• Home
  • Audio/Podcasts
  • Austensites
  • AV/E-Texts
  • History
  • JA Novels & Bio
  • Links
  • Original Sources/19th C. Texts
  • Social Customs During the Regency
  • Teacher/Student
  • Writer/Literature Resources

Jane Austen's World

This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« The Jane Austen Book Club
James Gillray, Political Satirist »

A Glimpse of Jane Austen

November 14, 2007 by Vic

Jane’s beloved niece, Fanny, recalled Jane and Cassandra in 1869, when Fanny was in her seventies.

[Jane] was not so refined as she ought to have been from her talent . . . They [the Austens] were not rich & the people around with whom they chiefly mixed, were not all high bred, or in short anything more than mediocre & they of course tho’ superior in mental powers and cultivation were on the same level as far as refinement goes . . . Aunt Jane was too clever not to put aside all possible signs of “common-ness” (if such an expression is allowable) & teach herself to be more refined . . . Both the Aunts [Cassandra and Jane] were brought up in the most complete ignorance of the World & its ways (I mean as to fashion &c) & if it had not been for Papa’s marriage which brought them into Kent . . . they would have been, tho’ not less clever & agreeable in themselves, very much below par as to good Society & its ways.*

Fanny’s seeming ungratefulness to an aunt who doted on her is deplored by many Jane fans. A forgiving Claire Tomalin explains this passage, saying “it should be remembered that Fanny was very fond of her aunt, and that she ended the passage, which was written in a private letter to her sister Marianne, ‘If you hate all this I beg yr. pardon, but I felt it at my pen’s end, & it chose to come along & speak the truth.'”

Image #1: Jane Odiwe’s watercolour of Jane and Cassandra

Image #2: Cassandra’s watercolour portrait of Fanny Knight.

*Jane Austen: A Life, Claire Tomalin, ISBN 0-679-44628-1, pages 134-135

Read a book review about Jane and Fanny in Austen’s Ungrateful Niece

Share with others:

  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Regency letters, Regency Life | Tagged a glimpse of Jane Austen, Claire Tomalin, Fanny Knight, Glimpse of Jane Austen | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on November 14, 2007 at 13:58 laura

    on first reading, i don’t think she was ungrateful at all! i rather like the image of austen, quite out of fashion, penning the most enjoyable insights on society. i think most writers *must* be like this, in a way–or else, how would they find time to write? and how could they find irony in the frivolous, worldly concerns of others?


  2. on November 14, 2007 at 21:32 Ms. Place

    Agreed. Fanny recollected her aunts with fondness but with a realistic attitude. I find nothing grating in this statement. Neither do I think that it is condemning of Jane. Rather, Fanny adds details about a woman of whose life we have so few descriptions and images.

    Apparently, there have been Jane fans who were/are upset with this description, believing Fanny to be ungrateful.


  3. on November 15, 2007 at 13:19 laura

    yes, possibly fans who wish her to be like a heroine in one of her novels (becoming jane, anyone?). i wish someone would make a movie about jane austen portraying what she was really, probably like. i would find that much more interesting. maybe there is one and i don’t know about it…?

    btw, thanks for the shoutout to Girlebooks in your other blog!


    • on December 12, 2010 at 04:27 Jennie

      Long overdue I know but have you maybe tried Miss Austen Regrets? It’s lovely.


  4. on January 9, 2008 at 04:00 Sick and wicked « Austenprose

    […] A Glimps of Jane Austen: Jane Austen’s World […]


  5. on March 27, 2009 at 09:19 In Jane Austen’s Own Words: Advice to Fanny Knight About Love « Jane Austen’s World

    […] died young and Fanny lived to be of a great age. We know of Fanny’s infamous letter about her aunt written to her younger sister Marianne in 1869, over 50 years after Jane’s […]


  6. on October 4, 2009 at 14:49 Cassandra Austen: Jane’s Confidante, Supporter, and Helpmate « Jane Austen’s World

    […] A Glimpse of Jane Austen – Fanny Knatchbull’s impressions of her aunts Jane and Cassandra. […]


  7. on August 22, 2010 at 13:36 A Glimpse of Jane Austen: Anna Lefroy’s Recollections « Jane Austen's World

    […] A glimpse of Jane Austen: Fanny Knight’s  recollection of her aunt Jane […]



Comments are closed.

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 7,002 other followers

  • Items of Interest

    Black London by Gretchen Gerzina

    Free E-Book: Gerzina has written a fascinating account of London blacks, focusing on the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Because of a paucity of sources from blacks themselves, Gerzina had to rely primarily on glimpses through white eyes, especially those of antislavery advocate Granville Sharp. Gerzina is quite adept at culling evidence of a rich, complex black life, with significant interaction (and intermarriage) with the white community. Although subjected to much discrimination, London blacks never suffered as much as their American counterparts. The author rightly concludes that blacks have played an important role in the life of London for much of its history.

    Click on this link to Dartmouth.edu.

    Book cover of Black London

    And

    Perfect for Easter: Rachel Dodge's The Little Women Devotional, published March 2022. 

    This book has a devotional entry for every chapter of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. You can read a chapter of Little Women and then read the corresponding devotional entry, going through the book one chapter at a time.

    Book Cover Little women devotional Dodge 2022

    Order the book: Amazon link

    Note: Rachel Dodge is a monthly contributor to this blog.

  • Follow Jane Austen's World on WordPress.com
  • Blog Stats

    • 15,990,052 hits
  • Highly Recommended a New Book! Bath -An Adumbration in Rhyme

  • Edited by Ben Wiebracht. Read the review of the book at this link. Click to order the book on Amazon US or Amazon UK

  • Book cover of Bath: An Adumbration in Rhyme by John Matthews
  • In Sri Lanka lies the grave of Rear Admiral Charles Austen CB, Jane Austen’s Brother

    The neglected tombstone found in an overgrown burial ground.

    Rear Admiral Charles Austen CB

    Died off Prome, the 7th October 1852, while in command of the Naval Expedition on the river Irrawady against the Burmese Forces, aged 73 years.”

    The grave after restoration

    Read the full article in The Sunday Times. June 27, 2021.

  • The Obituary of Charlotte Collins by Andrew Capes

    Click on image to read the story.

  • Comments

    “My idea of good company…is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.” – Jane Austen, Persuasion

     

    Gentle readers: Please feel free to post your comments and continue the conversation! Due to SPAM, we will no longer accept comments on posts after 30 days of publication. In some instances, links will be removed from comments as well.

  • Administrators and Contributors

    Vic Sanborn, founder of this blog, is supported by a team of talented and knowledgeable writers about Jane Austen and the Regency era. They are:

    • Brenda Cox
    • Rachel Dodge and
    • Tony Grant, who now contributes his photos from London and England

    Click on their names to enter their own blogs.

    In addition, we thank the many experts and authors who frequently contribute their posts and opinions, and who continue to do so freely or at our request.

  • Pin It!

    Follow Me on Pinterest
  • Top Posts

    • Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
      Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
    • Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
      Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
    • Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband
      Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband
    • Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
      Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
    • Edward Cooper: Jane Austen’s Evangelical Cousin, Part 2
      Edward Cooper: Jane Austen’s Evangelical Cousin, Part 2
    • Downstairs in Downton Abbey: The Servants
      Downstairs in Downton Abbey: The Servants
    • Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
      Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
    • The Servant's Quarters in 19th Century Country Houses Like Downton Abbey
      The Servant's Quarters in 19th Century Country Houses Like Downton Abbey
    • You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
      You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
    • Social Customs During the Regency
      Social Customs During the Regency
  • Recent Posts

    • Edward Cooper: Jane Austen’s Evangelical Cousin, Part 2
    • Sanditon, Season 2, Episode 1: A Belated Review
    • Sense & Sensibility: Review of a play by Kate Hamill
    • ‘You Sink Your Voice’: The Subtle Art of Listening in Persuasion
    • Happy 1st Day of May (and its traditions)
  • Links to Jane Austen Blogs

    Click here to enter the page. Topics include Regency fashion, historic foods, Jane Austen societies, British sites, related topics. Click on image.

  • Find Jane Austen on Google

  • May we suggest?

    Regent’s Canal Walk (Little Venice to Kings Cross): Tony Grant

    Canal opposite Masefield House-TonyGrant

    Take a walk along a portion of Regent’s Canal with Tony Grant and friend. His superb photos and commentary make you feel as if you’ve tagged along.

    John Masefield House

    Click on this link to stroll along with Tony & Guy. (Images: Barges along Regent’s Canal; John Masefield’s House. Copyright: Tony Grant)

    Also recommended:

    The following Audible book/Kindle book:

    A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England by Sue Wilkes. Read a preview of the book on Amazon. I’ve enjoyed listening to this informative and entertaining book on long rides and reading it while waiting at the doctor’s, or dentist’s, or when dining alone at restaurants.

  • Hello, my name is Vic and I live in Maryland, USA. I have adored Jane Austen almost all of my life. I am a proud lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me and my team. We do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we do accept and keep books and CDs to review.

    If you would like to share a new site, or point out an error, please email us. (Yes, we are fallible. We'll own up to our mistakes and will make the corrections with a polite smile on our faces.) Write us at

    gmailbw

    Thank you for visiting this blog. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

  • Coming March 1, 2022

    Katherine Cowley’s second mystery in her Mary Bennet mystery series, The True Confessions of a London Spy, will be available in stores everywhere on March 1, 2022.

    Available March 1, 2022.

    Digital:

    • Amazon Kindle
    • Amazon Kindle UK

     

  • Top Posts & Pages

    • Highclere Castle Floor Plan: The Real Downton Abbey
    • Regency Fashion: Men's Breeches, Pantaloons, and Trousers
    • Pride and Prejudice Economics: Or Why a Single Man with a Fortune of £4,000 Per Year is a Desirable Husband
    • Men's hair styles at the turn of the 19th century
    • Edward Cooper: Jane Austen’s Evangelical Cousin, Part 2
    • Downstairs in Downton Abbey: The Servants
    • Regency Hygiene: The Bourdaloue
    • The Servant's Quarters in 19th Century Country Houses Like Downton Abbey
    • You can watch Persuasion 2007 online
    • Social Customs During the Regency
  • Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape
  • Disclaimer: Our team makes no profit from this blog. We may receive books (physical or digitized) and DVDs for review purposes.

  • Copyright Statement: © Jane Austen's World blog, 2009-2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jane Austen's World with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Jane Austen's World
    • Join 7,002 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Jane Austen's World
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: