Jane Austen Character Throwdown

Three characters in Jane Austen's novels are seventeen when their stories begin: Marianne Dashwood, Kitty Bennet, and Catherine Morland. In your estimation, which of the three girls will grow into the sort of mature woman you would like to befriend?

Kitty Bennet, at age 17, follows her younger sister, Lydia, who at 15 is flighty and silly and dangerously reckless. After Lydia runs off with Wickham, forcing a shotgun marriage, the Bennets oversee Kitty's upbringing more closely. After Jane and Elizabeth marry, they teach Kitty better social graces and provide a world for her outside of Meryton.She eventually settles down and demonstrates a modicum of common sense.

Catherine Morland prefers to roll down hillsides rather than pursue the ladylike activities of sewing, learning foreign languages, painting, or reading anything more strenuous than novels! Henry Tilney is charmed by her artless ignorance and enthusiastic preference for his company. Young as Catherine is, she is no dummy, seeing through General Tilney and John Thorpe. After the general banishes her from Northanger Abbey, she demonstrates a great deal of courage, integrity, and maturity.

Marianne Dashwood's uber romantic sensibilities blind her to Colonel Brandon's superior qualities and Willoughby's less than sterling ones. She not only survive love's disappointment but she slowly comes to the realization that her own behavior led her down the wrong path of romance. After her illness, she begins to open up to Colonel Brandon, and allows herself to fall in love with someone she has learned to esteem.

Which of these 17-year-old Jane Austen heroines will grow into the sort of woman you would like to befriend?
	Kitty Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
	Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey
	Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility
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Jane Austen Etiquette Throwdown

In your estimation, which of Marianne's etiquette faux pas in Sense and Sensibility was most egregious?

Willoughby cuts a lock of Marianne's hair

Which of Marianne's etiquette faux pas was most egregious?
	Allowing her rudeness to show to people she dislikes.
	Allowing Willoughby to cut a lock of her hair.
	Visiting Allenham alone with Willoughby.
	Mocking Colonel Brandon, Mrs. Jennings and the Middletons behind their backs.
	Accepting the gift of a horse from Willoughby.
	Writing letters to Willoughby when she arrives in London.
	Making a spectacle of herself when she sees Willoughby at the ball.
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Marianne accepts the gift of a horse from Willoughby

Silent Monday

This year marks the 199th anniversary of the publication of Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen showcases her wonderful dry wit over and over in this novel, as exemplified in the following passage:

After breaking up with Willoughby, Marianne grieves his absence quite publicly. She,  Elinor, and Margaret wander about the village of Allenham when they unexpectedly encounter Edward Ferrars, who has arrived for a visit. Marianne asks how dear, dear Norland looks.

Fall in Missoula. Photo from @The Uprising

"Dear, dear Norland," said Elinor, "probably looks much as it always does at this time of year. The woods and walks thickly covered with dead leaves."

"Oh!" cried Marianne, "with what transporting sensations have I formerly seen them fall! How have I delighted, as I walked, to see them driven in showers about me by the wind! What feelings have they, the season, the air altogether inspired! Now there is no one to regard them. They are seen only as a nuisance, swept hastily off, and driven as much as possible from the sight."

"It is not every one," said Elinor, "who has your passion for dead leaves."

Image from I Love Fall in Shelley's The Uprising. She has contributed book reviews to Jane Austen Today and Jane Austen's World.

Jane Austen Movie Throwdown: Which Actress Walked Best in the Rain?

Ah, Sense and Sensibility. There are many scenes in the last two film adaptations that simply are not in Jane's novel. Nevertheless, they make for great cinematic melodrama. Take the reason for Marianne's illness, for example. Jane describes the onset of her illness at Cleveland as being a tad less dramatic than the rain walks depicted in the films:

Kate Winslet quotes Shakespeare in the rain as she gazes longingly at Willoughby's house

Two delightful twilight walks on the third and fourth evenings of her being there, not merely on the dry gravel of the shrubbery, but all over the grounds, and especially in the most distant parts of them, where there was something more of wildness than in the rest, where the trees were the oldest, and the grass was the longest and wettest, had—assisted by the still greater imprudence of sitting in her wet shoes and stockings—given Marianne a cold so violent as, though for a day or two trifled with or denied, would force itself by increasing ailments on the concern of every body, and the notice of herself. Prescriptions poured in from all quarters, and as usual, were all declined. Though heavy and feverish, with a pain in her limbs, and a cough, and a sore throat, a good night's rest was to cure her entirely; and it was with difficulty that Elinor prevailed on her, when she went to bed, to try one or two of the simplest of the remedies.

The wind WHIPS Kate/Marianne's cape and gown

Marianne got up the next morning at her usual time; to every inquiry replied that she was better, and tried to prove herself so, by engaging in her accustomary employments. But a day spent in sitting shivering over the fire with a book in her hand, which she was unable to read, or in lying, weary and languid, on a sofa, did not speak much in favour of her amendment; and when, at last, she went early to bed, more and more indisposed...

In 2009, Charity Wakefield WALKED the walk

Such a scene would not have been dramatic enough for a film,and thus we have Marianne wandering in the rain searching for Combe Magna, Willoughby's house.

Charity as Marianne welcomes the rain drops

Who walked the walk best? Curious minds want to know.

Whose Walk in the Rain is Best?
	Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood
	Charity Wakefield as Marianne Dashwood
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Jane Austen Throwdown

Some of Jane Austen's heroines had terrible experiences in London. Think of poor Marianne, who came to the realization that Willoughby had been willfully ignoring her letters and avoiding her visit. We will consider the London experiences of two ladies who are more restrained than Marianne: Jane Bennet and Elinor Dashwood. Both ladies kept their anguish to themselves. In your estimation whose London experience is worse? Jane's or Elinor's?

Jane Bennet understood that Mr. Bingley had removed himself from Netherfield Park with no immediate plans for a return visit. Her heart was broken already when she visited her aunt and uncle Gardiner on Gracechurch Street in Cheapside, but little did she know how thoroughly she would be rebuffed by Caroline Bingley, who she still regarded as a true friend. For someone as gentle as Jane, unable to think ill of others, the insult that Caroline finally gave her (visiting her beyond the prescribed time period that manners dictated, failure to give a reciprocal invitation, and staying for such a short length of time as to be almost insulting) opened Jane's eyes to the situation. Mr. Bingley was meant for Georgiana Darcy, and Jane had no role as either friend to the Bingley sisters or as Mr. Bingley's romantic interest. Only Elizabeth understood how well Jane was able to hide her broken heart from her family.

Imagine how you would feel if Lucy Steele told you about her secret engagement to the man you are interested in and extracts a promise from you to remain silent about the relationship. Imagine Elinor's having to witness Edward and Lucy in the drawing room in her presence and then watch them leave together (reluctantly on his side). Not only does Edward choose to remain with Lucy when his mother finds out about their clandestine relationship, but Colonel Brandon asks Elinor to tell Edward about the living he is willing to give him. The scene is poignant and sad, and we feel for Elinor, who bears these events with fortitude as she supports Marianne in her grief.

Willoughby's Return by Jane Odiwe, A Review

Humans are complex creatures. We are all multidimensional, like the characters that Jane Austen created in her delightful novels. Take Willoughby, the handsome cad from Sense and Sensibility. At the end of Jane Austen’s tale, he expressed his love for Marianne to Elinor, even though he had become engaged to another woman . The reader, sensing his regret, almost feels sorry for him, for he had exchanged his dearest possession for empty coin.

Jane Odiwe’s novel, Willoughby’s Return, centers around Willoughby’s reappearance in Marianne life. But which man does she write about? The scoundrel or the romantic hero with the complicated emotions? Jane O. does not reveal this important bit of information until the very end of her tale. Marianne, although three years older, married, and the mother of a small son, is still as volatile as ever - sensitive, romantic, and impressionable. She has fallen deeply in love with her husband. Although their marriage is sensual and the Colonel spoils her, Marianne has become suspicious of her William. His obligations to his ward, Eliza and her daughter, call him away frequently. When Willoughby reenters her life, as handsome and attractive as ever, Marianne has become unsure of her husband's affections and is feeling vulnerable.

Adding richness to the plot of Willoughby Returns is the tale of Margaret, Marianne's and Elinor's youn sister. Now seventeen years old, she plays the other central role in this novel, in which the happily married Elinor takes a back seat and is barely glimpsed. Margaret experiences her own romance with dashing Henry Lawrence, William Brandon's nephew.

Like Jane Austen, Jane Odiwe is spare in her descriptions of the characters, but unlike Jane A., she is free with her depiction of an age long gone, of market days and vegetable stalls and flowers in a meadow. An artist as well as a writer, Jane O.'s details of scenery and village life are vivid. She has no need to imitate Jane A.'s writing style and in this, her second novel, is developing a keen style of her own. Favorite characters like Mrs. Jennings are revisited, and Lucy Steele (now Ferrars) and her sister Anne also make a reappearance. Jane O's plot has its twists and turns, the suspense coming from the characters' actions, which comes to a satisfying conclusion only after several misunderstandings are cleared up.

Readers who love Jane Austen sequels will find this charming book a more than satisfying read. I give it three out of three Regency fans.

• Read my interview with Jane here.
• Order Willoughby Returns at this link.

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World

Jane Austen Movie Throwdown

Every time I take a Jane Austen character quiz I turn out to be Marianne Dashwood - impetuous, impulsive, dramatic, and emotional Marianne. Through Marianne's reckless behavior, Jane Austen showed just how different she was from her more sensible sister, Elinor. Several of her actions flew wildly in the face of convention. This week we pose the question: which of these two movie scenes was most effective in showing her reckless behavior?

Marianne's Reckless Behavior

1. Allowing Willoughby to cut a lock of her hair. This action had Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor Dashwood thinking that Willoughby and Marianne had a tacit agreement. They therefore went along with her forward behavior, shocked to find out later that Willoughby had made no long-term promises.

2. Walking recklessly in the rain to see Willoughby's house, Combe Magna, and almost catching her 'death' of cold. This scene was not in Jane's book, but both recent movie adaptations featured this change, which led to the dramatic sick scene.

Most reckless scene
	Allowing Willoughby to cut a lock of her hair
	Walking to see Combe Magna in the rain
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