G.K. Chesterton and Jane Austen's Secret

"These pages betray her secret; which is that she was naturally exuberant. And her power came, as all power comes, from the control and direction of that exuberance. . . . her original passion was a sort of joyous scorn and a fighting spirit against all that she regarded as morbid and lax and poisonously silly."--G.K. Chesterton, introduction to Love and Friendship.

I have been reading Jane Austen's Juvenilia recently. It has really made me reflect on the truth of Chesterton's idea. Jane Austen as naturally exuberant, and ridicules with more pointed silliness in the Juvenilia than in any of her novels. We can see some of this less restrained tone in Northanger Abbey, which makes sense since it was one of Jane's earlier novels, and one she did not revise after she wrote it. First Impressions and Elinor and Marianne were revised before their appearances as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, but NA was not.

As a reflection of Jane's exuberance, consider this passage from Lesley Castle:

She play'd, yet not even a pidgeon-pye of my making could obtain from her a single word of approbation. This was certainly enough to put any one in a Passion; however, I was as cool as a Cream-cheese and having formed my plan & concerted a scheme of Revenge; I was determined to let her have her own way & not even to make her a single reproach. My Scheme was to treat her as she treated me, and tho' she might even draw my own Picture or play Malbrook (which is the only tune I ever really like) not to say so much as "Thank you Eloisa"; tho' I had for many years constantly hollowed whenever she played, Bravo, Bravissimo, Encora, Da Capo, allegretto, con expressione, and Poco presto with many other such outlandish words, all of them, as Eloisa told me, expressive of my Admiration; and so indeed I suppose they are, as I see some of them in every Page of every Music book, being the Sentiments, I imagine, of the Composer.

I executed my Plan with great Punctuality; I can not say success, for Alas! my silence while she played seemed not in the least to displease her; on the contrary, she actually said to me one day "Well Charlotte, I am very glad to find that you have at last left off that ridiculous custom of applauding my Execution on the Harpsichord till you made my head ake, & yourself hoarse. I feel very much obliged to you for keeping your Admiration to yourself."

Book of the (Next) Month

I have been thinking over my book of the month for February for quite some time. Then, when I woke up and realized it was the 26th, I thought I had better announce my book of February: The Last of the Mohicans. I'm going to have to get pretty good at typing 'Mohicans' fast. Hard job. I have never read this book, but I looked it up on the invaluable Google and found out it has thirty-three chapters. Thus, a chapter a day and double up on weekends. With this book I will provide a guide and post more about what I think of it, perhaps even devoting multiple blog posts to it. So, here is a guide:

February 1: Chapter 1
February 2: Chapter 2
February 3: Chapter 3
February 4: Chapter 4
February 5: Chapter 5
February 6: Chapters 6 and 7
February 7: Chapters 8 and 9
February 8: Chapter 10
February 9: Chapter 11
February 10: Chapter 12
February 11: Chapter 13
February 12: Chapter 14
February 13: Chapters 15 and 16
February 14: Chapters 17 and 18
February 15: Chapter 19
February 16: Chapter 20
February 17: Chapter 21
February 18: Chapter 22
February 19: Chapter 23
February 20: Chapters 24 and 25
February 21: Chapters 26 and 27
February 22: Chapters 28
February 23: Chapter 29
February 24: Chapter 30
February 25: Chapter 31
February 26: Chapter 32
February 27: Chapter 33

The Influence of Redemption In Literature

One of the largest influences of the Gospel on Western culture is the theme of redemption. It pops up in the most unexpected places in literature. Last week I read the poem Lady Clare by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In it, a heiress of high birth discovers she is actually the daughter of the Nurse, Alice, and was exchanged for the true heiress when the true heiress died as a baby. She then dresses in beggar's clothes and goes to tell her fiance (who also happens to be her cousin and now the closest heir to the inheritance) that she is not who everyone thinks she is. At the end of the poem, her cousin says that he will marry her anyway and she "will still be Lady Clare".

The obvious theme in this piece is redemption; that is, the act of being brought back. We can see similar themes nearly everywhere we look. In A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton redeems Charles Darnay by dying in his place, while at the same time being redeemed in the reader's eye by giving up his life. In Pride and Prejudice, Lydia is "redeemed" by Darcy by being getting to marry Wickham, thus, raising herself from apparent doom.

There are two perspectives stories like to follow: the perspective of the redeemer and the perspective of the redeemed. We like to read the perspective of the redeemer because they seem noble. We like to read the perspective of the redeemed because they remind us of ourselves.

It's interesting to note that in nearly all redemption stories there is a Christ-figure. If someone is going to be redeemed, there has to be redeemer. Salvation is perfectly free, but only to us; it cost God incomprehensibly. I believe this influence is a good thing. It urges us to think about the Gospel and God. My mom always said "Every good story has a Christ figure." I think she was right.

Balanced Themes

I read quite frequently, and also enjoy writing. Recently I have noticed a "conflict", if you can call it that, between timely themes and timeless themes.

Webster's Dictionary defines a theme as an idea that recurs in or pervades a piece of art or literature. For example, the themes of Pride and Prejudice could be "romance" or "faults" or "self-realization". A theme of Hamlet could be "infidelity" or "insanity". Timely themes would be themes that are culturally relevant now, perhaps "post-modernism". Timeless themes would be themes that are always relevant, such as "death". It happens to everybody, excepting Enoch and Elijah.

There is as much danger in writing a novel set in the present as there is in writing a fantasy. The danger is that you, the writer, become so engrossed in the setting that you forget what is more important: the plot. In a modern novel, the writer could dwell on the advanced technology his characters use, thus; subtracting form the plot. In a fantasy, a writer could give over-detailed explanations of customs and lands in their made-up world

A novel could override its balance. Too many timeless themes, and, while the novel may be a masterpiece, it does not have the power to make a present change. Too many timely themes, and it becomes marginalized and will have no lasting power. Some books I think have an admirable balance of timeless and timely themes are:

A Tale of Two Cities (death, the mechanization of death, liberty, revolution, revenge)

To Kill A Mockingbird (prejudice, prejudice against African Americans, courage, innocence)

Can you think of any more?

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Hamlet Update:

I am currently in Act 4, Scene 4.

Book of the Month: Hamlet

For the upcoming year, I am going to be reading one classic novel a month. I admit to cheating and choosing a play for this month, but it is considered literature, so I'm counting it as such. If you want to join me in my 2010 Reading Challenge, you're more than welcome. Let's read!

The Unconventional Heroine

Anyone who has ever read Mansfield Park has been surprised at its heroine, Fanny Price. A typical heroine is physically vigorous; Fanny is weak and sickly. A typical heroine is strong-headed and stubborn; Fanny is compliant. A typical heroine Fanny Price is not. Her character remains the most debated point in the book, more debated than the seemingly two-faced Sir Thomas Bertram or the slaves the family owns in Antigua.

In many ways, Fanny is mystery. She dislikes the woman who is courting her cousin, but she doesn't try to stop her. She cares about her cousin, but never attempts to inform him of his love interest's mercenary tendencies. The obvious reason for this is that Fanny thinks that he knows already, but, in that case, what was he doing winning her affection? And why doesn't she tell anyone about her engaged sister's flirtation? The character appears extremely reticent, not even giving her reasons for not joining in the play everyone else puts on.

While Fanny appears unconventional, she adheres strictly to the rigid laws of society for women at that time. She is astounded by the behavior of Mary Crawford--not just because she is flirting with her cousin, but because she is improper.

Fanny rises in the reader's opinion when she emphatically refuses to marry the unprincipled Henry Crawford. While her will-power here seems to come out of nowhere, she has actually been preparing for this moment during the whole of the novel. Like the proverbial "bump on a log" Fanny refuses to budge, despite the fact that many of the characters see this marriage as a duty for her.

One of the most universal points about a typical heroine is that she is, or thinks of herself as, an unconventional heroine. She's headstrong; she's athletic; she's outdoorsy; she questions society's rules. Why shouldn't she be unconventional? Because "unconventional" has become a convention, and of course, all of the poor "unconventional" heroines have become conventional.

Which means when we meet a truly unconventional heroine like Fanny Price, we're sure surprised.