Season 5 Ep 5: What would Jane do...about duels?

02/15/25 • 51 min

Pistols at dawn? What would (and did) Jane Austen do about the practice of settling disputes with duels? Julia Golding and Kate Macfarlane romp through the history and laws of duelling, examine the famous cases in the period, including duels fought by women, and then turn to Jane's novels to find out what she thought on this subject. After a brief look at modern equivalents, we go on to give our review of the BBC TV series Miss Austen and the news about the balls to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday this year (2025).

Previous Episode

Season 5 Ep 4: What would Jane do about Crime and Punishment?

What would Jane do about crime and punishment? In this episode we delve into the history of crime and punishment in Jane Austen's era, discussing topics such as duelling, the lack of centralised law enforcement, and the discipline and punishment systems in the military, navy and elsewhere. The conversation also touches on the influence of class on crime and punishment, and the theme of crime in Jane Austen's novels. Is there any? Listen to find out!
Kate also mentions the appeal at Chawton House library - you can find out more about that worthy cause at https://chawtonhouse.org.
And if you are inspired to read Julia's book The Elgin Conspiracy, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgin-Conspiracy-page-turning-historical-adventure-ebook/dp/B0D52JVXNG/

Next Episode

Season 5 Ep. 6 What would Jane do about Romanticism?

Have you ever wondered why Jane Austen isn't counted among the Romantics of her era when she is now known now as the most romantic of writers? Julia and Katy take a deep dive into what Romantism was (poets such as Wordsworth and Byron) and discuss how Jane connected or criticised the literary movement of her era. In short, this episode is everything you need to know about Romanticism and were too afraid to ask!
We end with our latest news about Jane Austen events and Julia's new book The Wordsworth Key which you can find here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wordsworth-Key-page-turning-historical-adventure-ebook/dp/B0DSZ94PDW/ or at your local bookseller.