Happy birthday, Jane Austen!

This date, December 16, happens to be the birth anniversary of Jane Austen, one of the most famous writers of her time. She died at the age of 41, leaving six full-length novels (among other works) that captured the spirit of the age; her popularity and influence extend to current times. There have been several biographies, and every few years there is a new film or TV series or modern-day reimagining of her books. In a recent poll in the Daily Mail, she topped the list of Britain’s greatest authors, with Shakespeare coming in at number four!

From being dismissed as chick-lit writer of the past, to early feminist observer, whose heroines strained at the leashes of 18th century constraints, Jane Austen’s books have been studied and analysed over the years, and every reader would have read at least one: Sense And Sensibility, Pride And Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey (the last two were published posthumously). The first sentence of Pride and Prejudice, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,” makes it to every list of great literary opening lines.

She was writing about the English aristocracy of the time, when women did not inherit property or titles, the eldest son did; if there was no son, primogeniture laws favoured the nearest male relative. If the men ill-treated or evicted the women, they could be reduced to destitution. There were very few job options for a woman — governess, teacher, nurse, maid. The only way to save herself from this fate was to marry a suitable man, preferably one from the same social class.

Still, over two centuries later, Austen’s heroines continue to inspire readers, perhaps because, in spite of all positive changes in the condition of women, some problems never go away — the anxiety over marriage is still a burden women and their families carry. Pride and Prejudice’s Mrs Bennet, the mother of five daughters, worrying about finding matches for them is a relatable character even today, when unmarried daughters are seen to reflect poorly on the family.

Geoff Nunbergm writing in npr.org correctly observes, “[Austen’s novels] cry out for adaptation. They seem infinitely resilient: You can relocate them to Beverley Hills or Delhi; rewrite them as murder mysteries or erotica, populate them with vampires and zombies — they'll always retain some trace of their original appeal.”

Among the dozens or stage and screen versions the world over, there have been two modern adaptations of Austen novels to the Indian screen — Bride And Prejudice (2004) by Gurinder Chadha, starring Aishwarya Rai and Martin Henderson, and Emma as Aisha (2010, Rajshree Ojha) starring Sonam Kapoor.

The appeal of Jane Austen’s books has just never faded. As Clare McHugh writes in The Washington Post, “Wander down the aisle of any bookshop, browsing covers, and you are bound to find more than one referencing Jane Austen: The Jane Austen Society, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Other Bennet Sister, Jane Fairfax, The Jane Austen Project. A literary industrial complex has mushroomed around the Regency-era author during the past two decades, fuelled by readers who, having delighted in one, two or all six of her beloved novels, eagerly snap up adjacent titles. Publishers with high sales figures dancing in their heads gladly feed the machine, to mixed results.”

Jane Austen, who remained single herself and not for lack of suitors, wrote of the romantic and marital troubles of Regency era women with wit, empathy and astute perceptiveness. In spite of social norms stacked against them, Austen heroines — Elizabeth Bennet above all — were bright and spirited.

In her first book (which was published anonymously, with the words ‘By A Lady’ appearing in place of the author), Sense and Sensibility, the two impoverished Dashwood sisters face a whole lot of tribulations before settling down into marriage — Marianne, jilted by her lover, weds a staid man many years her senior, while the sedate Elinor gets to marry the man she loves.

In Austen’s most loved book, Pride And Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are attracted to each other, but she consents to marry him, only when she is convinced of his love for her. Elizabeth is the most endearing of Austen’s heroines, and also the author’s favourite. (The name Darcy has come to represent Mr Right over the years, right up to Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and beyond).

Northanger Abbey is the charming coming-of-age story of a naïve young woman, Catherine Morland, who eventually finds a suitable man to love and marry. Fanny Price, the heroine of Mansfield Park, is sent by her poor family to live with her aunt and uncle; in spite of her circumstances, she refuses the proposal by an unsuitable man and eventually marries the kindly Edmund Bertram.

In her most light-hearted novel, Emma, the titular character is the rich young woman who tries, unsuccessfully, to matchmake among her friends — finally falling in love herself with the mature George Knightley.

In Persuasion, Anne Elliot was forced by her snobbish father to reject Captain Frederick Wentworth, but when he returns from war, she discovers his true love for her.

Austen wrote — with a lot of inspiration from her own life — about what would be considered minor matters in the larger scheme of things, but that also could be the reason for her undiminished popularity. There is the common thread of young women coming of age, after going through financial troubles, romance and heartbreak, to discover their own strengths and appreciate the strong and silent men who love them.

“It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.” Or “Oh! I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other…” Or “I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature. My attachments are always excessively strong.” These are sharp and surprisingly modern lines for a time when women had little education and few legal rights.

Interestingly, it is not just women who read her novels. Many male writers of her time (like Sir Walter Scott), and those who came after her, appreciated her writing too. Rudyard Kipling wrote a story titled The Janeites, about a group of World War I soldiers bonding over Jane Austen novels (“there's no one to touch Jane when you're in a tight spot”), from which the name of the Austen fan club — Janeites — probably emerged. He also wrote a poem, Jane’s Marriage, that concludes with the lines:

Jane lies in Winchester, blessed be her shade!

Praise the Lord for making her, and her for all she made.

And while the stones of Winchester—or Milsom Street—remain,

Glory, Love, and Honour unto England's Jane!

The writer is a Mumbai-based columnist, critic, and author

Published on: Friday, December 16, 2022, 06:00 AM IST