Austen's Letters, 1796

Well, it's been a while! I've been trying to learn how to balance various parts of my life -- writing, teaching, parenting, general living. I'm writing again, still teaching part-time, and being a (mostly) decent mom, so I guess it's going...well? Anyway, I'm having fun. :)

I'm always amazed by how many identities and tasks other people balance in their daily lives. How do you all accomplish so much in a mere twenty-four hours (sixteen if you're getting enough sleep)? If you have any tips, let me know!

But for now, I just wanted to share a few tidbits from Jane Austen's Letters, which I began a few days ago for the Austenesque Lovers 2023 January challenge.

So, here are a few favorite moments or thoughts from the 1796 letters, in no particular order:

Humor! That's to be expected, of course. I wish I could write letters half so funny! Don't you just love sentences like this one?

"Here I am once more in this Scene of Dissipation & vice, and I begin already to find my Morals corrupted" (JA to sister Cassandra, 23 Aug 1796).

Love Life? So, here's something shocking: I have never read a full-length Austen biography. That means I'm wading through these letters only half-understanding what's happening to Austen and her family in 1796. Still, I rather like this blind approach, as I get to imagine that her references to Tom LeFroy (supposedly the man she loved but could not marry) are more sarcastic than romantic. I don't know why I prefer that; I suppose I just hate to think Austen was ever truly heartbroken.

Anyway, don't you think this line has to be sarcastic?

"At length the Day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, & when you receive this it will be over -- -- My tears flow as I write, at the melancholy idea" (JA to sister Cassandra, 14-15 January 1796). Perhaps she writes with humor because she doesn't truly believe it is over, and her true feeling of melancholy happens "off stage," so to speak? (Or in one of the many letters Cassandra ended up burning?)

Real Life: I've loved the chatty nature of these letters, even if I don't understand half the references Austen is making. (Editor Deirdre Le Faye's notes certainly help!) I'm reminded that, even if Austen and her contemporaries lived by a different set of cultural codes, they were still humans who laughed, cried, flirted, made purchases, visited friends, etc. I sometimes think we Regency authors focus too much on the "rules" of this society, as if they dictated every moment of people's lives and feelings. It's as if some future historian were to take a look at the rules of the school where I work and assume these rules tell us how my students live their lives. Believe me, the "no cell phone during the school day" rule is not the way most of my students live (at least until I confiscate their phones... muahahaha!).

All right, that's enough for now. Back to writing! (For a variety of reasons, I don't actually teach again until February, so I have another month to buckle down and make progress -- I hope -- on Disappearing Act, which, believe it or not, I'm still writing!)

Happy 2023 to you all!