Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen, ca. 1810

London, National Portrait Gallery, NPG 3630

This image via https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CassandraAusten-JaneAusten(c.1810)_intensified.jpg

“What calm lives they had, those people”, wrote Winston Churchill in 1943, describing how Pride and Prejudice assisted his recovery from pneumonia. The traditional view of Jane Austen as the sedate Tory daughter of the vicarage survives every time we handle a £10 note, with its prettified Victorian portrait and background stately home. 

Yet key events of her short life, many glossed over by her earliest memorialists and biographers, her often robust and hilarious juvenilia, and darker undercurrents in the major novels, all tell us that Austen was more troubled, more radical, and more ambitious than her ‘bonnets and balls’ image suggests.

We can share our enjoyment of reading and watching Jane Austen – you don’t need to be an expert or even a fan; just curious is more than enough! – to explore the cultural history of her period. How does she use food and drink in her writing?  What did she know of the world of work? Why does she write so much about money?  And can we call her a Proto-feminist?

Divided into two short bursts - the first of two sessions and the second of three, with a “breathing space” to allow for catch-up and/or preparatory reading, for those who would like to do some (NB It’s not compulsory!) - this course will respond to your questions and interests as we go. Essentially… if it’s Austen-related and reflects on her times, we’ll be there!

NB This course is delivered by Judith Hedley for Wright History (see here for an introduction to Judith).

There will be more space for questions and reactions than in most Wright History courses. Sessions will be recorded as usual, but catch-up recordings will include the discussion sections (unless anyone has any objection, in which case all who are registered will know with reasonable advance notice). As ever, recordings are only available to those who have registered.

Registration, administrative, and access practicalities will be as for all Wright History courses. Joanna will be on hand throughout each session to deal with the practicalities of zoom and “room” management.

RJW F2508 Online course (via Zoom)

5 weeks on Thursdays, in two ‘clusters’ (Thursdays 13 and 20 March; then Thursdays 3, 10, and 17 April).

£70 (individual registration); £126 (for two people sharing one screen).