Lucy Steele Comes Clean about Sense and Sensibility

Remember Lucy Steele in 1996's Sense and Sensibility? As played by Imogen Stubbs, she was a conniving mean spirited b--tch, er, witch. Imogen is currently playing Anna in The Glass Menagerie at the Cambridge Arts Theatre. In a recent interview, she fondly recalled playing as Lucy opposite Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson:

“It was a terrific cast, it was a bit like the Harry Potters, you know. On the whole British actors are lovely so it’s always a good atmosphere.

“Ang Lee was gorgeous and Emma Thompson, along with Judi Dench, is up there with the nicest women in the history of the universe. And I knew Hugh anyway because his mum was a great friend of my mum’s, and we grew up in Chiswick together.”

Surely another plus when working on a good old British period drama are the costumes. However Imogen found she’d been a little left out when it came to dress rehearsals – and the less said about her bonnet, the better.

“I had rather silly costumes. It looked as though I had a bucket on my head! Initially I was blonde and we started like that but I looked too much like I was related to Kate (Winslet) and Emma. We were all too blondy, so I had to go dark. So I had this silly little mean wig and a bucket on my head and no make-up – I looked slightly piggy.”

Imogen went on to say about Lucy: "Everyone thinks, ‘oh, awful little Lucy’, because everyone loves the two main girls, but Lucy’s a survivor – almost more like Becky Sharpe in Vanity Fair.

“I’ve played a lot of heroines but I think villains are a lot more fun." - Cambridge News Co.UK

Elizabeth Bennet's Feelings Had Undergone a Material Change

Interested reader,

Sometimes few words are needed for a post. I love when artists interpret Jane Austen's work with the same sense of fun and irreverence as her juvenile self had towards the literature she read in her day. Enjoy Palnk's drawings. This post was first published in "Jane Austen em Português" with kind permission from Palnk. (Click on images for details.)

• More Palnk's drawing: Austen Girls and Elizabeth Bennet.
• Palnk's site on Deviant Art

Posted by Raquel Sallaberry, Jane Austen em Portugues

Jane Austen Movie Throwdown

This week's poll concerns reading scenes or scenes involving a book in Jane Austen movie sequel adaptations. Which are your favorite scenes involving a book/reading?

Jemima Rooper as Amanda Price loves to read Pride and Prejudice. Before long, Lizzie Bennet steps inside her bathroom and she finds herself living inside the book. When Mr. Darcy (Elliot Cowan) reads Pride and Prejudice, he mistakenly thinks that Amanda revealed private information. Angered, he tears the book up and tosses it in a fountain.

In The Jane Austen Book Club, Prudie Drummond (Emily Blunt) convinces her husband Dean (Marc Blucas) to read Persuasion. He not only loves the book, but the story brings the couple closer and helps to mend their troubled marriage.

Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is an expert shopper in Clueless, loosely based on Emma, and one would never confuse her for a book worm. Her Mr. Knightley, Josh (played by Paul Rudd) is a serious law student in college. The snappy dialog makes watching the film a treat. CHER: Hey, granola breath, you got something on your chin. JOSH: I'm growing a goatee. CHER: Oh, that's good. You don't want to be the last one at the coffee house without chin pubes.

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Favorite movie scene involving a book or reading

Lost in Austen The Jane Austen Book Club Clueless

How To Make a Regency Outfit: The Chemise and Corset

In continuing our quest to help you create your own regency outfit, we must consider one of the undergarments, the chemise. The chemise was relative short, not quite reaching the knees, as you can see in the gown of the woman in the 1797 Parisian scene above.

This link leads to step by step instructions on how to sew three types of chemises and a corset.

Not a seamstress? You can order some fine chemises and corsets at this Etsy site.

Follow Friday: Joanna Waugh Regency Customs and Holidays

This week's Friday Follow takes us to romance writer Joanna Waugh's Regency site. Her last post was written a few weeks ago on Mothering Sunday. If you are at work, reduce your volume, for Joanna also features beautiful music.

The blog is part of a larger website, informative website that holds regency resources.

Listen to Emma, Part 1 on BBC iPlayer

One hour of Emma on your iPod with Eve Best and Robert Bathurst. How delightful. Click on this link to go to BBC iPlayer. A series of commercials will pop up before the radio program begins. Enjoy Part One.

This broadcast is available until tomorrow, April 9th.

Robert Bathurst in the recent Emma

Jane Austen Today Wordle

Have you ever tried making a word cloud with Wordle? I placed the url of this blog in the gallery and it came up with this combination of words. Wordle is a fun tool for teachers; a great way to teach online skills to older students, and an excellent graphic for the cover of a notebook or logo for a workshop. There are so many uses for this fun site. Click here or type in http://www.wordle.net/.



This word cloud is made with words from one of the letters Jane wrote to her sister Cassandra in 1798

Book Giveaway: Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen

Jane Austen's World is hosting a book give away of Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen by Sarah Jane Downing.

Please click here to enter! I am collecting a wonderful number of Jane Austen quotes, which I shall share with readers over the months. It is fun to read which quotes are meaningful to readers.

The winner will be chosen on April 19th.

My favorite Jane Austen quote is from Persuasion: " A lady without a family was the very best preserver of furniture in the world."

Vic

Mr. Collins Proposes to Lizzie

Mr. Collins' proposal to Lizzie shall always remain one of my favorite scenes in both book and film:

Jane Austen Hero Notebook on Etsy

This handmade notebook is an homage to Colonel Brandon. Nade by Raquel Sallaberry, our new guest blogger, the notebook he notebooks are totally handmade: sewing the leaves, collages and assemblages of the covers with the fabric – all done by me. Small imperfections are the product of the manual work, which makes copies uniques. Color may differ slightly from your screen.

You may prefer the Captain Wentworth Notebook, which features the "You pierce my soul" letter that he wrote to Anne Elliot.

Vic for Racquel Sallaberry, Jane Austen em Portugues

Jane Austen Movie Fashion Throwdown: Bonnets

Today is Easter, a time for celebration and family, and wearing hats and bonnets. Which bonnet is your favorite? I chose the three that have always caught my eye.

Front view (above), Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet at Rosings. And (below) back view.

Kate Winslet as Marianne, Sense and Sensibility, 1996

Carey Mulligan, Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey 2007. Front view (top) and side view (bottom).

Which bonnet do you prefer?
	Jennifer Ehle, 1995 Elizabeth Bennet
	Kate Winslet, 1996 Marianne Dashwood
	Carey Mulligan, 2007 Isabella Thorpe
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Interview with Nancy Butler, Writer of the Comic Sense and Sensibility

Last year, Marvel Comics published a number of issues of Pride and Prejudice, which were such a success that it sat on the New York Times Graphic Novel Best Seller list for 13 weeks. Nancy Butler, the brains behind the graphic version of that novel, has adapted Sense and Sensibility for a similar treatment. The first of five S&S comics will be available for purchase at this site on May 10.

Vanetta Rogers of Newsarama interviewed Ms. Butler, who talked about the experience of condensing the book:

Austen tells you that Elinor falls in love with Edward without you reading any of their dialogue until, like, page 300. So she tells you that Mrs. Dashwood observes Elinor and feels that she has formed an attraction to him.

So, since I'm doing this as a comic book, I can't use prose to tell what's going on. I can't just have a comic filled with artwork and captions telling you how the characters are feeling. So I've had to invent – especially in this first issue – I've had to invent scenes that I thought were in keeping with the flow of the story, but do not occur in the book except as an author's description."

• Click here to read the rest of the interview.
• Sense and Sensibility #2 will be in stores on June 3

Follow Friday: The Georgian Index

The Georgian Index is a web site, not a blog, and it doesn't look pretty. It was designed in the early days of web design when choices for backgrounds, images, and fonts were limited, and the last update was made in 2006. But the site contains a wealth of information that is still fresh and usable. When you scroll to the bottom, you will find an index of topics listed in alphabetical order. Here are a few tidbits of information:

Bingley Danced the two Second and the two Fifth Dances with Jane: The couples in an English Country Dance generally formed what was known as a "longwise set for as many as will" by standing side-by-side in two facing lines with all the male dancers on one side and all the female dancers on the other side. The "longwise" dance formation suited the space in a long narrow public assembly room.

The Regency Fete: A long table for two hundred of the most honored guests was set up in the Gothic conservatory designed by Thomas Hopper. The vault of the conservatory was hung with lanterns and an illuminated crown with the letters GR hung above the Regent's chair.

Servant Bells: In the living areas, a piece of tapestry ribbon disguised the bell pull. A copper wire, covered by the piece of tapestry, ending with a brass loop hung from the wall. A tug on the brass loop carried the tug along the copper bell wire to a spring at the other end with a bell mounted on it. When the spring in the lower servant area of the house vibrated from a pull on the wire, a bell would ring. The bells were usually mounted on the wall of the hall outside the kitchens.

For those of you who are inclined to spend a few hours exploring, enjoy!

Making a Regency Outfit: The Bonnet

Ever wonder how Regency Bonnets are made? This video clip from The Oregon Regency Society offers a step by step process. What a great way to start the weekend before Easter!

• Additional hints are placed on their site.
• A 2010 Bonnet Workshop will be given on May 2
• Check out the materials list in this PDF document

Making Your Regency Outfit: The Reticule

This excellent post by DawnLuck provides step-by-step photo instructions on how to make your own reticule. Click here to enter the site, then click on all the images for instructions.

Helena Bonham Carter Reads Excerpts of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Click on this link to listen to Lady Catherine DeBourgh's confrontation with Elizabeth.

Mrs. Bennet, with great civility, begged her ladyship to take some refreshment; but Lady Catherine very resolutely, and not very politely, declined eating any thing; and then, rising up, said to Elizabeth,

"Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should be glad to take a turn in it, if you will favour me with your company."

"Go, my dear," cried her mother, "and shew her ladyship about the different walks. I think she will be pleased with the hermitage."

Elizabeth obeyed, and running into her own room for her parasol, attended her noble guest down stairs. As they passed through the hall, Lady Catherine opened the doors into the dining-parlour and drawing-room, and pronouncing them, after a short survey, to be decent looking rooms, walked on.

Her carriage remained at the door, and Elizabeth saw that her waiting-woman was in it. They proceeded in silence along the gravel walk that led to the copse; Elizabeth was determined to make no effort for conversation with a woman who was now more than usually insolent and disagreeable.

"How could I ever think her like her nephew?" said she, as she looked in her face.

As soon as they entered the copse, Lady Catherine began in the following manner: --

"You can be at no loss, Miss Bennet, to understand the reason of my journey hither. Your own heart, your own conscience, must tell you why I come."

Elizabeth looked with unaffected astonishment.

"Indeed, you are mistaken, Madam. I have not been at all able to account for the honour of seeing you here."