Tea at Trianon: Thoroughly Modern Jane

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, December 21, 2007

Thoroughly Modern Jane

Why the contemporary fascination with Jane Austen? One journalist explores the mystery.

Why now? What powers the onrush of Jane Austen sequels and clones? At the root of this popularity surge seems to lie the contrast between those smart, elegant and quietly reserved sisters, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, and the female idols of our own hour such as Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. The latter shed their garments and invite us into their private moments. They quarrel over child custody rather than genealogy, choose rehab over a carriage drive. Why wouldn't we be wistful for the rules of conduct that shaped Austen and her characters? Our unpredictable, aggressive world makes the drawing rooms of Austen's era a refuge.

papabear said...: Alasdair MacIntyre expressed the concern that some may be reading Austen before they are ready for the material. I'm afraid the current set of adaptations, set to air on Masterpiece Theater early next year, will only reinforce people's misunderstandings of Austen...; December 21, 2007 at 7:35:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Interesting. Thanks, papabear.; December 22, 2007 at 9:26:00 AM EST