Jane Austen: Soul-sister.

Sometimes, I think that I was born in the wrong century... Then I remember that I really like the laptop I am typing on and the phone that I just sent a text on and the lights above my head, and I feel a little better. However, I do wish with all my heart that so many elements of Ms. Austen's time would come back to our society today. I do know that her tales are slightly romanticized; I'm not hoping to wear a full dress, say pretty words, and then fall desperately in love with a dramatically rich man... although, that would be nice... But, I think that we have lost a lot of good things having to do with general respect to our fellow beings that the 18th century had quite a handle on.

Jane Austen had a particular grasp on human nature that still teaches us to this day. Jane fell in love once, but her own story did not work out like that of Elizabeth's or Elinor, or Emma. She never married, but instead became the voice of true love, strong character, and communal propriety. She was an observer of human interaction, she had a ring side seat but never quite got in the ring herself. Sometimes it is those outside observers, the ones that can be truly objective, that give us the best insight. This was Jane. She was ironic and sarcastic, loved to poke fun when she could. She was confident and wise, was very set in her standards and ideas. She died young and lived a relatively uneventful life, but proved the statement that we make our own. Her characters never die and in my mind, neither will she.
I love her and her timeless, vivacious, passionate tales.
So far I have read Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and am on Northanger Abbey. My favorite is still Pride and Prejudice. I love Elizabeth's spunk, strength, and the fact that she is not perfect. (I secretly want to name a child after her someday...). I think that one thing we see throughout all of Austen's stories is the idea of self-reflection and change. There is something admirable about a person who can gather humility enough to make a needed personal change. Someone like that doesn't have to be perfect. Someone with that ability will always be working and striving to be the best they can be. And that is really all we can ask of ourselves and others. It is an important part of humanity. We see this in Mr. Darcy as well. His whole outlook on life and people changes when he meets Elizabeth and we love him all the more for that. And okay, besides that fact and that he is a good man, he is also fabulously rich, handsome, and he says things like this: "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you..." Gosh. And then there is this scene from the movie that I will never, ever get over.

Of course, the movie does take certain liberties, but it captures the right sentiment.
I love what I gain from Pride and Prejudice, movie or book, and I hope to be more like Elizabeth as I live and learn!
For my class, I just wrote a paper on five relationships in Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Just for fun, here is a link to it. Just click the picture of the girl hugging the book...