Ridgefield Library, 472 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877

The Library will commemorate the 200th anniversary

of Jane Austen’s death with a series of lectures, book

discussions, film screenings & more!

Unless noted otherwise,

please register for all programs at

ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282

Ridgefield Library Presents

All About Jane:

Celebrating 200 Years of Jane Austen

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single

man in possession of a good fortune,

must be in want of a wife. ”

“He is a gentleman, and I am a gentleman's daughter.

So far we are equal.”

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice

Summer and Fall 2017

Sunday, October 1, 2 PM @ Yale Center For British Art,

1080 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT

A Jane Austen Inspired Tour of the Yale Center for British

Art in New Haven with Patricia Carr

During this tour Patricia Carr will imagine that

some of the portraits in the collection are

characters in the novels of Jane Austen as she

discusses the paintings. This interactive tour is an

interesting way to view the Center’s admirable

collection of British art, the largest in the world

outside of the UK. The tour is limited to 15. Fee

is $5 per person at ridgefieldlibrary.org.

Special Events

Thursday, November 2, 10 :30 AM

Murder by the Book: Jane and the

Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by

Stephanie Barron The opening volume in a long-running series in which Jane

Austen investigates murder and other skullduggery in early

19th century England.

Tuesday, November 14, 6:30 PM @ Ridgefield High School

& Wednesday, November 15, 6:30 PM @ the Library

Books Building Bridges: Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

Adult readers are invited to join students from Ridgefield

High School in this year's Books Building Bridges

intergenerational book chats, facilitated by high school

students. Adults and students are encouraged to attend either

the session on Tuesday, November 14 at Ridgefield High

School or on Wednesday, November 15 at the Library.

Book Discussions

Sunday, November 12, 1 - 4 PM

Jane Austen Celebration Party!

Period card games, refreshments, crafts, live

music and more! Come in period costume if

you would like, and remember that “One

cannot have too large a party.” - Emma

Additional Programs

We are scheduling additional events including some craft and

sewing programs. Check our All About Jane webpage for

up-to-date information about all we have going on

for Austen fans this summer and fall!

Also, be sure to check out the Library Store on the Main Level

for Jane Austen-themed souvenir and other gift items.

Al l About Jane

i s m a de p os s i b l e t h an k s to t he

F r i e nd s o f t he Li bra r y

Copies of titles by, about and inspired by Jane Austen may be

purchased at a special 15% discount at Books on the Common,

or inquire at any service desk about print, audio

and eBook availability through the Library.

Thursday, September 14, 7 PM

Sensibility and Sense: How the 18th Century Meets the 19th

in Jane Austen's Novels with Dr. Mark Schenker

The novels of Jane Austen (1775-1817) were published between 1811 and

1818—four during her lifetime and two posthumously. But all are set in the

closing years of the 18th century and in the opening years of the 19th. In her

fiction’s witty presentation and critique of the British landed gentry at the turn

of the century, it may be seen as providing a bridge between the novel of

sensibility, which Austen satirized as excessively sentimental, and the literary

realism that was to form the hallmark of the 19th-century novel.

Dr. Mark J. Schenker has been at Yale College since 1990. He is currently a

senior associate dean of the College and dean of academic affairs.

Sunday, September 24, 2 PM

ARTalk: The World of Jane Austen Through Paintings

of the Period with Patricia Carr

With the aid of beautiful slides, including many of

paintings of the time, Carr will help us enter Jane

Austen’s world and learn a little more about what life

was like for the country gentry. Patricia Carr was

born and studied in England. For the past thirteen

years she has worked as a docent at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington,

CT and she also gives guided tours at the Yale Center for British Art. She

will lead a Jane Austen-themed tour there on Sunday, Oct. 1 at 2 PM.

Thursday, October 12, 7 PM

Fashion in Fiction: Jane Austen's Regency Novels

with Kandie Carle

Clothing speaks volumes in Jane Austen's Regency

novels. Join us for a delightful show-and-tell on the

clothing of Regency England as reflected in Jane Austen's

fiction. The program includes dressing "Elizabeth Bennet”

and “Mr. Darcy,” and readings from Miss Austen's letters

and novels.

While dressed in authentic Regency attire, Kandie

Carle will give a detailed overview of the clothing of the Regency Era (early

1800s) for both gentlemen and ladies. Then Ms. Carle will share excerpts

from Austen's personal letters as well as passages from some of the novels,

highlighting Miss Austen's use of clothing and fashion to define character and

class, enhance story line and develop plot points.

Teens through adults will enjoy discovering just how important fashion was

200 years ago!

Lectures

Tuesday, September 26, 1 PM and 7 PM

Film Screening: Emma (1996, PG, 120 mins.)

This delightfully fun and lighthearted comedy is based

on Jane Austen's classic novel.

Monday, October 9, 3:30 to 5:30 PM

Teen Film Screening: Clueless (1995, PG13,

97 mins.)

Teens join us for the screening of the cult classic

Clueless, a modern day retelling of Jane

Austen's Emma, starring Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd.

This is a drop-in program and registration is not necessary. Snacks will be

provided.

Tuesday, October 10, 1 PM and 7 PM

Film Screening: Sense and Sensibility (1995,

PG, 135 mins.)

Emma Thompson stars in the captivating romance based

on Jane Austen's classic novel of two sisters' search for

love in strict Georgian society. Also featuring Kate

Winslett and Hugh Grant.

Saturday, November 4, 1 PM

Book to Movie Film Screening and

Discussion: Pride and Prejudice led by

Mark Edwards (2005, PG, 128 mins.)

Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, Matthew

Macfadyen and Talulah Riley, will be screened with a

discussion to follow led by author and teacher Mark

Edwards.

Mark Edwards teaches media studies at Sacred Heart University. He also

teaches an Art of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing course for the

M.F.A. program at Lesley University.

Tuesday, November 7, 3:30 to 5:30 PM

Teen Film Screening: Austenland (2013,

PG13, 97 mins.)

Teens join us for the screening of the film Austenland

starring Keri Russel.

This is a drop-in program and registration is not

necessary. Snacks will be provided.

Movies

Tuesday, September 5, 7 PM

Nonfictioneers Book Discussion: Jane

Austen's England: Daily Life in the

Georgian and Regency Periods by Leslie

and Roy Adkins

Jane Austen’s England explores the customs and

culture of the real England of her everyday existence

depicted in her classic novels.

Wednesday, September 27, 10 AM & 7 PM

AM Book Discussion: Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen, led by Mary Rindfleisch

Clergyman’s daughter Catherine Morland loves the

suspense and romance of the popular Gothic novels of

the day and expects to find similar excitement when

she is invited to visit some new friends at the

forbidding Northanger Abbey, their family estate.

Austen adds a satirical send-up of the Gothic sensibility to her usual keen

observation of human frailties.

Thursday, October 12, 3 PM @ Founders Hall, 193

Danbury Road, Ridgefield, CT

Founders Hall Book Discussion: Emma

by Jane Austen, led by Mary Rindfleisch

Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris

and the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was

first published in December 1815. As in her other

novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of

genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England;

she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her

characters. Open to members of Founders Hall only.

Tuesday, October 17, 10 AM & 7 PM

Critics' Circle Book Group Discussion: Sense and

Sensibility by Jane Austen, led by Dorothy Pawlowski

Marianne Dashwood falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John

Willoughby and ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive

behavior leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor is

struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment. Through their

parallel experiences of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that

sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a

society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Book Discussions