Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did! I confess that I laughed aloud when reading, to the consternation of those in the room who were not in on the joke. :)
Even though it's not a particularly (ahem) serious work, I thought we could treat it as such to get the conversation started...
Letter 7th - "A short Conversation between Augusta and her Brother, which I accidentally overheard, encreased my dislike to her, and convinced me that her Heart was no more formed for the soft ties of Love than for the endearing intercourse of Freindship."
This signals an interesting question, which I've swiped and adapted from The Victorian Web. The question originally referred to Pride and Prejudice, but it could equally apply to Love and Friendship:
"What is Austen's version of love? ... With how much sarcasm does Austen frequently use the phrase "violently in love?" Does love mean happiness to Austen?"
Subsequently, how does love compare and contrast to friendship?
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First of all, it's amazing that she wrote this at 14, when girls are usually at their corniest and most sentimental, and yet had such a keen sense of romantic foolishness (courtesy of silly novels, no doubt).
ReplyDeleteI think Austen's version of love is deep and drama-free, and still quietly romantic. It's an emotion that doesn't knock you off your feet, but that slowly shapes your soul and imbues you with a passionate gratitude for the loved one. It does mean happiness to her, I think, but it's a maturation process.
Yes! Great points. I apologize in advance if I offend any "Twilight" fans out there, but to see the number of girls swooning over Edward does make Austen's parody all the more spectacular.
ReplyDeleteI really like your definition of love. It reminds me of Persuasion and Anne's history. Elizabeth's relationship with Darcy has a lot more fireworks in Pride and Prejudice, but again, it is a slow process. You do see her maturing along the way.
Yeah, I think you guys are right. She can definitely see the difference between childish infatuation and real, lasting love. (At 14! Remarkable!) I think the Emma-Knightley relationship is a good example.
ReplyDeleteI thought Austen was ridiculing "violent love" as an affectation much like the danger of fainting fits.
ReplyDeleteI had the idea, from both the title and plot, that there was a parallel (albeit platonic) relationship for Laura that was the real romance in the story, that Sophia was her great love and not Edward. Like there was an age or sensibility of both young women -- self-centered, dramatic, unethical, plucky -- that the highest honorable emotion they could have bestowed upon a person was in each other. Luckily, they also had both found agreeable young men to emancipate them into the world.
(Isabel was repeatedly mentioned as Laura's dearest friend, but the gilded barbs between them suggested otherwise.)
I might be reading too much into a silly (and delightful) girls' adventure story, of course ...
And Shanxi, Shanxi, Shanxi! I thought I was done with my Jane Austen days! I have a hankering to read all of her novels again! This is a treat to read.
ReplyDeleteAww, I'm glad I started a "renaissance" into Regency England! If you have time, I recommend Georgette Heyer as another fun and wonderfully witty author. She lived in modern times, but wrote a lot of historical fiction. Some of her titles: "The Talisman Ring," "Arabella" and "Sylvester: Or, The Wicked Uncle."
ReplyDelete"I had the idea, from both the title and plot, that there was a parallel (albeit platonic) relationship for Laura that was the real romance in the story, that Sophia was her great love and not Edward."
ReplyDeletecl, that's a really interesting theory! Female relationships are really important in Austen (Eliza and Jane in P&P, Marianne and Elinor in S&S, Emma and Mrs. Weston, Anne and Lady Russell in "Persuasion"). And I would argue that the male-female relationships that Austen sees as most desirable are the ones that most closely resemble the close female relationships. All of her heroines really just want a man that they can confide in and be friends with and love unselfishly, and most importantly, be intellectual and spiritual equals with.
Shanxi, thanks for the suggestion! I have heard of Heyer but haven't read any of her books.
ReplyDeleteI remember "Persuasion" the least of Austen's novels and may restart with that one. (It could be too hard to reread "P&P." I've watched that BBC miniseries so many times I could recite some of the dialogue from memory.)