What Matters in Jane Austen? - John Mullan

The subtitle of this book is Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved. It reminded me of the wonderful books of puzzles from classic fiction written by John Sutherland. It's definitely not a book for the novice Janeite, much too confusing. But, for someone like me who has read all the books several times, it's a delicious treat.

John Mullan looks at some of the questions that modern readers have that Jane Austen's contemporaries could take for granted. How much money did one need to get married? What books do the characters read? What games do they play? Why is it risky to go to the seaside? My favourite chapter is on the right & wrong ways to propose marriage. Just think of Mr Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth, Mr Elton's tipsy proposal to Emma in the carriage on the way home from a party or Mr Collins's pompous confidence when asking Elizabeth to marry him. Contrast these comic proposals with the fact that we don't ever witness the proposals that are accepted. Anne & Captain Wentworth go for a walk & leave us behind. Mr Darcy's second proposal to Elizabeth is quite tentative until he is sure of her response. John Mullan thinks that we know these proposals will be accepted because the hero is unsure of acceptance.

Mullan uses these questions to reveal just how clever Austen was as a novelist. She was an innovator, her books are such a leap forward in style, with & readability from those that had gone before. John Mullan explains in the Introduction,

My book asks and answers some very specific questions about what goes on in her novels, in order to reveal her cleverness. The closer you look, the more you see.

This is a book to remind you of what you love in the novels & make you want to reread them. I can't really say any more about it than that. I read a chapter a day & found this was a perfect way to approach it. I learnt something from every chapter & was reminded of the reasons why I love Jane Austen & why her novels stand up to rereading where many others do not.

The divine Miss A

I never tire of reading Jane Austen or of reading about Jane Austen. I've just bought a new book by John Mullan that I've been waiting for with great anticipation. What Matters in Jane Austen? explores 20 critical puzzles about Jane Austen's life & work. I've dipped in already & I know I'm going to love it. The author looks at such questions as why it's risky to go to the seaside, what the characters call each other, what do the characters say about the heroine when she's not present & which important characters never speak.

The first chapter is about why age matters in the novels. It opens with the observation that Mrs Bennet is probably only about 40 & Mr Collins 25. The casting of the various movie & television adaptations sometimes colours our impressions of the age of the various characters. I've always thought it interesting that Colonel Brandon at 35 never thinks of Mrs Dashwood as a potential partner & she can't be more than 40. Was her widowhood off-putting? Were men just expected to look for younger brides who could have children? I'm looking forward to John Mullan's opinion on these vital questions. I've read many biographies of Jane Austen & this is just the kind of book I enjoy. Looking at the life & work from a different angle.

I'm a member of the Jane Austen Society of Australia &, although I can't attend meetings (they're based in Sydney), I enjoy reading their publications which usually contain the texts of the talks & presentations from the study days & conferences they organize. Sensibilities is published twice a year & the December issue contains all the papers from the 2011 conference on Sense & Sensibility. There are articles on marriage in Sense & Sensibility (by Hazel Jones, whose book Jane Austen & Marriage, is on the tbr shelves), Emma Thompson's film version of the novel, an assessment of the 1981 mini series version & an exploration of the notorious Dashwood family, one of whom was the founder of the Hell-fire Club for rakes & renegades & what Jane could have known about this scandalous episode.

I've also succumbed to a Jane Austen-related impulse buy. Reader's Niche is a Melbourne-based online business that sells all kinds of objects with literary associations. When I saw this lovely scarf, I couldn't resist. It's a gorgeous dusty pink colour & as you can see, has a prettified picture of Jane & a quotation from Pride & Prejudice. The website isn't terribly easy to find your way around (the scarves are under Home Decor) but there are lots of posters, tea towels, coffee mugs & even T shirts & charm bracelets. Now if I can only work out how to tie the scarf so that the picture & quotation are both visible... I'm not clever with scarves but I just had to have it. Could any true Janeite resist?