Jane Austen's Genius: Complex Characters and Social Satire

[Music] before jane austen fiction was a bit like marmite authors

tended to write about characters which were pretty black and white they were either the

personification of evil or the perfect ideal so you're supposed to love them or hate

them i know where i stand of course we know people aren't really like that

in real life they're a mixture for example sometimes you meet people and they seem

quite sweet but actually they can be quite sharp with you sometimes you meet people who are so

smooth talking you don't know where you stand and then sometimes you get people who seem bold

and bright and colorful when you first meet them but why is there always beef jane austen

was one of the first to mix up all these thrills and spills of human character and put them in her fiction

take one of austin's most famous protagonists emma woodhouse she's a whole mixture of

characteristics she's high-spirited intelligent and beautiful but she's also

spoilt headstrong and lacking in discipline she's a complex blend of mannerisms and

idiosyncrasies subtly woven into a tapestry of human character

now that sounds quite easy to do but i promise you it's pretty hard and some people have said nobody's been

able to do it quite as well ever since jane austen delighted in anything

ridiculous it's no surprise that with all these frills and froth and foibles of real life

her books are pretty funny if she'd been alive today she might well have been writing comedy sketches or

screenplays for films like bridget jones's diary although a little more pg of course these films all about the

awkwardness of characters getting tangled up in social etiquette in aspiring to grand protections but

falling short well it's the same sort of cocktail of subtle irony and

faux pas which adopted through jane austen's novels her writing is literally genius she

relied on parodies burlesque not that sort of burlesque irony

realism and here's one for dinner parties free indirect speech this is when the

thoughts and speech of the characters mix in with the voice of the narrator jane austen even parodied an entire

literary genre the gothic novel northanger abbey is a bit like the first ever spoof

of a horror movie this is strange indeed i did not expect such a sight as this an immense heavy chest what can it hold

why should it be placed here pushed back too as if meant to be out of sight i will look into it cost me

what i may i will look into it and directly to by daylight

if i stay till evening my candle may go out perhaps being a bit dramatic considering it's just a box in the

corner of her bedroom but these stories aren't just silliness and pleasantries and

taking turns around the room because it's so refreshing the issues at stake here

are enormous and there's every reason for the characters to have a bit of a be in their bonnet

perhaps a wasp even for example look at this dilemma you might have about marriage

well well another boring party gracious it's that odious man my mother wants me to marry oh look at him he's so

conceited and pompous now now be rational you must secure yourself a future home but i detest that man he's

so narrow-minded and so silly yes but it might be the only offer of marriage i ever have and i must take it

but once i'm married my husband will have all my fortune and all my possessions forever

yes well i won't have any possessions if i die an old maid well i run just as much risk of dying

from childbirth forget about that it would be incredibly stupid to reject such an offer well future generations

will think it wise and brave look i just need to get to know someone carefully

but i'm never given a chance how can i get to know anyone through small talk at a party like this it's all

such a gamble she turned out to be ambitious and

risk-taking she was always making decisions on whether it was better to sell on

commission or sell the copyright the first edition of mansfield park brought in 325 pounds

but the second edition brought in in february 1816 was a disaster and ate up profits but she had a vision

for her work she knew the value of what she created it just hadn't been recognized by

society [Music] yet

[Music] you