Jane Austen would have loved the Big Brother.
I don't know much about her life: although I've studied English for one year at college before switching to Communication Sciences, my curriculum focused on Shakespeare and, strangely enough, Virginia Woolf.
I'm still looking for a good biography, so pretty much all I know about the author I gathered from the movie Becoming Jane. Lame, I know.
Through her work, though, I am convinced that if Jane Austen was born sometime between 1970 and 1990 she would be a fan of modern reality shows and a lot of tv.
I formed this opinion during my re-read of Emma, which was part
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| Autumn re-read challenge #1 - with my dog |
of my personal Autumn re-read challenge.
I had read Emma for the first time many years ago, and at the time I hadn't noticed many things that stuck with me during this re-read.
Emma is a peculiar novel. I know it's not among the favourite works of Austen; my guess is because of the slow pace and lack of action. And because it's long.
Now, I have always imagined Austen to be a very cold, very serious woman. But I can't help imagining her in our contemporary society, watching the Big Brother and talking about it the next days while sipping tea. Take Emma: at the beginning she is a somewhat frivolous girl, interested in matching her friends and gossiping about everything. Her character is beautifully developed throughout the novel, as she gains more and more depth. What is stunning, though, is that Austen never judges her, she never writes Emma as being shallow or stupid. She's a girl in the limited society of a small town in the English country. The way she behaves is completely normal! And Austen seems amused of Emma's behaviour: it is clear she loves her character, otherwise she wouldn't have given her such a happy ending (and titled her novel with her name!).
Imagine Austen watching some reality show: she would be enticed in the relationships and attachments of the participants. I am sure of that. I don't think she would be very negative about that, I don't think she would consider it trash tv: she would be amused.
Emma is a real life portrayal of 1800's life: boring, slow, gossipy. Mr Woodhouse is an exceptional character, the sweet and funny malade immaginaire. There are parts of Emma that made me burst out laughing. Austen was a master in capturing the very essence of people, exploiting their uniqueness and quirkiness.
What am I trying to say with this? Nothing in particular. Just that Emma amuses me and that I would have greatly enjoyed watching some reality show with Jane Austen and listening to her comments.
