200th Anniversary of Pride and Prejudice…

Tea with Jane Austen

I was recently reading a book entitled, ‘Tea with Jane Austen‘ on how Jane enjoyed tea throughout her day. It was Jane who made the breakfast tea for her family.

One of our all time favorite stories by Jane is ‘Pride and Prejudice‘. Dearest and I watch the latest version over and over again, frequently quoting lines from the movie. There are a number of novels written over time, which can boast the status of, ‘best opening lines’. Pride and Prejudice is one of those books. “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”; thus begins Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

On January 29, 1813 Jane wrote to her share with her that ‘her own darling child’ “Pride and Prejudice had been published.  You can see a video here sharing bits of Jane Austen’s home, her writing desk and her love of writing.

There will apparently be a flurry of books, television shows and movies coming out related to Jane Austen and her writings

• Love and Friendship by Jane Austen
• What Matters in Jane Austen?: Twenty Crucial Puzzles Solved
• Jane Austen, Game Theorist
• Jane Austen’s Guide to Thrift: An Independent Woman’s Advice on Living within One’s Means
• The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After
• The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After

•  Austenland, a movie based on the novel of the same name, interestingly produced by ‘Twilight’ famed author, Stephanie Meyer.
•  Sense and Sensibility modern remake for CBS.
• Darcy’s Town, Jennifer Love Hewitt will produce this contemporary version of Pride and Prejudice
• “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries,” an intriguing sign of the times version being a web series in which Mr. Darcy has Twitter.
• Austenland, a movie based on the novel of the same name, in which a “lonely Jane Austen fan who falls in love at an Austen theme park,” starring Keri Russell and produced by Stephenie Meyer.
• Based on the British Series, Lost in Austen, a movie will feature a woman of our time who magically switches place with Pride and Prejudice heroin, Elizabeth Bennet.

I have often wondered what it would be like to visit Jane and to see life in her time. I think we do romanticize different eras thinking another time to be a better time. I like where I am now, I can appreciate the loveliness of different times, the wonderful mind and heart of Jane Austen in understanding women, family relations,  love, relationship and society in her time.

In the end, I think it enriching to read Jane Austen’s work, to feel a sense of Kindred Spirit with her and to take the best of what you embrace from her writings by making the best of the time you live in – make your own romantic ‘Austenland’ a reality.