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March 16, 2007
The Annotated Jane
Well, it looks like I'm going to have to buy another edition of Pride and Prejudice.
According to an article in today's NY Times by William Grimes, The Annotated Pride & Prejudice is quite a source book for Jane Austen fans.
Mr. Shapard explains absolutely everything. He restores the proper contemporary meanings to word like "condescending" (polite to inferiors) and "vicious" (inclined to vice). "Fun," it turns out, was a vogue word, the "awesome" of its day, which is why the flighty Lydia Bennet—the foolish sister who runs away with the despicable George Wickham—uses it a lot. Mr. Shapard sorts out the differences among a phaeton, a gig, a chaise and a curricle, distinctions as clear to Austen readers as the difference between a Volvo and a Porche is to us.
All the details of day-to-day English life around 1796 come under inspection: currency, card games, fashions, dance steps, etiquette, mealtimes, and the subtle gradations of social class.
Here are some other interesting Jane Austen books mentioned in the same article:
Jane Austen: The World of her Novels
So You Think You Know Jane Austen?
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew
And here's a little Pride and Prejudice quiz from So You Think You Know Jane Austen?
1. What first begins to attract Darcy to Elizabeth?
2. What bond forges an immediate friendship between the aristocratic Darcy and the mercantile Mr. Gardiner?
3. What are the implications of Darcy's remark "I cannot comprehend the neglect of a family library in such days as these"?
4. Why does Mr. Bennet tease and tantalize his wife so?
Answers after Shabbos.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at March 16, 2007 07:57 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
1. Her liveliness of mind / impertinence
2. I am guessing "A love of fishing", although in fact I think a love of Elizabeth might be closer to the truth
3. That's a little tricky, and I don't think there is a simple answer. Darcy says it to Caroline Bingley and Elizabeth, and there is probably a compliment to Elizabeth and a criticism of Caroline in there (I am sure Caroline Bingley hasn't read a book in her life). There is probably an implied criticism of Mr Bennet in there. (I am sure the Bennet family library has not been added to lately, if indeed there is one). I am sure there is an element of the entire "The estate is an extension of the man and the family, man is both body and soul, and the two things are intertwined" sort of idea, so that good people in the family add to the library, and the library adds to the good people. The "at such times as these" is interesting though. Perhaps it is a very oblique reference to the Napoleonic Wars.
4. Because he is a tosser.
Posted by: Michael Jennings at March 19, 2007 04:46 AM
Michael:
What the heck is a "tosser"?
Is this English? Australian?
Help.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 19, 2007 09:50 AM
It is an English colloquial term which is used to describe someone who is useless, insensitive, and generally annoying. Actually, the original meaning of the term is such that I may have just broken your rules on profanity, although the current usage of the word has departed as far from the original that I am not going to be too bothered by this. (And in truth, it is a pretty moderate word in current British English). The English readers of this blog aren't likely to be terribly bothered and the Americans aren't going to understand it, so that is fine.
Posted by: Michael Jennings at March 19, 2007 11:01 AM
Michael:
I think it's cute and absolutely does not sound profane. Sounds like, um, Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at March 19, 2007 11:22 AM
I find it to be a tremendousely useful word, personally. As you can see here, one has to get the usage right. Sometimes it is too strong, and sometimes too weak. One has to get it right. (Lenin deserves a stronger word, for instance).
Posted by: Michael Jennings at March 19, 2007 02:42 PM
Michael:
I'm smiling. Hugely. And I'm getting the hang of this. Jimmy Carter is definitely a Tosser. Lenin is a mass murderer. Karl Marx is a Giant Tosser. The Marx Brothers are, um, not.
Nancy Pelosi is a Tosserette!
This is fun.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at March 19, 2007 03:17 PM