My Favorite Jane Austen Quotes

 I know my posts have been shockingly scarce lately (which would encompass the past five months, I suppose), and I've very little excuse besides lack of inspiration. Ever since I finished my Jane Austen novel series thing, I have been wanting momentum. I've been working on a hopefully-interesting post next in which my readers can be involved, but I knew I needed something new now, and I thought to do something I've never actually done--compile a list of my very favorite Jane Austen quotes to date. So, here they are.

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” ~Mr. Tilney, Northanger Abbey

"Mama, the more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!" ~Marianne Dashwood, Sense & Sensibility

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?" ~Mr. Bennet, Pride & Prejudice

{Those top three are probably my Very Most Favorites of All. And that sentence was not supposed to be grammatically correct.}

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment." ~Mr. Darcy, P&P

"Those who do not complain are never pitied." ~Mrs. Bennet, P&P

"Laugh as much as you chuse, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion." ~Jane Bennet, P&P

"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. --Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do." ~Mr. Bennet, P&P

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!" ~Caroline Bingley, P&P

"Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure." ~Elizabeth Bennet, P&P

"Obstinate, headstrong girl! I am ashamed of you!" ~Lady Catherine de Bourgh, P&P

“Such I was, from eight to eight and twenty; and such I might still have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! … You shewed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.” ~Mr. Darcy

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." (If you do not automatically know what that's from, I pity you. Heehee.)

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart." ~Emma Woodhouse, Emma

"Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort." ~Mrs. Elton, Emma

"Without music, life would be a blank to me." ~Mrs. Elton, Emma

"My dearest Emma, for dearest you will always be whatever the event of this hour's conversation, my dearest, most beloved Emma..." ~Mr. Knightley, Emma
{Hmm. Maybe I should just do an entire post with most of Chapter 49. Heeheeheehee.}

"I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other." ~Emma Woodhouse

“But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her. Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.” ~NA

“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.” ~NA

"...and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk, and you are two very nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed! -- It does for everything. Originally perhaps it was applied only to express neatness, propriety, delicacy, or refinement; -- people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or their choice. But now every commendation on every subject is comprised in that one word." ~Henry Tilney, NA

"If there is anything disagreeable going on, men are always sure to get out of it." ~Mary Musgrove, Persuasion

“One man’s ways may be as good as another’s, but we all like our own best.” ~Admiral Croft, Persuasion

“My sore-throats, you know, are always worse than anybody’s.” ~Mary Musgrove, Persuasion

“What wild imaginations one forms, where dear self is concerned! How sure to be mistaken!” ~Anne Elliot, Persuasion

“But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world, as there are pretty women to deserve them.” ~Mansfield Park

"We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be." ~Fanny Price, MP

Quotes from Jane Austen's letters
"I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal."

“I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, & how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least, I do not know.” (about Elizabeth Bennet)

"Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection."

“Here I am once more in this Scene of Dissipation & vice, and I begin already to find my Morals corrupted.” (letter written in London) 

"If I am a wild Beast I cannot help it. It is not my own fault."

"I am not at all in a humour for writing; I must write on till I am."

What are your favorite Jane Austen quotes?

A fun tidbit about Jane Austen movie actors

Period drama fans such as myself always take delight in spotting actors in one movie as being such-and-such character in another. Here are a few fun connections I discovered a while back, where two actors who are in the  cast of one period drama both play the same character in two different Jane Austen adaptations. That probably won't make any sense; it's hard to explain, but not once I show you. Read on.

First, we have Mrs. Weston from Emma. 

She was played by Jodhi May in the 2009 mini-series and by Greta Scacchi in the 1996 Miramax version, and both those actresses were in...

Daniel Deronda (2002) as Mirah Lapidoth and Lydia Glasher. 

Then, there is Captain Wentworth from Persuasion. 

Ciaran Hinds played Captain Wentworth in the 1995 film, and Rupert Penry-Jones portrayed him in 2007. Well, they both acted in...

Jane Eyre (1997) as Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers.

The other one I noticed was Edmund Bertram from Mansfield Park (though I have seen neither of the adaptations about to be mentioned).

Jonny Lee Miller was Edmund in the 1999 slaughtering version, and Blake Ritson played him in the 2007 misrepresentation movie.

Well, they were both in Emma (2009), playing [their correct Jane Austen characters] Mr. Knightley and Mr. Elton.

I'm sure there are other such coincidences, but these are just the ones I noticed for the actors in Jane Austen adaptations. Which are my specialty, as it were.

The latter one is especially interesting I think, as both the actors had portrayed Edmund Bertram before being cast in Emma. I wonder if they talked about it on set...

Have you ever noticed any of those, or any other fun actor-double coincidences? 

Keeping Calm and Giving In...

You probably haven't noticed, but I don't usually enter contests and such in the blogging world, which is because I can rarely think of anything worthwhile. Well, Miss Laurie is having a 'Keep Calm' poster period drama contest thingy and it amused me very much, because a day or two before she posted about the contest I had thought of something along those lines had randomly popped into my head, so I couldn't pass this up and not enter it. ;-) Though we are encouraged to stay away from Jane Austen, you know I cannot very well do that, and at the last moment I thought of a second one to do. Because since we can enter two, I might as well.

So. Here they are. To read more about the contest, click here.

1. Inspired by Little Dorrit (2008)

2. Inspired by Emma (probably 2009 just because it's the funniest)

Miss Austen Regrets

I watched this movie first last December for Miss Dashwood’s Jane Austen Birthday Week, because there was a challenge and we were supposed to watch a JA adaptation we hadn't seen yet, or watch one with someone else who hasn't seen it before. Well, as most the ones I wanted to show my family had already been shown to them and I’d seen all the ones I was planning to see, I didn’t know what to do. But I decided to watch Miss Austen Regrets. 

People say about certain movies that everyone either loves it or hates it—well, with this one, I think everyone either likes it or hates it. Also, from what I have observed, those who like it seem to hate Becoming Jane, and those who hate it seem to like Becoming Jane.

Did I like it or hate it? Well, I didn’t hate it. Which surprised me, because I expected to. I’d heard all sorts of bad things about it—but the funny thing is, when I hear all sorts of bad things about something and then actually end up watching it, it’s easier for me to notice the good points, because I'm already prepared for the bad ones. That’s the way it was when I saw the 2011 version of Jane Eyre, too.

But did I really ‘like’ it? Well… I liked some of it. I liked it, but… hmm, there would be a lot of “buts.”

I liked it, but…

…it just wasn’t Jane Austen. Maybe this should go last, because it’s the most important fault, but I’m going to put it first. Just because.

    This encompasses a lot. As you all, I am sure, know, my loyalty to dear Jane Austen is unswerving. When the movie-makers get her wrong… that just won’t do. In some respects she was actually all right. The sort of dry sense of humor she had was tolerably well done, I think. However. The sparkle was missing. The cheerful sort of way that I know she was from reading her works, her letters, and what others said about her, was absent. Now, I don’t think Jane Austen was perfect. No, indeed, I think she had many faults just like we all do. But the way they tried to make her real… was misrepresenting. The flirting was way overdone and absolutely ridiculous. She joked about flirting in her early letters to Cassandra, but that was when she was 20, not 40. I am sure she had much more prudence than that. She acted in such a way as the characters she ridiculed in her novels did. (I think I'm stealing that point of view from Miss Elizabeth, but it was a good thought.) Granted, she was mostly joking, but… still. 

   As I said, her sparkle was missing, as was her good humor. She seemed grouchy and scowlish a lot. Now, I know that towards the end this was probably owing a lot to her being ill, but when you read the letters she wrote during her illness, and what others said about her, she had rather surprised everyone by how she tried to act cheerful in spite of it.

   In general, I’d say the good qualities Jane Austen had were removed or misrepresented in this movie. And I mean the good qualities of her nature and character, not her mind. Because she was clever and witty enough. Just, as I said, not quite cheerful enough in her wittiness. 

   Also, she was sort of too… melodramatic. Or something. And not the kind of melodramatic I like.  

…the seaside gentleman was missing. One of my favorite things in Jane Austen's real-life story is that mystery about the man she supposedly met by the sea, whom Cassandra was said to have told one of their nieces later on was the only man Jane every truly loved. The mystery and romance of that appeals to me, and I think it a good challenge for every bio-fic writer to acknowledge this possibility. (Early on in the movie, she says to Fanny that she loved and lost… but she never explained what that was supposed to mean.) I can sort of understand why they wouldn’t, because it’s not a proven fact from her life, but obviously they weren’t trying to avoid that, as…

…they made up romances for Jane. There was this man, a Rev. Bridges, who was supposed to have proposed to her in the past, but she refused him. And I am not talking about Harris Bigg-Wither. He was there, too, but this is another guy. And he’s still around later on, but he’s married, and seems to still be interested in Jane (highly inappropriate!). I don’t approve. Also, she is sort of interested in a this young doctor during the story. Now, she pretends to be interested in a couple of other gentlemen too, and that’s just her flirting nonsense. Which annoys me, as I said. But she seemed to be genuinely interested in this one, but then finds out that he isn’t really interested in her, and feels rather jealous because he seems slightly taken with her 20-year-old niece, Fanny Knight. 

To read a guest post I did on Miss Dashwood’s blog about Jane Austen’s real-life romances, click here.

…Cassandra Austen wasn’t right. She just… wasn’t. Also, in this movie, they have Cassandra help Jane decide to break her engagement with Harris (which they also made up, to the best of my knowledge), and near the end she says, weepingly, “I didn’t do it for you… I'm so ashamed!” and what was that supposed to mean? It was unexplained. And I don’t like loose ends. The speech she makes to Fanny at the end is quite good, but that’s only because it’s what she wrote in a letter in real life. It’s so touching and makes me cry every time. “She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow; I had not a thought concealed from her, and it is as if I have lost a part of myself.” *sniff*

…it had some things I found slightly indecent. There were a few things in there that made me think “um, was that really necessary?” or “if they say something else like that, I’m turning this off.” (One might consider me to be very picky, though.) If you want me to explain better, let me know.

…there was too much wine-drinking going on. Need I say more?

…Mrs. Austen was too… annoying. From what I know of the real Mrs. Austen, she wasn’t exactly the nicest or wisest character, but in this movie they just make her too mean and… eehh.

So. After all that, you might be wondering… what did I like about it? What about it made me not exactly dislike it?

Well, despite all the inaccuracies, it is supposed to be about Jane Austen, and it’s just too much fun to have all those beloved names spoken, and actually hearing the characters talk about Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility; to hear people quote Mansfield Park, and Jane reading Persuasion aloud to Mrs. Austen and Cassandra in the kitchen; these things just can’t be in the Jane Austen novel adaptations, and I found it delightful. And of course it includes some tidbits of things that really did happen in Jane Austen’s life; like being ‘invited’ to dedicate Emma to the Prince Regent.

I also thought the focus of Jane’s relationship with her niece Fanny Knight was interesting; Jane Austen really did have a special friendship with Fanny, and though they made everything a bit silly at times, I still found most of it enjoyable. Fanny sometimes acted like an immature, spoiled brat, but when she didn't act like that I rather liked her. "You said yes because he was rich and no because you didn't love him? That's so romantic!" (Speaking of Harris Bigg. And I completely agree.)

Also, the music. When I like the soundtrack to something, the movie usually goes up a couple notches in my head. But then, I usually have to like a movie to like its soundtrack. Well, no, maybe I just have to have seen the movie to like its soundtrack. And I need to stick to the point here.

Anyways. I found the soundtrack on YouTube, and it’s one of my favorite things to listen to while I’m doing dishes. Heehee.

One of my favorite songs from the movie:

So, would I recommend this movie? Weeeeell… if you’re already a secure Janeite – read the novels, learned a bit about Jane Austen’s life, perhaps even read some of her letters – and want to watch a bio-fic movie, then maybe so. Just prepare to be disappointed.

My Grade/Rating: B-

Actors I recognized from other films I’ve seen/seen part of

Olivia Williams (Jane Austen) – Jane Fairfax in Emma (1996, A&E)

Greta Scacchi (Cassandra Austen) – Mrs. Weston in Emma (1996, Miramax), Lydia Glasher in Daniel Deronda (2002)

Imogen Poots (Fanny Knight) – Blanche Ingram in Jane Eyre (2011)

Tom Hiddleston (John Plumptre) – William Buxton in Return to Cranford (2009)

Hugh Bonneville (Rev. Brook Bridges) – creepy guy Mr. Grandcourt in Daniel Deronda (2002)

Trailer

Some Changes and Additions

After a year and three months of the same blog design, it seemed time for a change, despite my Mr. Woodhouse-ish disdain of change in general. As well as a new header and background, I've added three new blog buttons and a new page.

Here's what the old header looked like... 

A few of my reader expressed a little sadness at the thought of saying good-bye to that picture (drawn by one of my sisters, by the way), so I've put it on the sidebar. 

The new header, for those of you who don't know, is a picture from My Favorite Scene in All Jane Austen Movies and Probably All Period Drama, which is the scene where Emma and Mr. Knightley dance in BBC's 2009 adaptation of Emma. The picture is right when he asks her to dance. Oh, I just love the picture... and the scene... but I'll stop gushing before it becomes the subject of this post. (Hey, maybe I should do that sometime.)

The background I got, in a roundabout way, from Miss Laurie. Thanks, Ladybird! ;-)

These are the three new blog buttons, and they can also be found, along with the others, on my blog buttons page. 

 

<center> <a href="http://regencydelight-janeaustenetc.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Regency Delight ~Jane Austen, etc.~" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr2GeZUYUy6pVUXloyPrQyw09lFkTcFE8KWqKYZg6s3duqKX7uVYbcdPeSLrZ-5v-wpJnGHmHDiAHHlg_U4C0wEoDpMB44mEu-HDqrz86dSjUc16wSsQKBB351_Dy0VpO1vCeckawWvuc/s1600/New+Blog+Button+3.jpg"/></a></center>

 

<center> <a href="http://regencydelight-janeaustenetc.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Regency Delight ~Jane Austen, etc.~" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY-7Z9wYEg7YLW-pfpLB0xd8o-ZyuOElbEnjZ1NSzlco-O99Je022qLKYv7LpelHFql4xx4T12GyrnGetc6JBkV0Evgrbvh6ZbB8RboIVcBbqfioSP8LTHIusYAD9jpi7RM8jF0-P59Ec/s1600/New+Blog+Button+1.jpg"/></a></center>
(That's where the 'etc.' part of 'Jane Austen, etc.' comes in, as the picture
is from Anne of Green Gables. But I like it.)

 

<center> <a href="http://regencydelight-janeaustenetc.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Regency Delight ~Jane Austen, etc.~" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq04X13xYdVY57BbUzuAQHwBFcXj9N_PCF42yXRs1Oz_U5fpzWhyphenhyphenfoEznJAAwVLHe__duXWbkLp1VdrbAS15LP4Byqd-FMCvWoiF94uj6oijsgsbubNOdEvWXql_bn93JW5rR2JoigYc/s1600/New+Blog+Button+2.jpg"/></a></center>
(This one will only work if you have a slightly larger sidebar.)

And the last addition is the 'My Favorite Music' page. The idea was first put into my head by my Mouse (er, I mean Miss Dashwood) quite some time ago, and after a while I put up a poll on the sidebar about it, and as 20 people were interested, well, there it is. I had great fun making two playlists: one with a lot of soundtrack music, and the other with some Classical pieces. And if you check at some other point, both playlists will probably be longer. ;-) So far everything is instrumental, which I generally prefer, but after a while I might add another playlist with some of my favorite Singing-songs, heehee. 

I think that's it! Also, I am excited to have hit my 75 Followers mark. (And now I have 76!) I greatly appreciate all of my readers.

So... what do you think of the newnesses? (I know, that's not a word. But I like to use words that aren't really words, unless they're words that aren't really words but everyone else uses them. Because then I'm just being like everyone else, and that's not very fun. --I also like to ramble...)