The sensible thing to do would be to explain why I named my blog Austen and Burney; however, the thought had not occurred to me until someone commented wanting to know why. Well, the short answer is I named my blog Austen after Jane Austen and Burney after Frances Burney because they are both writers who I admire both for their personal life as well as their works.
The Long Answer:
Frances Burney is one of the first female novelists to ever make enough money to support herself. She heavily influenced later authors, especially Jane Austen and William Makepeace Thackery. She lived a very interesting life. Her father was known for music and brought a wide range of social elites and thinkers to the house frequently. She was shunned by her father who favored her sisters because they were beautiful and Burney apparently was unable to read until 8 possibly due to dyslexia. She did not marry until her forties and then traveled extensively through Europe. I've read only one of her five novels, Evelina, and find it to be very much in the same vein as Jane Austen. Burney creates a novel where the characters are challenged to follow society's standards and their own moral standards and somehow find themselves somewhere in between. As much as I like the novel what really drives my passion for Burney is her non-fiction work. Her diaries are amazing accounts of what 18th century life was like. She did amazing things in her life like chronicle the Battle of Waterloo, the French Revolution and describe how she had a mastectomy without anesthesia back when surgeries of this nature were virtually unheard of. Lastly, I'm drawn to her because she is unfortunately becoming rather obscure. Her works are not widely known and are difficult to find in book stores. Especially her non-fiction work which is such a shame. One of my secrete passions is obscure female writers who write good novels.
Jane Austen is a stereotypical author for any woman to gravitate to right? What poor guy dating a girl hasn't been forced to watch one of the Austen movies? Well I'm sure there are some, but my husband isn't one of them. He humors me, good guy. :) There is a very strong reason why women like her novels (and subsequently her movies) they are a story about Romance. And women were designed to long for the Romance with the savior so we are naturally drawn to these types of stories. Read the book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge for a full discussion of this topic. Aside from that though, Jane Austen writes with such intelligence and humor that her stories appeal to a vast audience. My favorite aspect of Austen's writings however are her calls for social reform that are written in such a way as to not offend people of her day, but still make a strong case that will make a change. She is able to get past "the sleeping dragons," as C.S. Lewis would say, because of her style that incorporates wit with truth.
As far as what can be gleaned from their writings, their letters, diaries, etc. it appears that both women were also deeply religious. Their writings however do not preach, instead they instruct with truth to the heart of people and it is left up to the people to decide where this truth originates. My goal is to allow my "life to speak louder than words," as a certain 90s Christian song says, just as these two women did.
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1 comment:
I am a big fan of Jane Austen's novels--although if you ever ask this question of me in public, I will surely deny it. :)
The reason I am drawn to Austen's novels, however, is not b/c of the romanticism that is contained therein--although it is surely present. Rather, what I find to be particularly intriguing and adoring about her stories, is the respect gentlemen had for ladies. Some might say that this makes me a caveman to hold such a perspective, but the courtship process that Austen describes is, in a word, simply beautiful. I am saddened when I compare our courtship process (if you can even call it courting) to that of Austen's time period. Women deserve the full gamut of civil rights as men, but in the process of "liberating" women, I'm afraid that we have taken them down from the pedestal they deserve and cast them onto a muddy thoroughfare, where men often like to traverse.
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