Jane Austen and the Brontes Issue #9 Why You Should Be Reading Jane Austen
A near decade old essay that resonates the same
I’m working on a project I’m revealing tomorrow on my other newsletter and I need to provide writing examples. I came across this essay I wrote in 2015 that I never published about why you should read Jane Austen. I’ve edited for currency and clarity but the sentiment remains the same.
Why You Should Be Reading Jane Austen
By Lisa Rabey
She wrote six books, all of whom are considered literary classics. (Yes, even the gothic send up, Northanger Abbey.) She died at the age of 41. She’s been dead for 207 years. Two of her six were not published until the years following her death. And when she died, she was little recognized for her work, yet, her books have continuously been in print.
What should have been the end of Austen as a writer continually generates a billion plus dollars a year cottage industry.1 Holy. Cats. Even James Patterson can’t top that one!
Manga, graphic novels, coloring books, self-help books, tea and tea cups, clothing, tours, museums, knitting magazines, the list goes on and on. It’s the Rule 34 of the Austen world – if you think it exists, it probably does.
And I’m no stranger to tapping into this empire. In the fall of 2010, I came up with an Etsy Store, Excessively Diverting (re-opening Fall 2024), that specialized in strips of Austen works stuffed into clear bulbs to be hung mainly on Christmas trees. I sold nearly a hundred bulbs during the first season and sales kept climbing each holiday year. My catalog expanding to include bookmarks, pins, and other long dead authors. But the work of my little enterprise meant I was making under $2 an hour for my efforts.
But what continues to make Austen relevant in contemporary times when these two worlds are so diametrically opposed to the other? Do people know when they are reading manga or graphic novels, watching movies like Clueless (based on Emma) and Bridget Jones’ Diary, based on Pride and Prejudice, are watching classics but in contemporary forms?
The answer perhaps lies in the themes Austen presents in her books are still relevant in our day and age as they were when she first wrote them. How many of us have rebuffed potential romantic partners only to find us they were well suited for us (Pride and Prejudice)? Do most of us not have a friend who is continually poking their nose, albeit good heartedly, into other peoples’ lives (Emma)? Or a friend who is obsessed with all things dark and gothic (Northanger Abbey)? How about someone who seems to get the short end of the stick on everything (Persuasion)?
That’s the thing, most of us can relate either personally or within our social circle someone who is comparative to the aforementioned plots. We know someone or of someone who fits those lines to a T. Yes, the language pattern in Austen’s times is different, and yes, we’re not running around wearing empire dresses and women can own property and have bank accounts. But in the terms of friendship, love, and struggles with the human condition? That will never change.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/28/world/europe/pride-and-prejudice-200th-anniversary/