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Enron Mail |
I could let the fluff comment fly if you were referring to a woman that had=
=20 written such works in present day, but given that Austen was dealing with a= =20 completely different world with decidedly different expectations for the=20 women in it I cannot. The fact that she was able to challenge those limit= ed=20 expectations and never allow her heroines to sell themselves short or=20 compromise their character should not be taken for granted. Yes, there is = a=20 definite romantic bent to her works, but in addition their is amazing insig= ht=20 into people, their motives, their struggles and their capacity to surprise= =20 even themselves. And in the end, what conquers in her novels is the union = of=20 two individuals who have the utmost respect and appreciation for each other= 's=20 minds and characters not the unequal and servile relationships that=20 constituted the norm for that time. ---------------------- Forwarded by Susan M Scott/HOU/ECT on 05/11/2000 05:= 23=20 PM --------------------------- From: Benjamin Freeman@ENRON on 05/11/2000 05:16 PM To: Susan M Scott/HOU/ECT@ECT cc: =20 Subject: Re: How can you not be a fan? =20 I can see the attraction of Jane Austen's characters. Their complicated=20 characters are intriguing and laughable. Yet I still prefer other genres -= =20 things that I can more concretely apply to my daily life. It is obvious tha= t=20 the same words speak differently for different people.=20 And thank you for keeping my literary brain cells alive with your sporadic= =20 injections of Austen-type-fluff. (Despite the fact that the Little Woodrow'= s=20 nighttime activities are killing other brain cells.) =20 Susan M Scott@ECT 05/11/2000 11:55 AM To: Benjamin Freeman/Corp/Enron@ENRON cc: =20 Subject: How can you not be a fan? Today we remember Jane Austen, the British writer born on this date in 1775= .=20 Austen depreciated herself as a "miniaturist" and a domestic novelist of=20 restricted scope, but her literary legacy is large. She was also able to la= y=20 self-deprecation aside, however, and in Northanger Abbey she declared that= =20 novels -- her chosen genre -- are works in which "the greatest powers of th= e=20 mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, t= he=20 happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and= =20 humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language."=01( Austen's work brims with general statements that are contradicted by the=20 people in her stories. For instance, Pride and Prejudice opens by noting th= at=20 "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of= a=20 good fortune, must be in want of a wife." The book then describes Mrs.=20 Bennett, mother of a household full of marriageable daughters as "a woman o= f=20 mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper." As Austen=20 acquaints us with the tale of each daughter's engagements, she=20 wonders, "For what do we live, but to make sport for our= =20 neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?"As Austen acquaints us with the= =20 tale of each daughter's engagements, she wonders, "For what do we live, but= =20 to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?"
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