Jane Austen goes to the dark side: social turmoil and scandalous texting in Sense and Sensibility

If you think Jane Austen is light and bright and sparkling, think again. In Sense and Sensibility, her first published novel, Jane goes to the dark side. Listeners remembering Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet laughing prettily in pale dresses might be expecting a tale of sisterly affection and romantic walks, while Hugh Grant stammers and charms his way towards inevitable wedlock.

Tune in to hear how Austen changes the course of the English novel by writing about teenage girls left homeless, the unfairness of inheritance laws, and vulnerable young women whose lives literally depend on being able to trust the men they love. She weaves in a double tragedy where a mother's and a daughter's lives are destroyed by unwanted pregnancies. Austen writes about chronic anxiety and depression, with wickedly clever barbs and catty character take-downs.

Jonty and Sophie discuss the events that led Austen to write this black comedy in the way she did. Hear what was happening in Jane’s seemingly uneventful life that explains the darkness and the scandal of this story, albeit set in delightfully large houses and charming cottages, with a liberal dose of balls, smart carriages, fashionable dresses and even a custom-ordered toothpick-case.

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Further Reading:
Claire Tomalin, Jane Austen: A Life.
Ang Lee, Sense and Sensibility.
Rachel Cohen, Austen Years: A Memoir in Five Novels.
D.A. Miller, Jane Austen and the Secret of Style. Section about the toothpick case in Sense and Sensibility.

Mentioned in episode: William Cowper, Austen’s favourite poet. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-cowper

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