Who is your favourite Jane Austen male character?

[sheraldine]

[QUOTE=f.alchemist_freak]I like Lizzy but hmm - how do u say it - she's really quite materialistic.....

have anyone seen the movie Emma acted by Gwyneth Paltrow - i love that movie - Paltrow was a perfect choice for Emma. much better than Keira Knightley's Elizabeth.[QUOTE]

lizzy, materialistic?? well..... being a lady without fortune, i suppose in a way that she is... especially she saw his county home.... even myself is flattered by such grandeur and splendor....

yes, i saw gwn p in emma, and she is cute there... i also saw emma thompon and kate winslet in SnS..... as for keira, her lizzy is bit timid when elizabeth bennet supposed to be courageous. but all in all, i did enjoy the movie, especially the english scenery and setting.

[hmschocolate]

I wouldnt say shes materialistic. Ok, fine she said her love for Darcy dates to her seeing Pemberley, but there is this interpretation:

People have differed on how ironically this statement by Elizabeth, supposedly dating the beginning of her love for Darcy, should be taken -- Sir Walter Scott took it as the basic truth. However, there is a sense in which this declaration can be part of the truth ("at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!") without Elizabeth necessarily being mercenary or shallow. First, because of the 18th century passion for landscaping, the grounds of an estate could be an index to the owner's taste and personality (as also the interior decorations and furnishings of a house). And second, the well-being of a landed gentleman's `dependants' (servants and employees) and tenants depend on his amicable personality and his estate-management skills ("As a brother, a landlord, a master, she considered how many people's happiness were in his guardianship!"). Therefore it can be said that after seeing the house and grounds at Pemberley, and hearing his housekeeper's praises of him, she begins to perceive his real merits, without having to see through the darkened veil of some of his personal mannerisms. (And in any case, if Elizabeth wished to be mercenary, she knew the rough size of his fortune long before she visited Pemberley -- before he made his first proposal, in fact.)

Of course it would hard for her not to feel flattered after seeing his house that he made her an offer of marriage. I mean, he's got all this, and he offered for some like her, who is not quite in his own class, to be its mistress...for her it must seem a bit more overwhelming then after seeing what he really possess instead of hearing about this 'ten thousands a year'.

Also Lizzie wouldn't marry Collins for security and argued with Charlotte over marriage for love vs marriage for comfort. So really I don't see her as mercenary really.

[0-0-0]

I wouldnt say shes materialistic. Ok, fine she said her love for Darcy dates to her seeing Pemberley

to be entirely honest, i have never thought about actually interpreting that line literally.
when she says it started when she first saw Pemberly, i highly doubt we were meant to take the literal meaning. if anything, she is making light of her misjudgement of Darcy and the change she sees in him at Pemberly, NOT that she loves Darcy because he owns Pemberly.

[hmschocolate]

Well I didnt take the line literally but some people do. I think it's more of an ironic statement because of all her mother's wanting her to marry well and all. I mean, her feelings about Darcy starts changing the moment she reads his letter and yes, it deepens at Pemberley but that's because she see hims, not his house. She was obviously awed by the house but as I said that awe is more being flattered than love.

[Suet Seung]

I'm going to take a Jane Austen and the Gothic class in the Fall. The books that will be in it, will probably be Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and maybe P and P.

I want to read them during the summer,which of the three books should I start on first?

[kidd]

Jane Austen + Gothic = Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey is actually a satire of the Gothic genre popular during Jane Austen's time. Inside the novel, Jane has mentioned some popular Gothic novels of the time.

Northanger Abbey, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice are her earlier works while Persuasion is a more mature work of hers. Of the 4 books, Pride & Prejudice is most popular.

Between the 4 (P, NA, S&S, P&P), I personally like NA the best. It's the funniest of the 4 books.

[Suet Seung]

Jane Austen + Gothic = Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey is actually a satire of the Gothic genre popular during Jane Austen's time. Inside the novel, Jane has mentioned some popular Gothic novels of the time.

Northanger Abbey, Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice are her earlier works while Persuasion is a more mature work of hers. Of the 4 books, Pride & Prejudice is most popular.

Between the 4 (P, NA, S&S, P&P), I personally like NA the best. It's the funniest of the 4 books.

Thanks. I'll start with Northanger Abbey. How does S&S fair?

[kidd]

Sense & Sensibility was also well received when the novel was first published. It was her first published book. It's a pretty good read. That's all I can say because I don't remember much of it. I read it many years ago and never reread a second time. Northanger Abbey is the only Jane Austen novel I've reread. But might feel differently of the other novels (including S&S) if I reread them again now, because my feelings and impression of the characters in Northanger Abbey on the second read are different from the first read.

Among all the Jane Austen's novels, my favourite is actually Emma. Love the main character Emma very much and the novel is also a joy to read.

It's strange. I hated Emma and love Pride & Prejudice when I read first read the abridged versions of both novels. But when I get to read the original unabridge version, I ended up loving Emma very much but Pride & Prejudice not as much.

Sorry for my unprofessional opinion. I'm not a literature student. So, my evaluation of novels is just restricted to whether it's a good read or not and whether I like the characters/stories or not.

Actually all 6 major novels of Jane Austen is worth a read.

Are the titles already set by your course lecturer? So, you sure won't be reading Emma and Mansfield Park?

[Suet Seung]

I think he's still planning out the list of books to read. But he told me Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Sense and Sensability will definitely make the reading list.

You need to reread these books again, maybe at the same time I do (this summer) and we can discuss it. How about it?

[kidd]

Dunno leh. I still have a whole stack of books haven't read or finish reading yet. But, I'll see if I can reread Persuasion. I plan to reread it anyway, because on the first read, it doesn't impress me at all. It's one of my lesser liked Austen novels. But, when I go to Jane Austen discusion sites, many fans seem to like Captain Wentworth and were very touched by the love letter he wrote to Anne Eliot. Maybe I was too young when I first read Persuasion, and don't have full understanding of it.

[KeongJai]

Only read one Jane Austin book which was Pride and Prejudice for Literature in high school. I remember the father of Elizabeth was the best character. Very cynical and contrasted nicely with his unintelligent wife.

[pemberly]

northanger abbey and persuasion are the shortest and go by quickly. sense and sensibility, though long, keeps a fast pace and goes by quickly as well. pride and prejudice is more humorous than the others, and emma is probably the most sophisticated and takes the most time to really comprehend.

as i type this, my sister sitting next to me just said "of course you would know this. you've read each book like 5 times." which is untrue. closer to 10 times. probably 20 for pride and prejudice and 15 for emma. i pick them up whenever i run out of things to read. or if i get really bored at work. they're quick to look up and free to read at the upenn website.

[kidd]

What do you think of Mansfield Park, pemberly?

It's one of her more mature work together with Persuasion. I don't like the 2 lead characters when I read it last time, and prefer the Crawford siblings. But I might think differently now if I read it again. Many readers say it has more depth and discuss more serious subject.

[f.alchemist_freak]

ooo... I just finish reading Mansfield Park. Let's discuss. I also don't quite like the 2 lead characters. They're just too stiff and proper...too goody-2-shoes. The girl Fanny Price seem to have no mind of her own. As long as Edmund think it's right, she'll agree.
I also prefer the Crawford siblings - seems like we have the same preferance, kidd.

My opinion of this novel is that it's very "correct", therefore quite unappealing to the reader. Anything frivolous is considered distasteful. Compared to Austen's other novels where the weakness of the characters can be forgiven, here it is condemned. It is totally the kind of book where an old-fashion, strict mother would approve her daughter to read.

[kidd]

I disagree on Fanny not having a mind of her own. She actually is even more proper and prudish than Edmund. Edmund's mind can be swayed by Mary Crawford and peer pressure. But Fanny's won't. She follows decorum and her uncle's rule strictly. Remember when the young people all want to do a play? Edmund also agreed to it, but Fanny won't join because she knew her uncle won't like it. What I don't like about Fanny is her judgemental attitude towards others. Mary might be materialist and weak in moral, but I think she truly considers Fanny a friend. But all the times when Mary was being nice to her, Fanny was judging her and being suspicious of her in her heart.

Maybe she just seems like agreeing with Edmund a lot because they two actually think alike.

[pemberly]

mansfield park is probably my least favorite jane austen book. it just seems more contrived, like it's trying to hard to teach people a lesson. i think the characters lack depth and are more 2 dimensional.

[Suet Seung]

The Reading list for my Jane Austen and the Gothic class in the fall semester is out.

I'll be reading some other gothic authors aside from Austen.

Austen:
Sense and Sensability
Northanger Abbey
Persuasion

The Monk - Matthew Lewis
The Italian - Ann Radcliffe
Emmeline - Charotte Smith
Mary;Maria;Maltilda -Mary Wollstoncraft

Just thought you might be interested to know what books my professor is including with the class.

[kidd]

Interesting.

'The Monk was mentioned with the 'Northanger Abbey' telemovie, while Ann Radcliffe was mentioned in the ''Northanger Abbey' novel.

[sweetestdownfall]

That would have to be Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Colin Firth will always be Darcy to me.

[Suet Seung]

I just bought Persuasion yesterday. I don't really like the premise of the story, but hopefully when I actually read the book, I'll like it.