“Jane Austen's novels are still being read and have even gained appeal in the 1990's. Maybe it's because her novels are free from scenes of sex and violence, and their fictional world allow us to totally escape from today's world. Regardless, readers continue to be intrigued by Austen's characters, saying that they know them better than the people in their own lives. Jane Austen tackles different themes and different social and cultural conditions in each one of her novels. She has an amazing sense of humor and she makes us laugh out loud over and over again. Austen's novels aren't just silly novels about courtship. They contain meaning that keeps generation after generation coming back to interpret them”

(http://english.tribble.wfu.edu/courses/eng160-kennedy-fa98/team6/liveson.htm)

In 1995, three of Jane Austen´s books were made into movies.  They are:  Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion.  Emma was filmed in 1996.  1983 was the date of the filming of Mansfield Park and 1986 that of Northanger Abbey.  Obviously, the public is still interested in these books two hundred years later.

Why?  It is curious that human nature does not change, no matter the century.  People are still hypocrites.  One´s worth is judged according to the size of one´s bank account.  People befriend those who can do them the most good.  Young girls still worry about “catching” a husband.  But not everyone is like this.  Even those who are, do not see themselves as guilty.  For this reason, it is reassuring to read a book in which one´s own complaints are represented, one´s own principles supported and one´s own judgements vindicated.

Perhaps in the complicated, rapid world in which we live, it is relaxing to return to a simpler life in which problems seem to have easy solutions.  It evokes an image of a pleasant way of living.  Jane Austen was not interested in the wars going on in the world during her time, and so did not refer to them in her books.  She was amused by her society and used her books to make people take a good look at themselves.  Her lesson was always the same:  nice people win and the bad ones must admit the error of their actions.  The ending is always happy.

Jane Austen´s novels appeal mostly to women and, of course, to male teachers of literature.  They are novels about women and in which women triumph.

Academic year 1998/1999
12.Marzo 1999
© a.r.e.a./ Dr. Vicente Forés López
© Kathleen Pérez Garrity
Universitat de València Press