In “Mansfield Park” Jane Austen calls out the irresponsible wealthy in ways that the Occupy Wall Street protests would approve.
Tag Archives: Jane Austen
Jane Austen and “Occupy Wall Street”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Eric Cantor, Hypocrisy, Mansfield Park, politics Comments closed
Using Austen to Understand Racism
African American blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates uses Jane Austen’s villainous Fanny Dashwood to penetrate the mindset of American racists.
Reading for Fun, the Best Education
In “Northanger Abbey,” Jane Austen advocates the ideal way to raise one’s kids: encourage them to read good literature and they will learn the life lessons that they need.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady", Alexander Pope, Alice in Wonderland, James Thompson, Lewis Carroll, Measure for Measure, Northanger Abbey, Othello, Reading to children, Seasons, Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Cinderella vs. Jane Eyre in Soccer Final
In tomorrow’s World Cup finals, Japan is Cinderella going up against America’s Jane Eyre.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Albert Camus, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Any Given Sunday, Charles Baudelaire, Charlotte Bronte, Cinderella, Dead Poets Society, Guillaume Apollinaire, Jane Eyre, Jean de la Fontaine, Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach, Sense and Sensibility, Soccer, Sports, Taming of the Shrew, Villette, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Ask Jane: Expert Relationship Advice
“My idea of good company,” says Anne Elliot in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, “is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation.” To which her cousin replies, “That is not good company, that is the best.” I feel that I have emerged from the best of company as my Jane Austen […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Education, Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Relationships, Sense and Sensibility Comments closed
Dancing in Jane Austen’s Day
Sports Saturday I realize that social dancing isn’t normally regarded as a competitive sport, but I have a dance story I want to share so I’ll bend the rules of “Sports Saturday.” This one involves an afternoon of dancing where my Jane Austen seminar learned a number of the steps that her heroines engage in. […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged dancing, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Sports Comments closed
Lee’s Film Has More Sensibility than Sense
Film Friday A while back I wrote about how Patricia Rozema’s film of Mansfield Park sells Jane Austen short. Today I accuse Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility (1995) of doing the same. When the film came out, I remember hearing an interview with Lee (maybe on National Public Radio) about how his affinity with Jane […]
Austen for Progressive Church Reform
Spiritual Sunday I have come to admire, a great deal, the heroine of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. Under unbelievable social and family pressure, the modest and overlooked Fanny Price sticks to her moral principles as she resists a marriage proposal from an eligible bachelor, the wealthy and dashing Henry Crawford. I have learned only recently […]
Would Tolstoy Today Mention Facebook?
A recent article in The Huffington Post complaining about a significant omission in contemporary novels reminded me of a similar complaint that Jane Austen makes about novels of her own time period. Read the complaint below and then, if you know Jane Austen’s works, see if you can guess which passage I’m thinking of. Asking […]
