Jane Austen
Three illustrated talks
JANE AUSTEN; HOME LIFE, LETTERS AND A FEW EARLY WORKS
JANE AUSTEN AND THE SEA
JANE AUSTEN AND THE SLAVE TRADE
And a solo show based on the Juvenilia
“WE FAINTED ALTERNATELY ON THE SOFA”
Jane Austen in the Making
1 JANE AUSTEN: HOME LIFE, LETTERS AND EARLY WORKS including THE THREE SISTERS by the 15-year-old Austen
It was not until the last years of her life that Jane Austen won fame. Much of her adult life was spent “no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire-screen.” Many pleasures sustained her; warm family affections together with a strong religious sense; love of country life; and a passion for reading and writing, together with that indomitable sense of fun. All her life she was close to her older sister Cassandra. During childhood “If Cassandra were going to have her head cut off” says their mother “Jane would insist on having hers cut off too!” In adulthood Cassandra was her sister’s critic, confidante and, according to Jane “the finest letter-writer of the age.” After Jane’s death Cassandra would write of her sister “She was the sun of my life.”
With paintings, drawing, portraits, mementoes and silhouettes including Jane’s childhood copy of GOODY TWO SHOES, coloured by her own hand; illustrations by Cassandra Austen for her younger sister’s comic HISTORY OF ENGLAND; the topaz crosses given to Jane and Cassandra by their sailor brother Charles; and illustrations by Jane’s contemporary Diana Sperling, from her book of lively watercolour sketches MRS HURST DANCING; with kind permission of Mrs. Neville Ollerenshaw
2 JANE AUSTEN AND THE SEA
The countrywoman Jane found inspiration in the sea. In MANSFIELD PARK and PERSUASION we meet energetic naval officers with an attractive enthusiasm for their ships. These are based on Jane’s brothers Frank and Charles, whose maritime careers she follows closely, and in whom she takes great pride. Her last, unfinished novel SANDITON deals with the hopes, dreams and delusions raised by a fictional seaside resort. And she herself enjoys the odd daring dip: “The bathing was so delightful…..I fear I stayed in rather too long….!”
3 JANE AUSTEN AND THE SLAVE TRADE
Austen’s England was hotly divided over the Atlantic Slave Trade. She never wrote about it directly. But her three favourite authors were all anti-slavers, and Jane inserts intriguing references to the trade in MANSFIELD PARK and EMMA. And in a letter to Cassandra, she even claims to have once been “in love” with that most active abolitionist, Thomas Clarkson.
“We Fainted Alternately on the Sofa”
Jane Austen in the Making
With adaptations of LOVE AND FREINDSHIP, JACK AND ALICE and other gems by the teenage Jane
“A captivating and humorous performance, Karin Fernald not only manages to portray the playful nature of Austen’s juvenile works but also to interpret the diverse range of characters aptly and dynamically”
Celine McDaid, Deputy Curator, Dr Johnson’s House, Gough Square