#jane-austen

#jane-austen

In an early scene in Kate Evans' Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen, she depicts 3-month-old, bundled-up baby Jane being smuggled out through the back door of her family's large home. The man who takes the baby is John Littleworth, a local tenant farmer, whose wife, Elizabeth, will care for the infant in their modest cottage for a small fee until Jane, at 2 years old, is returned.

News that Andrew Davies the man behind the nation's most beloved Pride and Prejudice adaptation is planning to have Jane Austen's Emma die in childbirth drew gasps from audiences at Cliveden literary festival last weekend. Davies is planning to explore the dark undercurrents of Austen's work in adaptations of Emma, Mansfield Park and unfinished novel The Watsons, and while his ideas may shock those fans wedded to Austen as a romcom author, I couldn't be happier.

I was born in the wrong century or so my mother says, while I protest from my writing bureau, wax seal in hand, ready to dispatch an Austen-style letter to a friend. But as I put out the candle flame with my antique snuffer, I wonder if she might be right. For me, the past has always felt like home I grew up on a literary diet of classic fiction, seasoned with a love of my Regency hero, Jane Austen.

A cross-cultural, British-and-Bollywood-meets-Hollywood take on Austen's most famous novel, the film is pure joy a riot of original musical numbers, colourful costumes, chaos, culture clashes and, of course, romance. You may think it wouldn't work, but it does. Released after the huge success of Bend It Like Beckham, Chadha spent two years filming Bride &Prejudice across three continents. It's a homage to the Bollywood films she grew up watching with a modern, western twist a cinematic expression of her hybrid identity.

Alexander Pope's satire warns against seeking virtue at the royal court, suggesting that one must be wary of the moral character of advisers.

Schwartz highlights that irony and sincerity are essential in Austen's works, blending total realism with total fantasy, creating an endlessly alluring narrative.

"No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be a heroine." This quote establishes the unconventional nature of Austen's protagonist.

Keeley Hawes expressed her excitement about joining the Jane Austen world with her role in Miss Austen, a series about Jane's sister Cassandra.

The Four Seasons, a comedy series starring Tina Fey and Steve Carell, tests a decades-long friendship among couples when one couple divorces, complicating their getaways.