Season 2 Episode 6 Jane Austen and #MeToo

06/01/21 • 50 min

How would Jane Austen fit in with our modern #MeToo movement? It's an interesting question which led us, in this episode, to look at Jane Austen and the #MeToo, breaking it down into terms which make sense in her era: the context of feminist thought and sexual harassment in the late 18th and early 19th century. We discuss the shockingly unequal legal framework in which women lived, early feminists and empowered women such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Caroline Herschel, and then go on to discuss incidents in Jane's life and novels that illustrate #MeToo moments.
Find out what Mr Collins got wrong, what Fanny got right, and who was the novelist's narcissistic sociopath!
We go on to award our Lizzy and Lady Catherine of the month and review Janice Hadlow's The Other Bennet Sister (Pan).
Links mentioned are:
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/jane-austen-family-slavery-essay-devoney-looser/
https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Jane-Austen-the-Secret-Radical-by-Helena-Kelly-author/9781785781889
https://janeaustens.house

Previous Episode

Season 2 Episode 5 Jane Austen and Childhood

In this episode Julia Golding and Zoe Wheddon look at Jane Austen and childhood. We investigate how her era invented our modern idea of childhood as a time of innocence. But how was she raised? Did new ideas of Rousseau and natural education make it to the parsonage at Steventon? There were many children in her adult life and she was a much loved aunt to her brothers' children. What games and stories did she play with them? We then go on to look at her novels - there are more children than we first thought! Find out which ones play the most important parts.
Stay listening to find out our Darcy and Mr Collins of the week and all the Jane Austen news!
Books mentioned in this episode are:
Julia Golding, illustrated by Kate Hindley, The Queen's Wardrobe
Julia Golding, Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery
Jacobsen, Devynn and Dayton, Jane Austen Was Here
To links take you to Blackwells bookshop which does free shipping to the US - support the independents!

Next Episode

Season 2 Episode 7 Jane Austen and Love Island

Have you ever thought about casting Jane away on an island - Love Island to be exact? In this episode, we have a look at the dating culture in Jane's day and compare it to our own version in Love Island and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Which heroine would not find herself in a thong bikini by the pool and who would love the gossip? Why does Mr Collins deserve his own season of The Bachelor and can you imagine getting the rose from Mr Darcy? What about Captain Wentworth being pursued by the Musgroves? Another mini-Bachelor episode!
We go on to our Darcy and Mr Collins of the month and then take on the most contentious issue of them all: which is our favourite adaption of P&P, choosing between 1980s BBC, 1995 BBC, 2004 Bride and Prejudice, 2005 film and a brief mention of P&P and Zombies. See if you agree our comments and selection.
Links mentioned in the show:
https://no1royalcrescent.org.uk
https://www.yoshigoods.com/collections/jane-austen-bookworm-leather-handbags-purses-accessories