February turns our thoughts to love and friendship — coincidentally also the title of a story by Jane Austen, a writer commonly thought of as celebrating romance. It turns out, however, that Austen’s writing is a lot more complex. I first read her most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice, 30 years ago, and I continue to reread it and her other compositions, as well as assorted literary analyses about them. I learn more about her genius all the time.

The numerous movie and television productions of her novels introduce many people to her work, but these costume dramas have also led some to underrate her creations. Emma (1996) was popular when I became engaged, and the Regency fashion in the film was the inspiration for many wedding dresses when I married (mine included). However, the costumes are all modern additions to her stories. Austen has a surprising lack of physical detail in her novels, with her most famous heroine’s description limited to her “fine eyes”.

Austen’s oeuvre was limited by her tragic early death, but film remakes are endless, with the latest Emma released in 2020. Even her unfinished novel (Sanditon) has been adapted for television. Her works are so influential that they form the basis of a whole category of modern novels and films that focus on her minor characters, place modern characters in Austen settings (Austenland, Lost in Austen), or reinterpret her work into present-day settings (Clueless, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bride and Prejudice). Some films have also tried to cross into the mystery and horror genres (Death Comes to Pemberley, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).

Austen is so beloved that even her earliest writings have been published. “Love and Freindship” was written in 1790 when she was fourteen and appears in Volume the Second of her collected juvenilia. By the way, spelling wasn’t a big deal back then, perhaps another reason I love the period so much. Even her letters are valued as windows into her amazing mind, and the world mourns the unknown letters that her sister burned after Jane’s death.

Part of Austen’s success in scholarly circles and popular culture alike is because her work was groundbreaking, and yet, timeless. The romance novel as an art form had just been invented when Austen began writing. In “A Brief History of the Romance Novel”, romance novels are defined as “being primarily written by women, for women, and about women.” Austen’s first novel to be completed, Northanger Abbey (though not published until after her death), is a parody of contemporary gothic romances. Although she deals with the marriage market in her novels, her wit and ironic humour prevent her writing from being sappy; and in fact, she writes from a feminist perspective, highlighting the limits women of her time were forced to accept. Her rebellious spirit is part of her appeal to today’s audiences.

The best analysis of Austen’s work I have read is Paula Byrne’s The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things, which approaches Austen’s biography through objects. This format resonated with the archaeologist in me, but also effectively revealed important details about her, including the context of her work within her society, and how her feminism and abolitionism are revealed in her writing.

If you want to learn more about Austen or are already a Janeite looking for a fix, you can find an episode featuring Byrne discussing Austen’s relationship to theatre on the January instalment of Austen Wednesdays, broadcast by Jane Austen’s House, the museum in Chawton, England.

Take a virtual tour of Jane Austen’s House and wander her halls, see some of her clothes, and listen to music she played. Other instalments of their Austen Wednesdays feature food and clothing of her era. Or, listen to a broadcast of a lecture about Austen’s life by Fiona Stafford, through the UK’s National Archives.

On my current wish list is Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan, by Ted Scheinman, and Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion, by Hilary Davidson. Perhaps one of you dear readers could casually work these into a conversation with my husband, as possible gift ideas for me, in lieu of the traditional February flowers or chocolates?

Postscript: 

If you love Austen’s stories and wish there were more than just six major novels, take heart! As an Austen substitute, I recommend Georgette Heyer, author of over 50 mystery, historical, contemporary and romance novels. 

In 1921, at the age of nineteen, she published her first novel, inventing the historical romance genre with this swashbuckling tale set in the 1700s. In 1935, she created a new sub-genre — the Regency Romance — which her extensive historic research allowed her to fill with details of life in the period. Her novels are in some ways easier to read than Austen’s books (which were written between 1787 and 1817), because there is less hidden subtext that the reader is expected to know. Nevertheless, if you want more background on the Regency period as captured in the writings of Heyer and Austen there is Georgette Heyer’s Regency World, by Jennifer Kloester.

Heyer recognized that she was not creating the great literature of Austen and stated, “‘I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense. … But it’s unquestionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter or recovering from flu.’” A good endorsement for these Covid times, as well.

If you enjoy Austen’s irony, the witty repartee of Heyer’s novels is sure to please. Heyer’s novels also include period slang, which helps distinctive characters jump off the page. I especially recommend The Talisman Ring, Cotillion, and The Corinthian. I wish you all a lovely February curled up by the fire with a good book.

This article was originally printed in THE BERGEN NEWS and is being reprinted with permission.