That’s as a result of Austen’s 250th birthday is being marked by costume occasions throughout Britain, the place her most devoted followers are gathering to decorate in handmade Regency garb and share their enthusiasm for the work of the pioneering novelist.
“This looks like a Jane Austen Comedian-Con, a Jane Austen conference. So it’s cool to geek out with different Jane Austen nerds,” Amy Chagnon, a highschool English instructor from San Diego, advised NBC Information late final month within the gardens of what’s recognized at this time as Jane Austen’s Home, the cottage-turned-museum in southern England the place the author spent the ultimate years of her life.
All six of her novels have been both written or revised in the home’s sunny rooms. At the moment, it’s a key cease for pilgrims like Chagnon and a focus for the anniversary celebrations.
Sporting a high-waisted grey robe and sheltering below a lace parasol, Chagnon, 40, was visiting Austen websites throughout the U.Ok. She mentioned she drew inspiration from each the creator’s tales and her life.
Austen was born in December 1775, only a few months earlier than Britain’s troublesome American colonies declared their independence.
“Austen’s voice facilities a feminine lived expertise and takes us into the minds and feelings of her characters. She explores emotions, battle, small issues, however the small issues that make and form our lives,” Lizzie Dunford, the director of Jane Austen’s Home, mentioned in an interview.
“That’s the reason individuals in 1813 may learn these novels and really feel, ‘This lady is talking to me.’ And that’s why individuals at this time can learn these novels and say, ‘This lady is talking to me.’ As a result of she takes you so deeply into the inside worlds of her characters.”
“Satisfaction and Prejudice” has bought greater than 20 million copies over two centuries and has by no means been out of print since its first publication in 1813, Dunford mentioned.
“I wish to let you know that I’ve received my very own darling baby from London,” Austen wrote to her sister upon receiving her first copy of the ebook.
A brand new Netflix adaptation is at the moment in manufacturing. The streaming large introduced in July that Emma Corrin, who beforehand performed Princess Diana in “The Crown,” would star as Bennet, whereas Oscar winner Olivia Colman would play her anxious mom. It follows the 2005 movie model starring Keira Knightley and a 1995 BBC manufacturing that helped launch the profession of Colin Firth.
Celebrations to mark the anniversary of Austen’s start are scheduled all year long in places throughout the U.Ok. together with Bathtub and Winchester, town close to Chawton that’s residence to her ultimate resting place, which has opened to the general public for the primary time. A number of occasions have additionally been deliberate by the Jane Austen Society of North America.
