Jane Austen1775-1817

Why are we focusing on Jane austen?

It's been 200 years since the publication of Jane Austen's ‘Pride and Prejudice'.

We are celebrating this milestone with a variety of activities -: Whist lessons a colouring competition a quiz a passage reading competition a re-enactment by the staff staff dressing in period costume a photo opportunity with Mr Darcy a fan making workshop screening of the film 'Bride and Prejudice'

Pride and prejudice – the novel - 1The story begins with Charles Bingley, a wealthy single young

gentleman, renting the manor of Netherfield Park. This causes a great deal of excitement in the nearby village of Longbourn, especially in the households which have unmarried daughters. Mrs. Bennet is desperate to see her five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia married and tells Mr Bennet that he must visit Mr Bingley.

After Mr. Bennet pays a social visit to Mr. Bingley, the Bennets attend a ball where Mr. Bingley spends much of the evening dancing with Jane. Bingley’s close friend, Mr. Darcy, on the other hand makes it quite clear that he is not enjoying himself. His refusal to dance with Elizabeth, makes everyone think that he is rude and arrogant.

Pride and prejudice – the novel - 2Over the next few weeks Mr Darcy’s opinion of Elizabeth becomes more

positive while Jane and Mr Bingley continue to enjoy each other’s company. Jane becomes ill on a visit to the Bingley mansion and Elizabeth goes to look after her. Bingley’s sister is interested in Darcy and is annoyed when she notices Darcy paying quite a bit of attention to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and Jane return home, to find a visitor - Mr. Collins, a young clergyman who will inherit Mr. Bennet’s property. [The property has been “entailed,” which means that it can only be passed down to male heirs.] Mr. Collins proposes marriage to Elizabeth, she rejects him. The Bennet girls become friendly with militia officers stationed in a nearby town. Wickham, one of the soldiers tells Elizabeth that Darcy cheated him of an inheritance.

Mr. Collins recovers from Elizabeth’s rejection of his marriage proposal and becomes engaged to Elizabeth’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas, the poor daughter of a local knight. Charlotte explains to Elizabeth that she is getting older and needs the match for financial reasons.

Pride and prejudice – the novel - 3After their marriage, the Collins live near Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr Collin’s patron

and Darcy’s aunt. Darcy meets Elizabeth at his aunt’s house and then visits her at the Collins.

During one of his visits, Darcy proposes to Elizabeth who rejects his proposal, then tells him that she thinks he is arrogant and unpleasant and scolds him for disinheriting Wickham and for discouraging Bingley’s interest in Jane. Darcy writes her a letter in which he explains his actions and that his attitude towards Wickham involves his sister, Georgiana Darcy.

Lydia elopes with Wickham and efforts are made to find them, Elizabeth is worried about how this will affect her family. When the couple are found, Wickham agrees to marry Lydia in exchange for an annual income. Elizabeth later learns that Darcy has provided the money.

Wickham and Lydia marry and go to Wickham’s new assignment in the North of England. Bingley returns to Netherfield and proposes to Jane. Lady Catherine de Bourgh visits Elizabeth to tell her that she has heard that Darcy is planning to marry Elizabeth and that she considers a Bennet an unsuitable match for a Darcy. Lady Catherine demands that Elizabeth promise to refuse him, Elizabeth refuses to make such a promise.

How does our story end? You will have to read the book!

Pride and Prejudice – film versions

1995 BBC Television version of Pride and Prejudice – Episode 1 parts 3 to 6. Elizabeth overhears a conversation between Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy. While Mr Bingley is enjoying dancing with Jane Bennet, one of Elizabeth’s sisters, it is obvious that Mr Darcy is not enjoying himself. Mr Bingley tries unsuccessfully to persuade Mr Darcy to join in the dancing. Mr Darcy refuses and when it is suggested that he could dance with Elizabeth Bennet, Darcy responds that ‘she is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt him.’ In this version, Colin Firth is Darcy and Jennifer Ehle is Elizabeth Bennet.

2005 Film trailer of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice This is the Official trailer for the film and contains a variety of scenes in which we meet main characters such as the Bennets, Darcy, Bingley, Mr Collins and Lady Catherine.

novels Jane Austen, one of England’s foremost novelists, was never publicly

acknowledged as a writer during her lifetime. None of the books published in her life-time had her name on them — they were described as being written "By a Lady".

In her early twenties she wrote the novels that later became Sense and Sensibility (first called “Elinor and Marianne”) and Pride and Prejudice (originally “First Impressions”).

Her father sent a letter offering the manuscript of “First Impressions” to a publisher soon after it was finished in 1797, but his offer was rejected by return post.

She continued writing, revising “Elinor and Marianne” and completing a novel called “Susan” (later to become Northanger Abbey).

In 1803 Jane sold “Susan” for £10 to a publisher who promised early publication, however, this did not happen. “Susan” was repurchased a year before her death for the price that the original publisher had paid her.

Jane Austen’s family

The Austen family was parents, George, [a country clergyman] and Cassandra and their eight children. There were six boys - James, George, Henry, Francis and Charles and two girls - Cassandra and Jane.

Timeline – 1775 - 1808 1775 Jane Austen born at village of Steventon, England,

to George and Cassandra Austen.

1785-1787 With her sister, Cassandra, Austen attends the Abbey School in Reading, England.

1790-93 Writes her juvenilia. [comic stories]

1795-98 Writes original versions of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice.

1797 "First Impressions" (original version of Pride and Prejudice) rejected by a London publisher.

1801 Father retires and moves to Bath with his wife and daughters.

1803 Susan (original version of Northanger Abbey) is bought by a publisher but never issued.

1804 Austen begins, and quickly abandons, "The Watsons."

1805 Death of father, George.

1808 Moves to Southampton with mother and sister.

Source: http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Austen-Chro.html

Map – Some of the places that were part of Jane austen’s life

The town of Bath

Timeline – 1809 - 1814 1809-17 Lives with her mother and sister in a small house provided by her wealthy brother Edward in the

village of Chawton, in southern England. Begins revising original versions of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.

House at Chawton

1811 Sense and Sensibility published.

1813 Pride and Prejudice published.

1814 Mansfield Park published. Jane Austen begins work on Emma.

Source: http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Austen-Chro.html

1816 Emma is published and is dedicated to the Prince Regent (the future George IV) at his request.

1816 Austen completes Persuasion.

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1817 Composes the fragment "Sanditon"; abandons it because of incapacitating illness. Austen is moved to Winchester for medical care in May.

1817 Jane dies in Winchester on 18 July and is buried in Winchester Cathedral on 24 July.

1818 Northanger Abbey and Persuasion published jointly in a four-volume edition, with a biographical preface of Austen by her brother Henry.

Timeline – 1816 - 1818

Jane – the personAs a young woman Jane enjoyed dancing (an activity which

features frequently in her novels) and she attended balls in many of the great houses of the neighbourhood. She loved the country, enjoyed long country walks, and had many Hampshire friends.

Jane never married or had any children. However, she did fall in love whilst on holiday in the West country, around 1805 and was very upset when the young man died. Later Jane accepted a proposal of marriage from Harris Bigg-Wither, a wealthy landowner and brother of some of her closest friends but she changed her mind the next morning and was greatly upset by the whole episode.

Quotes from jane austen

Quotes from some of Jane Austen’s novels

Where did the name regency england came from?

Regency period of Jane Austen

Prince regent n. pl. prince regents or princes regent A prince who rules during the minority, absence, or incapacity of a sovereign. Source http://www.thefreedictionary.com/prince+regent

The Prince Regent – called Prinny

The Regency period officially began when George, the Prince of Wales, assumed the role of Prince Regent in 1811 when his father, King George III was declared unfit to rule. He was Prince Regent until his father died in 1820 and was crowned King George IV. The Prince Regent was extravagant and a dandy. His reputation for excesses and self-indulgence is likely to account for Jane Austen’s dislike of him. He gave her ‘the honour’ of dedicating her novel, Emma, to him.

http://www.janeausten.co.uk/online-magazine/regency-fashion/

Regency fashion - dresses

Regency fashion - shoes Jessamyn Reeves-Brown, a Regency fashion enthusiast, has researched the changes to

footwear in this period of English history. In the early Regency the fashion was pointed toes and heels. Over time a ballet slipper style of shoe became popular. Ribbon rosettes and satin ties that criss-crossed up the leg added feminine charm to shoes. Shoes were made so that there was no difference between left and right shoes. It was up to the owner to wear in their shoes and create a left and right shoe.

0 Examples of ballet slippers style of shoe

An example of a shoe from the early Regency

In the year 1800, any sensible young lady of fashion would have had at least three pairs of shoes—one for everyday wear, slippers for dancing in and boots for walking. Empress Josephine of France who owned 520 pairs of shoes, could be described as the Imelda Marcos of her day!

Source: http://www.janeausten.co.uk/regency-shoes/

Regency fashion - hatsIf you had to choose only one fashion accessory to represent the entire

Regency period, no doubt it would be the Bonnet. Large and small, close and wide, they came in an array of sizes and styles, each season bringing new ideas and new requirements of what it was to be “Fashionable”. Fashion magazines of the day seemed never to tire of describing this brim and that cockade, and the colours! Where Puce was once reigned supreme, Jonquil now led the way. Or so they would tell you.

While wealthy socialites might spend their afternoons seriously pondering the style and purchase of a new bonnet, less fortunate young ladies might employ themselves with equal diligence to trimming and retrimming an older bonnet to meet the new style standards.

Regency fashion - hatsjane and her new hat

Part of a letter from Jane to her sister Cassandra, in which she discusses hats.

Flowers are very much worn, and fruit is still more the thing. Elizabeth has a bunch of strawberries, and I have seen grapes, cherries, plums, and apricots. There are likewise almonds and raisins, French plums, and tamarinds at the grocers’, but I have never seen any of them in hats… Elizabeth has given me a hat, and it is not only a pretty hat, but a pretty style of hat too. It is something like Eliza’s, only, instead of being all straw, half of it is narrow purple ribbon. I flatter myself, however, that you can understand very little of it from this description. Heaven forbid that I should ever offer such encouragement to explanations as to give a clear one on any occasion myself! But I must write no more of this. . .

Jane Austen to CassandraQueen’s Square, BathJune 2, 1799

In the winter of 1816 Jane became ill with Addisons Disease, which is a tubercular disease of the kidneys. When she was no longer able to walk far, she used to drive out in a little donkey carriage. [This carriage can be seen at the Jane Austen Museum at Chawton.]

By May 1817 she was so ill that she and Cassandra, rented rooms in Winchester so they could be close to Jane's physician. Tragically, then there was no cure for Jane’s illness and at the age of 41 years, she died in her sister's arms in the early hours of 18 July, 1817. Jane is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

Jane’s death notice in the Gentlemen's Quarterly, August 1817 reads: "At Winchester, Miss Jane Austen, youngest daughter of Rev. George Austen, Rector of Steventon, Hants, authoress of "Emma", "Mansfield Park", "Pride and Prejudice", and "Sense and Sensibility.“

Source: http://www.jasa.net.au/jabiog.htm

Farewell Jane

Sources

www.janeausten.co.uk

www.jasa.net.au [Jane Austen Society of Australia]

www.jasna.org/info/about_austen.html [Jane Austen society of North America]