Becoming Jane: The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen

Inspired by the charming, winning film that will have audiences wanting to know more about Jane Austen, this is a collection of her most famous and quotable quotes—the pearls of wisdom on topics like men, marriage, gossip, and relationships that are as true today as they were in 1789 　　It is a truth universally acknowledged . . . that Jane Austen’s pearls of wisdom and barbs of wit are some of the most well-known, wise, and funny around. This handy, highly giftable book collects the best-known bits from Emma, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey, and groups them into categories like ”Men,” ”Balls,” and ”Marriage” so that readers can easily find the perfect quote for any occasion. For readers whose curiosity about Austen has been piqued by Miramax Films’ Becoming Jane, this book will be irresistible. Anne Newgarden is a writer and editor. She lives in New York City.

誰來打動珍的心？
文 羅思虎吉

在電影〈初戀成珍〉(Becoming Jane, 2007)裡安•海瑟薇穿著攝政時代流行的款式，剪裁就像是我們在所有珍•奧斯汀電影看到女主角的打扮，不過醒目的酒紅色長洋裝大概是要創造戲劇效果，畢竟當時鄉村以穿著大地色衣料比較合宜。英國人大概可以再更鉅細靡遺地指出這部電影的不是，這可是美國人拍的電影啊！然而這絕對是一部繼BBC版、綺拉奈特利版〈傲慢與偏見〉與李安〈理性與感性〉之外，珍迷得看的電影。先撇開口音不談，安•海瑟薇的眼睛真的大。筆者的印象停留在她飾演從有點笨拙普通後來變漂亮的Ｍia公主，然而珍•奧斯汀的眼睛有那麼大嗎？對照由姊姊Cassandra所繪唯一流傳的肖像，珍的確有一雙漂亮的大眼。

珍•奧斯汀一生過著田園生活，四十一年的歲月裡，完成六部小說傳世。如果作家的創作與生活經驗相關，珍•奧斯汀究竟是過著什麼樣的人生得以完成這些跨越時空觸動人心的故事呢？

在她二十歲時認識了湯姆•樂佛伊。 樂佛伊先生來自蘇格蘭，生性桀傲不拘，在珍看來，他是太驕傲。這個從倫敦來的年輕實習律師，一點也不懂得欣賞田園美景，然而他豐富的生活經驗與文學見解卻與珍擦出感情的火花。 樂佛伊先生寄住在倫敦舅舅家，將來法官舅舅的財產也是要給湯姆繼承的，為了顧及遠在貧困家鄉眾多的兄弟姐妹，樂佛伊 先生得功成名就才行，當然，婚事沒有舅舅許可則免談。

樂佛伊先生心思細膩，也是少數求婚男子中，了解並欣賞珍特有文學才情的人。這對論及婚嫁的情侶在倫敦碰面。樂佛伊先生帶著珍去見一個法官大人的妻子，她同時也是一位享有盛名的作家。法官太太看來有點魂不守舍（也許拍攝這腳色時，是以妮可基嫚詮釋的吳爾芙為參考吧），令人心疼。她說：「當一個作家與妻子是不能兼顧的責任。」年輕的珍似懂非懂，然而她知道自己得不輟寫作。

這段感情破局肇因樂佛伊先生的舅舅拒絕接受娶進寒酸鄉下教士女兒開始。傷心的珍於是回家療傷。然而一天，樂佛伊先生又出現在她面前，二人決定逃離現狀，到另一個地方開始新生活。接下來的所發生的故事是這部電影最大的轉折，也是珍脫離所有少女對愛情憧憬的幻滅。眾所皆知，珍是一生獨身，而 樂佛伊先生卻也未曾離開她，他成為珍筆下達西先生的典型。而誰不愛達西先生呢？

這部半傳記電影〈初戀成珍〉會令許多人聯想到瑞妮齊薇格的〈波特小姐〉。二位主角都是心靈獨立的女性，對這世界與人性的觀察轉化成自己的語言，妙筆生花，出書的版稅使她們的生活不致於匱乏；雖然獨身甚久，然而絕對不是不相信愛情。波特小姐獨身至四十歲以後才結婚，若珍能夠再多活些年歲，一定還會有更多故事，也許，還會出現另一個達西先生，再一次打動她的心。

Chapter One
Family

Family-with all its blessings, comforts, torments, and absurdities-plays a pivotal role in the lives of all of Jane Austens characters, as her own family did in hers. Austen was born on December 16, 1775, into a large and tight-knit family-the seventh of eight children: six boys and two girls. Although her second eldest brother, George, who suffered from seizures and perhaps also deafness and other disorders, was not raised at Steventon with the rest, several cousins made extended visits at various times and, with the addition of the student boarders that her parents took in, the seven-bedroom house in which Jane grew up was a lively and bustling place. It is described by those who visited her family as being filled with witty and thought-provoking conversation, a large library of well-read books, and the frequent performances of home theatricals (much like those Austen wrote about in Mansfield Park), particularly those of the satirical, comedy-of-manners sort. Jane, who as an adolescent began writing her own plays, poems, and literary parodies to amuse her family (and no doubt herself), certainly thrived creatively in this rich and stimulating environment, embarking on a serious literary career by the age of twenty, when she began First Impressions(later revised into Pride and Prejudice).

Austen was close, to varying degrees, to the brothers with whom she was raised. James, the eldest, also had literary leanings; he wrote poetry and, while he was at Oxford, he started a periodical for gentlemen called The Loiterer, which he edited with their brother Henry. Later he became a clergyman, taking over the duties at Steventon after his father retired. Edward, the third, was adopted in his teens by wealthy, childless cousins of the Austens, who were seeking an heir, and were extraordinarily fond of him. (He later officially took on their surname, Knight.) Henry, born fourth, who is said to have been Janes favorite and who was witty and less serious than his brothers, handled many of the details of publishing her work. He married his first cousin, the glamorous Eliza de Feuillide, whose first husband, a French count, had been guillotined, and who was ten years Henrys senior. Later in life Henry, like James, became a clergyman. Frank (Francis) and Charles, the two youngest boys, entered the navy at an early age, and were away at sea much of the time (though their influence is apparent in the many naval references that appear in Mansfield Park and Persuasion). Both eventually rose to the rank of admiral.

Jane was by far the closest to her only sister, Cassandra, nearly three years her senior. Neither of the sisters ever wed. The two shared a home and, in fact, a bedroom, for the whole of their lives, with Cassandra and her mother (up until her death) carrying out most of the domestic duties. This arrangement lasted until July 18, 1817, when Jane passed away with her head in her sisters lap. Their lifelong intimacy is clear in the frequency of the newsy, chatty letters exchanged between the two whenever they were apart. Jane strove to amuse Cassandra, as she often pointed out in the letters, and her arch, often outrageous observations and insults about their mutual friends and acquaintances were obviously spurred on by that desire.

Austen also had a very large extended family, and frequently traveled to visit them. She felt great affection especially toward the profusion of nephews and nieces provided by her brothers; she seemed to have a special affinity for the role of aunt, and often wrote to her nieces Fanny Knight (later Knatchbull), Anna Austen (later Lefroy), and Caroline Austen; and to her nephew James Edward Austen (later Austen-Leigh, having added a second surname when he became his aunts-Mrs. Leigh Perrots-heir). They sought her advice, both of the romantic and the literary sort, as writing talent seemed to run thickly in the Austen blood (Janes mother, though lacking a great deal of formal education, was known to be a clever letter writer, and also quite adept at rhyming verse), and three of these four nieces and nephews published memoirs revealing a great deal of affection for their Aunt Jane.


"It is very unfair to judge of anybodys conduct, without an intimate knowledge of their situation. Nobody, who has not been in the interior of a family, can say what the difficulties of any individual of that family may be." -Emma Woodhouse to Mr. Knightley, in Emma

* * * A family of ten children will always be called a fine family, where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number; but the Morlands had little other right to the word, for they were in general very plain ... -from Northanger Abbey