Happy Birthday Jane Austen (Yet Another Period Drama) - Tag

Note: I meant to publish this during Yet Another Period Drama Blog's Happy Birthday Jane Austen Week, but was unable to. Sorry for the delay.


Miss Dashwood from Yet Another Period Drama Blog is holding a Happy Birthday, Jane Austen Week. She has a very lovely tag that I am taking part in.

1 - What was the first JA novel you ever read, and who introduced you to it?

The first Jane Austen book I've ever read was Pride and Prejudice. My mom introduced me to the 1995 miniseries (she had never read the book). I knew I was supposed to read it for school, but one day I found a copy in Borders (oooh! Why did Borders have to close?!) featuring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth from the 1995 miniseries on the cover (in fact, it's pictured above!), so I bought it and read it before I was supposed to read it.

2 - Which is your least favorite JA novel, and why?  (Everybody posts about their favorites... I want to know what's at the bottom of your list!)

I don't dislike any of her books, but probably Persuasion was my least favorite. It didn't have as much satire that other Jane Austen novels have. It was still okay, but just not my favorite. I liked Anne Elliot as a heroine, but I kind of resented Captain Wentworth: he just seemed to purposely cause Anne pain throughout most of the book.

3 - Who do you think is the funniest character JA ever created?

Hmmm... Something to think about...

I would probably pick Henry Tilney for his wit. 

For "silly funny", probably Mrs. Jennings: she can get on my nerves a little, but she means well and can be amusing.

4 - Which JA villain[ess] do you love to hate?

I greatly dislike Willoughby from Sense and Sensibility. He truly is a scoundrel!

5 - What's your favorite JA quote?

There are so many! I loved this quote from Sense and Sensibility:

"How soon he had walked himself into the proper resolution, however, how soon an opportunity of exercising it occurred, in what manner he expressed himself, and how he was received, need not be particularly told. This only need be said;—that when they all sat down to table at four o'clock, about three hours after his arrival, he had secured his lady, engaged her mother's consent, and was not only in the rapturous profession of the lover, but, in the reality of reason and truth, one of the happiest of men." (Chapter 49)

Where other authors would have gone into over mushy, romantic language, Jane Austen didn't get into it. She didn't need to rely on the mushy language to tell her story.

6 - If you were to "start" someone on JA, which book would you recommend to them first and why?

Probably Pride and Prejudice, since it is so popular and my favorite. After Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility since you could find similarities between the two. 

7 - What is your absolute favorite JA film adaptation and why?

Definitely the 1995 miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, since it was what introduced me to Jane Austen.

8 - If you could authorize a new film adaptation of one of JA's novels, which would it be and why?

Though I haven't finished it (so much to do, so little time to read) or seen any adaptation of it, definitely Mansfield Park. Every other Austen adaptation has at least one adaptation that is good, but not Mansfield Park. Even the new Northanger Abbey is okay, though not perfect. So in short, Mansfield Park then Northanger Abbey.

9 - Which JA character do you most identify with?

Elizabeth Bennet (duh!). In my years of reading, I have never found a character that I have related to more.

10 - If you could have lunch with JA today, what question would you most like to ask her?
"So, what do you think of the books that have been coming out lately?"

11 - Is there any one thing that you think could have been improved upon in one (or all) of JA's books?  What is it and why?

I did wish that there was more satire in Persuasion because that is what I love in Jane's other books, but there wasn't as much in Persuasion.

12 - If you could have lunch with one of JA's characters today, who would it be and why?

Besides Elizabeth Bennet? I wouldn't mind having lunch with Marianne Dashwood: maybe she could help me with the piano? (I could use the help! hehe)

13 - (optional) Why is Miss Dashwood so fond of asking "why"?
 "Why?" happens to be a very interesting question, of course! We can always answer what something is, or how something got there, buy "why" really gets to the root of the entire situation!

God Bless,