Learning to love Jane Austen

By Laureen McMahon

Julie Mills's English students at Little Flower Academy have declared themselves Janeites: dedicated readers of the novels of Jane Austen!

Laureen McMahon / The B.C. Catholic Ready with their Emmas, Little Flower Academy “Janeites” prepare for the Jane Austen Society of North America Young Writers’ Workshop.

The English author, whose six major works were penned in the early 19th Century, has never been more popular than she is today, thanks to an explosion of movies, TV productions, biographies, and Austen-influenced novels.

It's no surprise, say the students, who last year eagerly devoured Austen's Emma, written in 1815.

On Sept. 29, armed with a copy of the novel, 14 LFA students took part in a Young Writers' Workshop sponsored by the Jane Austen Society of North America to coincide with this year's JASNA conference and AGM taking place in Vancouver Oct. 5-7.

It is the second time in 20 years that the Jane Austen Vancouver Region has hosted the sold-out event, the largest in their history, say organizers.

The conference includes an English Regency Ball, an Austen-based play, the screening of a new film, The Jane Austen Book Club, a religious service with prayers written by Jane Austen, and a concert with music of her time performed on a pianoforte by Michael Jarvis, St. Jude's Parish music director.

The LFA students, said Mills, who teaches an Austen novel to the Grade 11 class each year, were eager to take part in the Young Writers' Workshop. The essay contest is open to high school, undergrad, and graduate students to encourage appreciation for Austen. Prizes for the best essays are awarded the weekend of the JASNA conference.

Like several of her classmates, Cheryl Jean Leo has gone on to read more Austen since studying Emma, and recently finished what is probably her most famous book, Pride and Prejudice.

"I think both are masterpieces," Leo told The B.C. Catholic. "I love the way they reflect the timeless themes of love and struggle and life."

Mills's own love for Austen's deliciously witty literary style goes back to her school days in Australia. As soon as she learned about the 2007 JASNA conference, she signed up, hoping to discover even more ways to help her students appreciate Austen.

Last April, after completing Emma, the Grade 11s staged a Jane Austen Tea Dance and served an authentic English Afternoon Tea to fellow class members.

"The students," said Mills, "were delighted to become immersed in Austen's life and times. They practised and performed three dances of the Regency period with half the girls in period gowns and the other half dressing as men. They also created an art gallery of characters from the novel and acted out dramatic scenes."

Emma, the story of a young woman who turns out to be a bit of a control freak when it comes to matchmaking among her friends, struck home with the students.

Austen's characters, a few girls commented, are amazingly recognizable today, even 200 years after they were created.

"I was surprised when I found out we were going to read it," said Julia Zulver, "because it was quite challenging, and it's long, but it's a classic novel, and it's good to have a background in novels that have lasted in popularity for a long time."

The novel's setting in what seemed a simpler, less violent time, appealed to Laura Vercammen, while Catherine Lee liked the vibrant characters.

"I could really relate to the characters because they are just like people you meet in everyday life," Lee said.

The students were almost unanimous in choosing Emma as their favourite of the book's characters, even though when Jane Austen introduced her to readers, she said she was sure that no one except herself would like the heroine.

Katherine Chan confessed to becoming quite fond of Miss Bates, the talkative spinster neighbour who was occasionally the hapless target of Emma's humour.

"She reminds me of myself when she doesn't understand when it's time to say something and when it's not!" said Chan.

Julie Day said she admired the "charming" Mr. Knightley, with whom Emma falls in love, because he was "the only one who was honest with Emma when she made poor judgements about people."

All of the girls nodded in agreement when asked if they had predicted that Emma and Mr. Knightley would end up together.

The tea dance, the students agreed, was a highlight of their school year and an inspirational way to cap their study of Austen and the English Regency period.

Mills said she has discovered that adding events where the students come up with their own inexpensive costumes greatly enhances the study of the novel.

"It helps them understand the society of the period and the daily life and customs, and it provides a far greater appreciation of the issues which especially affected the lives of women at the time of Jane Austen, and of course Austen novels expose them to a superlative style of writing. They learn to understand the importance of diction, organization, and flow a lot better."