Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Forgotten Letters of Pride & Prejudice

As an exercise in character development the cast of Holton's upcoming show "Pride & Prejudice" wrote letters to each other, in character, revealing thoughts and relationships previously omitted by Ms. Austen. A few of their letters follow. What other missing letters from this epistolary novel might you imagine? Share them in the comments to follow.  

Forgotten_letters.docx Download this file

English Country Dancing

Many key scenes in Pride & Prejudice take place at dances or balls. It can be hard for us to imagine what a dance like that would be like. Certainly it would bear little resemblance to Flashback :)

Luckily we have a resource nearby. Michael Barraclough is a dance historian and profesisonal English country dance caller. He calls a traditional country dance once a month at Glen Echo, just down the road from us. The next one is October 14th! Many members of the Pride & Prejudice cast and crew are planning to attend!

http://www.michaelbarraclough.com/ECD4FUN/

Neuroscience and Jane Austen

This story from this morning's NPR broadcast uses Jane Austen as a reason to quit multitasking.

Npr_story

A Lively Mind: Your Brain On Jane Austen

At a recent academic conference, Michigan State University professor  Natalie Phillips stole a glance around the room. A speaker was talking but the audience was fidgety. Some people were conferring among themselves, or reading notes. One person had dozed off.

Read more or listen to the full story on NPR's website.

Who do you love? Who do you love to hate?

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A blog is only as good as the discussion it creates. So tell us in the comments below:

Which character from Pride & Prejudice do you love the most? Why?

Which character do you love to hate?

(The illustration above is from by Elizabeth Monahan who sells her creations at http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueSkyInking)  

Who is the best Lizzy Bennet?

Those of you who can't get enough Pride and Prejudice will have watched the two most recent adaptations. Who do you prefer as Lizzy Bennet? Keira or Jennifer? Why?

Annual Meeting of the Jane Austen Society of America

The New York Times had a great article about the annual meeting of JASNA last month. Lots of lovely clothes and country dancing too. Check out the photos and read about this great society. Austenites have the most fun.

 

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