Sorry folks, I’m late today but never fear I’m getting to my post here. Today is Day 4 of the chat that J.Kaye from J.Kaye’s Book Blog and I are having. I’m not as far as I wanted to be in the novel yet but far enough to know what I wanted to talk about today.
My topic today and what I find fascinating, well really horrifying, is how women had life back in the 1800’s. Jane Austen, to me, just didn’t fit into the mold of what was acceptable back then and we can see reminders of that in her writing: for me especially in Pride & Prejudice as Lizzy seemed a fairly rebellious character for the times. I see evidence of her trying hard to find a suitable man to marry and knowing it was her duty but at the same time she wanted other things like being able to make a profession out of her writing.
There are so many reminders throughout the story of what a woman’s place was. The only hope they had then was to get married-that was a duty of a girl in the family-really her only one. If you didn’t get married then you lived with your parents and took care of them. When something happened to them you had better have had some relatives willing to support you. Of course they could become a teacher or governess-neither of which seemed appealing options back then. Young girls were brought up thinking that desirable qualities were meekness and humility. As they got older their time was filled with learning skills which would make them good wives and able to take care of lots of children.
Other instances are when Jane mentions to a possible suitor, Tom that she’d like to work-to write, he backs off immediately. Now that wasn’t the case with this gentleman but with most in that day this is exactly what would have happened. Women weren’t allowed to work or be forward and aggressive. I could just imagine their shock if they were to see our world now.
I think this is the part of the book I’m enjoying the most. Being taken back into time to the way things were back in the 1800’s with carriages and courting and the way things were in this time period. It’s interesting to read about but I wouldn’t have survived back in those days. My mouth is much too big and being forced into anything doesn’t appeal to me whatsoever. For the women of that time, this was life whether they liked it or not. They didn’t at that time have the power to change things. All I can say is thankfully that has changed.
Tomorrow is our wrap up of this novel so be sure to check out both J.Kaye’s Book Blog and here at Peeking Between the Pages. If you’ve missed any previous days, here you go…
Day 1 at J.Kaye’s Book Blog here
Day 2 here at Peeking Between the Pages
Day 3 at J.Kaye’s Book Blog here
Day 4 check it out above
Day 5 wrap up at J.Kaye’s Book Blog and here at Peeking Between the Pages
Join in if you’ve read the book or if you just have a passion for all things Jane Austen.
There you are! I was sooooo worried! Okay, now that I know you are okay, I’ll read your post.
Be Write Back…
Oh yes, the rights of women were nonexistent back then. And for her to be a famous writer back then was a HUGE deal.
What saddens me in the book is how love eluded Jane. Cassandra, though not married, had found someone who loved her. Jane found out much later someone had indeed loved her, but never knew it at the beginning.
How do you think this affected her writing? It’s something I’ve been wondering.
“Be Write Back….”
Gosh, I need to go to bed…lol!
I was looking for you too Dar.. I have really been enjoying the chats this week. I enjoyed this book alot.
I don’t have a big mouth.. I would have been one of those submissive do as I told types and died at 39 having a 5th child with one other surviving children.
Thank goodness that Jane Austen was able to impart part of her simple, modified existence to us in the here and now in 2009. We can enjoy some of the simplicities of life and become empowered by our own civil liberties and rights now..
I also wonder J.Kaye.. how it influenced her writing.
Anyway.. I could ramble on.. I will save some more for J.Kaye’s chat tomorrow.
Thanks Ladies for Hosting..
I’ll chat more today about it, but I finished last night. I cried at the end. Flipped me out too. I mean, we know she died. Duh! But the author’s words, I could feel Cassandra’s loss through the author’s words…blubbered like a baby. Totally embarrassing.
Hey ladies, I cut Buddy's hair in the morning and with my health issues sometimes it puts me down for a bit which is what happened. He's done though and looks adorable.
J.Kaye, as I read about Jane's bad luck with the men she loves it makes me sad. She seemed to have been looking so hard to find that something and it just never seemed to happen for her. When I read that part when she found out about Atkins at least I was happy that she knew she hadn't been dumped. There was a reason he had stopped corresponding with her.
I think her writing was affected by all that happened in her life. We learn later on that Mansfield Park and Emma were different from her first novels S&S and P&P. All the things that had happened to her came out in her words to some extent.
LOL-I laughed at that J.Kaye-be write back. Perfect for us readers and writers.
Toni, I'm surprised that I've really enjoyed this book as much as I did. I had a few doubts when I had first started because I had thought it was more of a sequel to P&P but as I was reading I got sucked in.
Toni, that is one thing I do like about back then-the simplicity of things. Our world now is much too busy and there is so much pressure. Thinking of stitching or reading all day sounds so good sometimes. Having all those kids was not only dangerous but crazy.
J.Kaye, I still have 50 pgs to go. I couldn't stay awake any longer last night. This whole book has tugged at my heart along the way. The author did a wonderful job of putting together a story around what might have happened to Jane.