Austen's Letters, Part II (Or, how Austen responds to mansplaining)
Hi, Friends!
I'm finally nearing the end of Jane Austen's Letters, which I began way back in January. (What can I say? I'm a slow writer and a slow reader!)
I've loved many different lines from Austen's letters (and cringed at many others), but I think these lines, penned in response to what we might today called "mansplaining," are my favorite:
“You are very, very kind in your hints as to the sort of Composition which might recommend me at present, & I am fully sensible that an Historical Romance, founded on the house of Saxe Cobourg, might be much more to the purpose of Profit or Popularity, than such pictures of domestic life in Country Villages as I deal in — but I could no more write a Romance than an Epic Poem. — I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other motive than to save my Life & if it were indispensable for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first Chapter. — No— I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way, and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other." (Jane Austen to James Stainer Clarke, 1 April 1816)
As the chaplain and secretary to the Prince of Cobourg (Leopold I, who was about to marry George IV's daughter, Charlotte), Clarke surely thought he was being helpful to Austen.
But still, looking back -- hah! I absolutely love that Austen dared to write such a response to some big name royal appointee! Sure, her words are polite on the surface, but they're also a rebuke -- just the kind of zinger we'd expect to read in one of her novels.
Also, I'm fully aware of the irony that I, a fanfic author -- a person who writes Historical Romances using her characters -- am laughing at her response. Yes, yes, Ms. Austen: I've taken your characters and done terrible things to them! I am forever grateful for your wit and wisdom, dear Author!
Finally, is this not the best advice to any writer -- to any person -- out there? " No— I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way, and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other."
Happy reading and writing to you all!
Best,
Christina
I'm finally nearing the end of Jane Austen's Letters, which I began way back in January. (What can I say? I'm a slow writer and a slow reader!)
I've loved many different lines from Austen's letters (and cringed at many others), but I think these lines, penned in response to what we might today called "mansplaining," are my favorite:
“You are very, very kind in your hints as to the sort of Composition which might recommend me at present, & I am fully sensible that an Historical Romance, founded on the house of Saxe Cobourg, might be much more to the purpose of Profit or Popularity, than such pictures of domestic life in Country Villages as I deal in — but I could no more write a Romance than an Epic Poem. — I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other motive than to save my Life & if it were indispensable for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first Chapter. — No— I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way, and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other." (Jane Austen to James Stainer Clarke, 1 April 1816)
As the chaplain and secretary to the Prince of Cobourg (Leopold I, who was about to marry George IV's daughter, Charlotte), Clarke surely thought he was being helpful to Austen.
But still, looking back -- hah! I absolutely love that Austen dared to write such a response to some big name royal appointee! Sure, her words are polite on the surface, but they're also a rebuke -- just the kind of zinger we'd expect to read in one of her novels.
Also, I'm fully aware of the irony that I, a fanfic author -- a person who writes Historical Romances using her characters -- am laughing at her response. Yes, yes, Ms. Austen: I've taken your characters and done terrible things to them! I am forever grateful for your wit and wisdom, dear Author!
Finally, is this not the best advice to any writer -- to any person -- out there? " No— I must keep to my own style & go on in my own Way, and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other."
Happy reading and writing to you all!
Best,
Christina
No comments have been added yet.
