Although I’m deep in the final editing for Fly with a Rogue, Jane Austen’s been on my mind this week, for various reasons.
A dear friend just gave me the cutest gift: the Cozy Classics version of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, by Jack and Holman Wang. It’s part of a series presenting classics using “twelve child friendly words and twelve needle felted illustrations.” It’s cleverly done. Here’s an example, from the famous “She is tolerable” scene.
Now I am wondering if I scooped Amanda on this one. It almost makes up for the sad fact that no one has ever given me a Jane Austen action figure.
That same action figure is featured, along with the delightful Republic of Pemberley, in this recent piece on “10 Signs of Jane Austen Addiction.” It’s good for a few laughs. My own score was middling. I own only one copy of each book and do not have a Jane Austen action figure. Sigh…
This lighthearted piece also attracted a surprising number of comments angrily dissing Jane “Austin” and her books. I broke my usual rule of not reading comments—maybe I was procrastinating on the editing—and as always, I wondered why some people do so much online ranting. If you don’t like Jane Austen books or film adaptations, why not just read or watch something else?
Maybe it’s because Jane Austen wrote about relationships, and not just romantic ones. Maybe people who are challenged in the area of human relationships need to disparage such books the same way children who struggle with math call it “stupid.”
But it gets worse. Recently, the Bank of England announced plans to put Jane Austen on the 10 pound note. Read what happened here.
It is depressing that misogyny is alive and well in our world. But that’s all the more reason for women to keep reading and writing what we enjoy, to keep voting, to keep speaking out as we see fit, and to keep reaching for success, however we’d like to define it.
So I will continue my editing–vowing to avoid all distractions! Once the book is out there, I’m going to treat myself and my daughters to a Pride & Prejudice movie marathon.
Why do you think Jane Austen provokes such strong reactions? How do you cope with trolls?
Elena
I think Jane Austen will always provoke strong reactions because so much of what she writes simply tells the truth – the truth about the human heart and the human condition.
And, of course, anytime a person or a work or collection of works is put on a pedestal the trolls in this world cannot resist their urge to take shots at it. There is an entire class of people who will never achieve anything in their lives and they despise those who have. I got out of teaching because the powers that be began to insist I award everyone the same grades. No one was supposed to stand out. The others might get their feelings hurt. Funny, I don’t recall the portion of the Constitution that says we don’t award excellence, that all people have to be graded equally and that no one should ever be offended or have their feelings hurt.
When dealing with trolls I remind myself they must live truly sad and desperate lives. Their world is very narrow. They sit with their troll friends and congratulate each other on being fashionably cynical. They don’t have a thought in their heads that some faction of popular culture hasn’t stuffed in their. The world is a wonderful place if you just open your mind to it. These people never will.
So sorry to hear about your teaching experiences. My elementary school was run along old-fashioned lines and I hated it. I was uncomfortable with the praise I got for easy As and also uneasy with the shaming that was doled out to students who struggled. It was a bad system; however, treating every student as a star isn’t the right answer. Fortunately, most of my daughters’ teachers seemed to get it right: treating each student as an individual, recognizing strengths (everyone has some) and weaknesses and working with them intelligently.
IMHO if there were more parenting and teaching in this manner, we would have fewer trolls. But I don’t know if it works this way in other school districts in other places.
I’m sensitive to trolls but pity them, too. What a waste of precious life.
One of the first schools where I taught adhered to a self-paced curriculum and it really worked. I had no more than a dozen students in a classroom at the time. Everyone worked at their own pace until they finished the course. I was able to help those who needed it to actually learn the material completely and to know they had done so rather than just being given a passing grade and moved on. I was also able to teach them about respect for each other, helping each other and being excited about everyone’s progress. Those who got the material quickly were able to help those who didn’t. It really was a great system. Unfortunately after five years the school was no longer financially viable and it had to close. I only lasted a year teaching in public schools where I was encouraged to give poor students passing grades to move them up and to give outstanding students average grades to avoid making any of them ‘stars’.
It was the parents who finally made me quit. They were just as vocal about my giving kids passing grades just for showing up and I realized I was fighting a losing battle. They just wanted their children to get that piece of paper (diploma.) They didn’t care if their kids could read above a sixth grade level or do math about a fourth grade level. I just couldn’t do it.
I hear you, Louisa! There’s a societal problem even though some people cop out and just blame teachers.
I have seen the “cozy classics” books, but alas don’t have a copy yet!! I do give copies of the “Little Miss Austen” P&P to all friends who have new babies, so I think I got 8 out of 10 on the JA addict list. Kinda sad 🙂