma even without the comparison. Emma was played as a Mean Girl with all her pursed lips and rolling eyes, the father came across as having a severe mental disorder, Knightly was pompous. Every single character was a personality I avidly avoid in my real life.

The 2009 BBC version made every character someone I could relate to and would commiserate with. 💯 am going to watch again.

In which your pleasant and often confused Miss Ashford is annoyed and miffed at the same time on her first read-through of Persuasion.

We are reading Persuasion, one chapter a week. I have never read this novel, so naturally I'm leading the read. What follows are my reactions on the read.

Please feel free to correct, argue, or discuss why I am not 100% correct. Octavia Butler, if invoked, does not share my opinions. Also, I have replaced the awful double-dash with true em-dashes. No AI was used in the process of generating these em-dashes. Those are all me, kids.

Wentworth. What are we to do with this man? He is blown about by the winds of chance, and a little flattery doesn't harm. The Miss Musgroves, the unnamed cousins, all the nice old people except the Admiral—sigh. This is what he missed.

>There was so much of friendliness, and of flattery, and of everything most bewitching in his reception there; the old were so hospitable, the young so agreeable, that he could not but resolve to remain where he was, and take all the charms and perfections of Edward's wife upon credit a little longer.^(1)

Well. What we need here, Jane, is a little bit more conflict in the scene. The scene—wait. What's this? Who is Charles Hayter? Oh. Conflict! Yes. Excellent. Jane, good job. CHARLES: YOU ARE IN A JANE AUSTEN BOOK. YOUR COZY LITTLE ALMOST ROMANCE WITH YOUR COUSIN (ew) HENRIETTA JUST GOT THROWN ON THE FIRE OF STORY. YOU SHOULD RUN AWAY. JANE ONLY MESSES WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE IN RANGE OF THE STORY. You are in range, sir.

Right, then. Charles finds that his idea of marrying his close cousin Henrietta, one of the forgettable two, has been interrupted by a rival. Let's go!

>Henrietta fully thought so herself, before Captain Wentworth came; but from that time Cousin Charles had been very much forgotten.

I confess I laughed about this. Poor Charles. The Miss Musgroves are playing the game serious, not like you, cousin Charlie, with your lais·sez-faire approach. You know what they say in German, Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund.

Then this observation from Anne, which misses the mark by a kilometer, or a mile, whichever one they used back then. Mile, I think:

>Which of the two sisters was preferred by Captain Wentworth was as yet quite doubtful, as far as Anne's observation reached. Henrietta was perhaps the prettiest, Louisa had the higher spirits; and she knew not now, whether the more gentle or the more lively character were most likely to attract him.

See that? She absolutely knows.

Then Mary and Charles get to gossiping—"he's worth 20 k!" "He could make a killing in another war!" "Which one does he prefer?" "Oh, she could be a baronet!!!!" Blah blah blah. Mary doesn't like the Hayters, which the irony is Hayters gonna Hayt. Mary doesn't like Hayter, Charles champions him, decides it would be great if Wentworth got Louisa and Hayter got Henrietta. Nice and neat.

Mary then does what Mary does best, makes it about herself. Oh, it'll be terrible for me if she marries that awful Hayter. Woe.

Antique Editions then committed the ultimate sin of forgetting an end quote. I shall never forgive them for this. Send me real copies, c/o r/janeausten.

I kid.

Anyway, where were we? Oh! Anne recites some facts. She doesn't want to be an umpire for Louisa vs. Henrietta. She notes that Captain Wentworth should know his own mind and be about doing something in good time, since it wasn't fair to string the Miss Musgroves along if he wasn't going to do anything. HOW DO YOU KNOW, ANNE? Yep. Right there. She's all neutral but she's also thinking "he could do okay with either one, but would he want them?" —when he has me to consider? Go ahead, Anne, say it out loud. But she won't.

Then this: Captain Wentworth wanders into the cottage. Anne is there alone with the kid—what was his name again? Plot Device? Yes. That's it—she's alone with the kid and here's Wentworth. She's like "crap!" and he's like "crap!" and goes and looks out the window. If we weren't living in an I Love Lucy episode where nobody can actually speak truth, this would be the shortest book in history.

Then the kid keeps her in the room with some complaint, and this happens:

>"They are up stairs with my sister: they will be down in a few moments, I dare say," had been Anne's reply, in all the confusion that was natural; and if the child had not called her to come and do something for him, she would have been out of the room the next moment, and released Captain Wentworth as well as herself.

ANNE AND FRED: YOU ARE IN A JANE AUSTEN BOOK... er. Never mind. They can't hear me.

We've been waiting for 190 pages. This is it. The big confrontation. She's going to trip into his arms accidentally and they'll kiss or they're going to have a prize fight. "Square up, Wentworth, square up!" Then he announces there's only one bed.

And now for Deep Thoughts with Wentworth:
"He continued at the window; and after calmly and politely saying, "I hope the little boy is better," was silent."

For void's sake.

This is the guy everyone is falling all over themselves to make a match? The kid's got a name, Wentworth. His name is... is... shoot. I don't think anyone can remember it. Never mind.

Then they hang out for a moment, and in walks Chuck Hayter. "Square up, Wentworth, square up!" No. He doesn't say that.

Anne tries to smooth things over, and Jane just moves people around the room. Hayter settles in to read the newspaper, and Wentworth won't cede the battlefield.

Psssst. Hayter. Pssst!!! Listen up: Anne's available.

Enter the other child. Walter. Waaaait a minute, that name—nah. Walter jumps on Anne's back, Hayter yells at the kid, and... wait. Page turn. I have no idea what's going to happen. Hold on.

WENTWORTH RESCUES HER FROM THE MUSSGROVE COTTAGE STRANGLER!!!!!

Knock me over with a feather.

>In another moment, however, she found herself in the state of being released from him; some one was taking him from her, though he had bent down her head so much, that his little sturdy hands were unfastened from around her neck, and he was resolutely borne away, before she knew that Captain Wentworth had done it.

Anne retreats from the room, her temper all akimbo from the intervention where she was saved from a savage toddler.

We exit the chapter thus:

>But neither Charles Hayter's feelings, nor anybody's feelings, could interest her, till she had a little better arranged her own. She was ashamed of herself, quite ashamed of being so nervous, so overcome by such a trifle; but so it was, and it required a long application of solitude and reflection to recover her.

I'm going to need a long application of solitude and reflection to recover me.

You all know the rules. Argue what you need to, debate what you know, bring me up on charges, but remember I haven't read further ahead yet. You only get one first read of the thing, I reckon, unless you've got memory problems in which case you could read it every week and it's a new experience.

I remain,
Vty
Sophia

^(1) All quotes are from Persuasion, by Jane Austen, Antique Editions, Kindle Version

Link to Persuasion Read-through master hub: https://www.reddit.com/r/janeausten/comments/1rdapff/rjaneausten_community_readthrough_hub/

Link to prior chapter 8:

https://www.reddit.com/r/janeausten/comments/1sj7cot/persuasion_chapter_8_read_through/

Just did a reread and it struck me that Anne is described as being “very pretty” with “elegant features.” I don’t understand how someone would look so different between 19 and 27. Maybe I’m looking at it through a modern lens? What is “bloom?” Was it the societal worries of spinsterhood driving a perception of lost beauty?

With many adaptations casting (comparatively) plain actresses, I’d forgotten that the book describes her as very pretty, but with lost bloom.

How do you all picture her? Any actresses come to mind?

P.S. I’m not trying to talk badly about Amanda Root or anyone whose played her.

One of the great joys of Austen is how adaptable her work is over time, and Austenites are a wonderfully diverse group, with different favorites, different entry points, and different reasons for loving her work.

No one should feel unwelcome or judged for what they enjoy.

Critiques of adaptations are welcome, but please frame them as personal perspectives (“I felt this fell flat” rather than “this is objectively terrible”) Remember no adaptation is a perfect recreation of the source material- and we don’t expect it to be.

Unsolicited grammar corrections are also a form of snobbery we’d like to leave at the door. If a fellow Austenites meaning is clear, engage with what they’re saying, or simply scroll along.

Be graceful, be curious, and remember we’re all here for the love of Austen.

Part of the curated moderation of large subreddit such as this one involves a taxonomy that makes sense and helps readers find similar posts and avoid posts they do not wish to view.
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Aside from the original editions, which editions of Jane Austen's works have the most Thomson Illustrations?
I find it super weird these have never been properly reproduce on a large scale, and no one seems to list their illustration count. ​

Specific editions I'd really like to know about include the litjoy paperback versions which look so lovely, the Macmillan hardback set, the 3 Macmillan wallpaper paperbacks, isbn 0907486975 volumes, and isbn 9781904633938. I love the look of the Cranford editions, but they seem to only have chapter starting illustrations (correct me if I'm wrong). ​

I'm very overwhelmed in my research so any answers are appreciated 😊

I feel like 90% of the rjaneausten posts that show up in my feed are just memes and gifs from 2005 p&p or occasionally 1995 p&p. It's annoying, honestly feels like straight up karma farming. Any thoughts?

I think he knew Mary was drawn to him as much as he was drawn to her in those early encounters yet he never once mentions his fiancé Miss Baxter. I'm sorry but he kind of led Mary on and perhaps slightly emotionally cheated on Miss Baxter because he sure was going to Mary's aunt's house every chance he could get.

I also didn't like how he just left Mary without any explanation at all when he found or Ryder was inheriting money . Like yeah Mary forgave him but he literally left without any word or explanation at all.

Listening to Mansfield Park and multiple times the ladies are referred to as the Miss Bertrams - wouldn’t the correct usage be the Misses Bertram?