Embarking On A Course of Study

The Northanger Canon, Affectionate Gratitude, and Lack of Erotic Passion

Something for everyone in that title, eh?

The Northanger Canon

Northanger Abbey is chock full of the delicious titles of gothic novels. Most referred to is The Mysteries of Udolpho (which I'm still reading. Emily's aunt, Madame Montoni, is horrid. Valancourt, our hero, however, is kind of a self-absorbed moron bordering on stalker. He is constantly showing up when Emily is alone and getting her into trouble with her aunt, or sending tons of letters and being a little pushy with his love for her. It is getting more interesting, though, now that Madame has married the nasty Montoni and they are headed for his creepy castle in Italy!), but there are nine in all, called 'The Northanger Canon.'

So here they are - perfect for long winter nights (the titles are fabulously outlandish):

1) The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe

2) The Italian; Or The Confessional of the Black Penitents, Ann Radcliffe

3) The Castle of Wolfenbach, Eliza Parsons

4) Mysterious Warnings, Eliza Parsons

5) Clermont: A Tale, Regina Maria Roche

6) The Necromancer; Or, The Tale of the Black Forest: Founded on Facts, Lawrence Flammenberg

7) The Midnight Bell: A German Story Founded on Incidents in Real Life, Francis Lathom

8) The Orphan of the Rhine: A Romance, Eleanor Sleath

9) Horrid Mysteries: A Story from the German of the Marquis of Grosse, Carl Grosse

Affectionate Gratitude and Lack of Erotic Passion

   Sadly, after all she's been through, and all the lessons learned, Catherine Morland does not get her man in the way we'd all like and think she deserves: "his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought."

Ouch.

"What is clearly missing here," writes Professor Mac Adam, in his notes at the back of the book, "is erotic passion."

In the study questions he asks, "Is there any sign that any of the characters in Northanger Abbey feels sexual desire? Can Austen's realism be considered complete without this aspect of human relationships?"

That's the issue, exactly. More important than the lack of romance, which can come off as a little superficial in a novel, is the lack of erotic passion (married to the romance).

Jane Austen herself wrote in a letter to J.S. Clarke (April 1, 1816):

"But I could no more write a romance than an epic poem. I could not sit seriously down to write a serious romance under any other motive than to save my life; and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and never relax into laughing at myself or at other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first chapter. No, I must keep to my own style and go on in my own way; and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other."

Well, that takes care of that question, doesn't it?

Still, I can't help wondering who, of Austen's characters, has the highest probability of erotic passion in their life beyond the novel (in our imaginations). Before I give my list, here's what I was looking for between the couples:

Basically a maturity - they understand themselves - their flaws and experiences of loss make them better able to truly give themselves in a relationship. They come to the relationship as true individuals, offering themselves freely, but not trying to absorb the other or be absorbed. This would allow them a different kind of fierceness of emotion, rooted more in knowledge gained, lessons learned, certainty of death or future loss (that life gives and it takes) than youthful attraction, which is more fantasy and more about the self. Youthful attraction is all about consumption, of reveling in the imagined excess of the lover.

Here's my list:

1) Lizzy and Darcy

2) Anne and Wentworth

3) Colonel Brandon and Marianne

Honorable Mention: Maybe Emma and Knightley (there's potential)

You can make all the excuses in the world about why you avoid a certain subject as a writer, and you can cover it up with sarcasm and laughter. But, to me, the lack of romance/erotic passion just highlights an area that was either too painful or too intense for Austen. If she had resigned herself to have neither, then she wouldn't have wanted to experience either through her characters. (I'm guessing.)

To answer the study question, I think there is that one empty space in the humanity of the characters, left open because of this area not being explored, that gives them, sometimes, an allegorical feel.

I suppose that's why my other favorite writer is Henry James. He's just awful to his heroines (as Austen can be to hers, in her way (like Catherine, per the beginning of this post), but she doesn't inflict the suffering James does), but there is a great deal of sensuality thrumming underneath the interactions of characters. For all his repression or asexuality (depending on what theory you espouse), he's aware of it, he allows it, and he uses it the way he chooses. Sometimes clumsily and unrealistically, but don't we all do that in real life anyway???

I do respect, however, that Austen decided on her milieu and her style and wrote it to the max. Romance/erotic passion wasn't her thing, so she did what she did best.

Austenolatry: Happy Birthday Jane! More Musings and Update on Country Dancing Class

From The Writer's Almanac today:

It's the birthday of Jane Austen, (books by this author) born in Hampshire, England (1775). She published her books anonymously; the byline stated that the book was by "a Lady." Not many people read her books while she was alive, though among her small devoted readership, her novels were highly esteemed. She died in 1817. Five decades later, in 1869, her nephew published A Memoir of Jane Austen, and his book spawned widespread interest in Austen, which led to the reprinting of her novels. It also touched off a sort of mania for Austen in the 1880s, known as "Austenolatry." It wasn't until the 1940s — more than 100 years after she had died — that Austen's work became the focus of large volumes of academic scholarship.

Today members of Jane Austen Societies all over the world are celebrating her birthday with a tea or luncheon. There are lots of groups devoted to her work and thousands of people who call themselves "Janeites." In the U.S., "Janeites" likely belong to JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America, founded 30 years ago, in 1979, with its first meeting at the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan.

JASNA holds a yearly meeting in a North American city, a three-day event that's somewhere between a scholarly conference and jovial literary happy hour. There's a theme chosen for the meeting. This past October, the meeting was in Philadelphia, and titled "Jane Austen's Brothers and Sisters in the City of Brotherly Love." There's lots of dancing (English country dancing, mostly) and there are Box Hill-style picnics, modeled after the one in Austen's novel Emma.

Austen said, "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of."

And, "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."

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I'm pretty behind on posting - so many things to write about.

Briefly, let's just say how much I am enjoying rereading Northanger Abbey. The first few times I read it, I think it was right after reading P&P or S&S and I was still steeped in all the (I was going to say romance, but Austen doesn't really do romance) push and pull, hopes and dreams, of the characters' road to marriage (let's go with that), so I was frustrated with the satire and play and narrator's voice in the book at times - because I wanted it to be another P&P or S&S or Persuasion.

Well, it's a rollicking good time now and I can appreciate it for all its charms and cleverness. It's the one book where Jane's voice speaks to you directly and it's a fun dialogue. Her wit is beyond compare! She really goes full force, no holds barred. Awesome.

It's gotten me thinking how much of her characters' character, and whether they take the high road or low and end up where they want to go, is tied to books. Books have power - whether read or written (women created some measure of independence - money - through writing) - and they make or break the character and her future. The wrong ones give you the wrong ideas and make you the wrong fit (and wrong-headed) for the partner who could have been right otherwise. I've mentioned this before, but I'll say it again. The heroines who do well are the ones with self-command, self-awareness, and the power of self-examination. The ones that follow (to the greater degree) the rules of propriety, and who have a handle on their emotions, go the furthest.

This is something many women are not taught today, as young girls. Yes, as children, we knew about behaving at the dinner table and in malls, etc., but I'm pretty sure my friends and I never heard word one about dealing with/managing our emotions (fears, worries, even joys), so they didn't rule us. And self-examination? What??? Who heard of that as a teenager or young adult, when you needed it most?

With all the silly (ok - STUPID) magazines we read - Tiger Beat, Seventeen, Mademoiselle, Cosmo - that were all about dressing and making oneself up for a man and making him feel important, forgetting about what was inside us and making ourselves feel good first, we didn't stand a chance. And then it became all about career - women 'having it all.' Always looking outside, not inside for ways to manage our lives. Media in general was not (and still isn't) responsible in how it communicates with young women. And most of our parents didn't know how to help themselves let alone us.

There's been a big resurgence of self-help books, classes, and videos geared towards teaching women how to relate to men, how to get what they want from men, how to meet the right one and marry him. Think Bridget Jones' Diary. But it's even larger now. Being 43 and single, I get targeted for these kinds of ads/info on the Internet. There's a huge industry with audio, video, books, teleconferences, soulmate kits, vedic astrology readings, and more.

It's really boomed since The Secret came out and the masses learned about The Law of Attraction on Oprah. It's a new (and very commercial - because that's what we Americans do best) version of the 'how tos' that Austen's characters (the sensible ones) demonstrate for us.

And guess what? It's all about self-examination, self-awareness, and self-command. That's the good news. It's still about reading the right books, which is still a minefield experience. That's the bad.

Let me 'share' that about 13 years ago I had an anxiety disorder that lasted for several years (panic attacks and everything, good times), and that taught me those three skills. It forced me, more like, but I hadn't known or seen their necessity in my life to that point, so that's what it took for me to wake up, apparently! I'm grateful that it happened as it was a major turning point in my life and a constant reminder to keep up those practices. It's not an experience you forget. Still, would have been easier to have had good examples in life and books instead....

So what do you think? How were you raised? Who were your examples/models of womanhood? Do you regularly take stock of your feelings and behavior and adjust where needed? Do you put yourself first (not thinking selfish here, there's a difference), take care of yourself? I'd love to hear.

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To close, here are pics of the Baltimore Hostel, a renovated 19th Century mansion where the country dancing class will be held on a Sunday afternoon in late January. Probably late enough in the day that we can have those chandeliers lit up and some candles. Woo hoo!

We'll be moving miscellaneous furniture in the ballroom (which is now, technically, a lounge) to the other end of the room. We can fit about 12 couples in a set. 

Enjoy Jane's birthday!