Jane Austen’s legacy is an immense and ever-expanding universe. That said, it is important here at the close of Jane Austen for Beginners to assess some of the ways that Austen’s life and works continue to reverberate and echo in modern culture. When she lived and wrote, Austen’s world was largely bounded by a small stretch of territory in the south of England. Her reach was also limited due to constraints placed on women of her time. Miraculously, however, the stories she crafted two hundred years ago have engaged and will continue to engage huge audiences around the globe.
The most powerful aspect of the Austen legacy is Jane’s defiant and persistent desire to be a writer. During Austen’s lifetime, England was in the dark ages in terms of providing challenging academic opportunities for women. Privileged males who went to school and eventually to college received a highly rigorous classical education, where they learned all major disciples. If a woman attended a school at all, it was more of a finishing school, where she would have been able to refine her talents and manners, thereby increasing her ability to attract a husband. Next to bearing children, this was a woman’s primary goal in life. If she was unmarried or had no money, a woman might consider the professions of governess or school teacher, but most women certainly did not dream of becoming published authors! In this regard especially, Austen is a role model. She is so important to us because she is a pioneer—especially for women. Against the social pressures of her day to marry and have children, Austen fought for her profession as author.
In addition to her persistent desire to write, Jane Austen is a rebel for the way in which she depicted the institution of marriage. Matrimony is central to all the Austen novels. Marriages more often than not during Austen’s time were like arranged marriages. Families would marry off their sons and daughters as a kind of alliance to keep land and money intact between families. Young men and women living in isolated areas did not have many options for partners. Thus family alliances (you’ve heard of “kissing cousins”) were more common than not. Austen defies this marriage tradition. She defied conventions in her own life by refusing a proposal made to her, and she defied it in her novels. Several of her characters refuse proposals of marriage, and all of her female protagonists refuse to settle for loveless marriages. This may not seem outrageous to modern readers, but the act of refusal was radical and unpopular in Jane Austen’s day.
As well, Austen is important to us because in spite of her limited field of vision, she was able to access a world beyond the domestic spaces of her novels. Nineteenth-century women inhabited what is called the private realm in society—that is, the home and hearth. Women were expected to be domestic, delicate, and dedicated to all things related to the family. Men, on the other hand, existed in the public realm, charged with being the doers in society. Men took care of the business, belonged to clubs, drank and gambled, hunted, went to war, traveled, and oversaw farming on their properties and affairs on their estates. Written from the female perspective, Austen’s novels all take place in locations that are part of the private realm. We learn about the off-stage doings of the male characters while we are on stage in the domestic places of women. In Mansfield Park, for example, the reader cannot follow Thomas Bertram to Antigua when he looks after his sugar plantation. The reader stays at home and learns about his doings via communications through letters and gossip. Yet, in spite of these limited points of view, the reach of Austen’s novels extends far outside the family sitting room. Conversation in the private realm reminds us that just outside that sphere the Industrial Revolution is getting underway, war is being fought, and the British Empire is expanding. Windows in Austen’s texts provide us access. We are not on location in Antigua with Thomas Bertram, but we see how the ripple effects of empire-building are experienced back home in England and in the private realms of the women who inhabit the domestic spaces.
Austen also reveals a society that has much in common with our own consumer culture, where economic fates can change suddenly and dramatically for the better and for the worse. This is yet another reason why her novels have become so extremely popular with modern American and British audiences. In our own American culture, we are not fixed or stuck in our positions on the social ladder. Like us, Austen’s characters, and members of her own family, could climb up the social ladder through marriage, business, trade, or military success. Think of the character Bingley from Pride and Prejudice, who is not of landed-gentry stock like his best friend Darcy, but who has made a great fortune for himself via trade and can afford to live the life of a gentleman. Think of Austen’s brother Francis, who rose as high in the ranks of the navy as was possible and died wealthy at the age of 91. Or think of Austen’s brother Henry, who early on achieved an elite social status as a successful banker only to lose it all to bankruptcy later in his career. Two centuries after Austen’s novels were published, we continue to identify—perhaps now more than ever—with the social-class issues she presents.
But Austen’s greatest legacy is the love story. Each of her novels presents us with romantic scenarios between characters that we care deeply about. Time and time again, we are introduced to plots that weave together tension, uncertainty, and frustration only to culminate in total satisfaction. We love the love story, and Austen is a master at telling it. In our contemporary world where romantic behavior between couples can be anything but subtle, many find appealing the portrait in Austen’s work of a time when manners and decorum were polite. Austen hailed from an age when a look, a gentle touch, or a word in passing could hold a universe of meaning. These subtleties engage and excite our imaginations. Her romances distract us from our busy lives and enable us—if only briefly—to understand and appreciate the meaning of true, unconditional love.
• • •
In a general sense, Jane Austen’s novels are so popular with a wide spectrum of modern readers and scholars because her stories present us with many levels of interpretation. You may read her work without paying such close attention to the historical aspects, and your experience will be thoroughly enjoyable; however, you can always dig deeper. Every level of interpretation is valid and gratifying. And if you are willing, Austen will help you go further into her world. Her legacy is the writing that she left us.
Her work continues to resonate with modern-day readers because of its depth and relevance. And for teachers, students, and general readers, Austen’s novels facilitate learning about both Austen’s England and the wider world that surrounds it. We read them for the richness of knowledge that they provide, and we enjoy them because they are smart, funny, challenging, and useful.
Beyond the six novels that Jane Austen left us, how do we explain the many hundreds of Austen-related books, films, spinoffs, and web resources that continue to appear daily on bookshelves, on the Internet, in movie theaters, and on TV screens? Austen wrote an estimated 1500 pages of fictional text, and yet, judging by the unending production of new Austen-related fiction (consider the popularity of Seth Grahame-Smith’s 2009 parody novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or esteemed English mystery writer P.D. James’ best-selling 2011 novel Death Comes to Pemberley), it seems we want to keep her career up and running for 150,000 more pages. Why are the six novels not enough? Why do we keep writing more Jane? There is no clearcut answer. Perhaps we can’t get enough of the love story; perhaps we long for times that were simpler. Since Austen died prematurely at age 41, in the prime of her writing career, perhaps we want to correct the tragedy that nature committed in taking her life too soon; or perhaps we seek to rediscover our favorite author in our speculations about what she would have written next or what was contained in those thousands of letters that Cassandra destroyed. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the Jane Austen formula has become an industry; she makes money, she excites imaginations, and we can’t leave her alone.
The list of Austen-inspired texts, films, and resources that follows is evidence that though Jane Austen may be gone from this world, she is not forgotten. Look on fellow Janeite,
and feast your eyes on a lifetime of reading and viewing pleasure. I hope you will be impressed that this multi-page list is all the result of a modest vision created by a provincial woman from a small village in the south of England, who never wandered far from her birthplace.
Jane Austen in Popular Culture
A (Partial) List
Film and Television. Adaptations of Jane Austen’s Novels:
Sense and Sensibility
Television Miniseries (1971)
Television Miniseries (1981)
Feature Film (Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet; 1995)
Television Miniseries (2008)
Kandukondain Kandukondain—“Bollywood” Feature Film, based on the novel (2000)
Pride and Prejudice
Television Film (1938)
Feature Film (Laurence Olivier, Greer Garson; 1940)
Television Miniseries (1952)
Orgoglio e Pregudizio Television Miniseries (1957)
Television Miniseries (1958)
De vier dochters Bennet Television Miniseries (1961)
Television Miniseries (1967)
Television Miniseries (1980)
Television Miniseries (1995)
Feature Film (Keira Knightley, Donald Sutherland; 2005)
You’ve Got Mail—Feature Film, inspired by the novel (1998)
Bridget Jones’s Diary—Feature Film, inspired by the novel (2001)
Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy— Feature Film, updating the novel (2003)
Bride and Prejudice—“Bollywood” Feature Film, based on the novel (2004)
Lost in Austen—Television Miniseries, inspired by the novel (2008)
Mansfield Park
Television Miniseries (1983)
Feature Film (Frances O’Connor, Jonny Lee Miller; 1999)
Television Miniseries (2007)
Emma
Feature Film (1948)
6-Part Television Series (1960)
6-Part Television Series (1972)
Feature Film (Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor; 1996)
Television Film (Kate Beckinsale, 1996)
4-Part Television Series (2009)
Clueless—Feature Film, inspired by the novel (1995)
Northanger Abbey
Television Film (1986)
Television Film (2007)
Persuasion
Television Miniseries (1960)
Television Miniseries (1971)
Television Film (Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds; 1995)
Television Film (2007)
Austen-Related Feature Films:
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
Becoming Jane (Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy; 2007)
Jane Austen in Manhattan (Anne Baxter, 1980)
Austen-Related Books
Paranormal
Emma and the Werewolves by Jane Austen and Adam Rann
Jane Bites Back: A Novel by Michael Thomas Ford
Mansfield Park and Mummies by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange
The Phantom of Pemberley: A Pride & Prejudice Murder Mystery by Regina Jeffers
Pride, Prejudice & Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Sense, Sensibility & Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Sense & Sensibility Spinoffs
Colonel Brandon’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Miss Lucy Steele by Ruth Berger
The Third Sister: A Novel That Continues What Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility Began by Julia Barrett
Willoughby’s Return: A Tale of Almost Irresistible Temptation by Jane Odiwe
Pride & Prejudice Spinoffs
Apprehension and Desire by Ola Wegner and Janusz Wilcznski
Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley by Linda Berdoll
The Darcy Cousins by Monica Fairview
The Darcys & the Bingleys: A Tale of Two Gentlemen’s Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters by Marsha Altman
Darcy’s Temptation: A Sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice by Regina Jeffers
Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James
The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
Fate and Consequences by Linda Wells
First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride & Prejudice by Alexa Adams
Impulse & Initiative: What If Mr. Darcy Had Set Out To Win Elizabeth’s Heart by Abigail Reynolds
Longbourn’s Unexpected Matchmaker by Emma Hox
Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley by Sharon Lathan
Memory Volume 1: Lasting Impressions by Linda Wells
Memory Volume 2: Trials to Bear by Linda Wells
Memory Volume 3: How Far We Have Come by Linda Wells
Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride: A Sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice by Helen Halstead
Mr. Darcy’s Daughters by Elizabeth Aston
Mr. Darcy’s Decision: A Sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice by Juliette Shapiro
Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape: A Tale of the Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
My Dearest Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan
A Noteworthy Courtship by Laura Sanchez
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Pemberley Shades: Pride and Prejudice Continues by D. A. Bonavia-Hunt
The Plight of the Darcy Brothers by Marsha Altman
Rainy Days by Lory Lilian
The Second Mrs. Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
To Conquer Mr. Darcy by Abigail Reynolds
The True Darcy Spirit by Elizabeth Aston
Mansfield Park Spinoffs
Edmund Bertram’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Matters at Mansfield: Or, The Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris
Mansfield Park Revisited by Joan Aiken
Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd
The Watsons and Emma Watson: Jane Austen’s Unfinished Novel, completed by Joan Aiken
The Youngest Miss Ward by Joan Aiken
Emma Spinoffs
Chance Encounters by Linda Wells
Deception: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Ola Wegner and Janusz Wilcznski
Emma and Knightley: Perfect Happiness in Highbury by Rachel Billington
George Knightley, Esquire: Charity Envieth Not by Barbara Cornthwaite
Intrigue at Highbury: Or, Emma’s Match by Carrie Bebris
James Fairfax by Jane Austen and Adam Campan
Jane Fairfax: The Secret Story of the Second Heroine in Jane Austen’s Emma by Joan Aiken
Mr. Knightley’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mrs. Elton in America: The Compleat Mrs. Elton by Diana Birchall
Remembrance of the Past by Lory Lilian
A Visit to Highbury by Joan Austen-Leigh
Persuasion Spinoffs
Captain Wentworth’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion: Jane Austen’s Classic Retold Through His Eyes by Regina Jeffers
For You Alone (Frederick Wentworth, Captain, Book 2) by Susan Kaye
Mercy’s Embrace: Elizabeth Elliot’s Story, Book 1 — So Rough a Course by Laura Hile
Mercy’s Embrace: Elizabeth Elliot’s Story, Book 2 — So Lively a Chase by Laura Hile
Mercy’s Embrace: Elizabeth Elliot’s Story, Book 3 — The Lady Must Decide by Laura Hile
None but You (Frederick Wentworth, Captain, Book 1) by Susan Kaye
Lady Susan Spinoff
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter: A Novel of Jane Austen’s Lady Susan by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
Austen-Inspired Fiction (Contemporary Settings)
According to Jane by Marilyn Brant
A Little Bit Psychic: Pride and Prejudice with a Modern Twist by Aimee Avery
Amanda (The Austen Series, Book 5) by Debra White Smith
Central Park (The Austen Series, Book 3) by Debra White Smith
; First Impressions (The Austen Series, Book 1) by Debra White Smith
The Importance of Being Emma by Juliet Archer
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
Love, Lies and Lizzie by Rosie Rushton
The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice: A Modern Love Story With A Jane Austen Twist by Abigail Reynolds
Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter
Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo
Northanger Alibi by Jenni James
Northpointe Chalet (The Austen Series, Book 4) by Debra White Smith
Perfect Fit: A Modern Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Linda Wells
Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan
Possibilities (The Austen Series, Book 6) by Debra White Smith
Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field by Melissa Nathan
Reason and Romance (The Austen Series, Book 2) by Debra White Smith
Secret Schemes and Daring Dreams by Rosie Rushton
Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready
Vanity and Vexation by Kate Fenton
Jane Austen Websites and Blogs
austen.com
austenblog.com
austenfans.com
findingjaneausten.com
janeausten.ac.uk (Jane Austen Fiction Manuscripts)
Jane Austen For Beginners Page 14