The Jane Austen Character I Most Identify With

Gentle Readers, Laurel Anne from Austenprose and I were chatting the other day about this, that, and the other, for we are both a bit Jane Austen nutty (if you haven't noticed.) As you continue reading, you will need to know only one thing:  we are just a wee bit longer in the tooth than Jane's young heroines:

LA: Vic and I were chatting on the phone today. Over the course of our three plus year Austen-inspired friendship we have mostly emailed, so this was a treat. She has the most infectious laugh which made me laugh too. Of course we were talking about our favorite author and she remarked that Austen excelled at humor and the amazing secondary characters she developed. Somehow it just popped out and I boldly asked her what Jane Austen character she most identified with. Without hesitation she replied, Lady Russell from Persuasion. “Lady Russell?” I replied in surprise! “Well, yes.”

Jane Rus.., er, Mrs. Russell

She then revealed that she is often wrong about the advice she gives people. At work she gathers the young-uns around her and freely offers opinions, whether they are solicited or not. When she gives wrong counsel - which she admits is more often than not - she torpedos herself in a most spectacular fashion. “The error of my ways does not go unnoticed by this unforgiving crowd. Unlike Lady Russell, I will own up to a misteak, er, mistake or two, and apologize for having interfered, but I hold the line at groveling.”

Another reason why she identifies with this character is her independence. Lady Russell is a widow with a healthy income and she has no intention of remarrying and being subjugated by a man. “I am a divorced woman who has discovered the joys of living singly on my own terms and by my own schedule. Ah, what total, selfish bliss!”

Vic further admitted that at a party, or when she lets her hair loose, she starts to resemble Mrs. Jennings. You know the type: a bit vulgar, out for a good time, giggling at precisely the wrong moments, and making those with a more composed nature feel uncomfortable with crass jokes and loud language. “Like Mrs. Jennings, I have a good heart. But I can be out there and in your face too. I might seem unseemly to a quieter person like Elinor, and be totally disliked by the likes of a Marianne, but my friends and family get me, and that’s what counts.”

Oh Vic! You are such a card. Lady Russell and Mrs. Jennings? She then turned the tables on me. “Now, who do you identify with in Jane’s novels? Are you like me, a bossy and interfering carouser? Or are your a bit more sedate and ladylike?”

Harriet Smith (Tony Collette) patiently poses for Emma

Vic: “Sedate. A total Harriet Smith,” LA replied. Many years ago a dear Janeite friend tagged her as a Harriet to her Emma. “It seemed appropriate since I was often asking for advice and was very mailable to change.” In her view, Harriet was a bit of a ditz and gullible which she has been accused of too. The thing she liked about being a Harriet is that Austen gave her such a great ending. She is resilient, and after being tossed about in love no less than three times in a year, Harriet gets the man she wanted in the first place and proves Emma, with her self-important airs, was totally clueless about the human heart. “I like having the last laugh, and being right.” ;-)

Sir John Middleton (Robert Hardy) and Mrs. Jennings (Elizabeth Spriggs)

Lately LA thinks she has evolved into Sir John Middleton from Sense and Sensibility. He was the Dashwood’s cousin and landlord of Barton Cottage. He is very gracious and likes to pop in and make sure his tenants are comfortable and entertained. He is a bit of a bore and talks too much about things that are not of interest to his young companions, but he likes dogs, has a good heart and loves to laugh. “As an enthusiastic bookseller, I like to inform customers of their choices and make suggestions. I am also a bit of an organizer and enjoy planning events on my blog, and orchestrating the 23 authors in my anthology. It is like herding cats, but I like being the boss of my own world!”

"One man's ways may be as good as another's, but we all like our own best." - Persuasion, Ch 13

Now our question. Which Jane Austen character do you, estimable viewer, most identify with, or which character are you afraid of becoming? Feel free to leave your comments!

Jane Austen Character Throwdown

In our previous Jane Austen Character Throwdown, Miss Eleanor Tilney won your hearts as the sweetest lady in the first round of this category. Miss Bates, although she is as sweet as they come, makes a decided impression with her incessant chatter. For my part, I can imagine conducting a pleasant conversation with Miss Tilney, but not with Miss Bates. Our next two ladies are equally worthy of the title. I wonder who you will vote for this week? I wait with bated breath.

Sweetest Lady, #2

Miss Harriet Smith, Emma

"She was a very pretty girl, and her beauty happened to be of a sort which Emma particularly admired. She was short, plump, and fair, with a fine bloom, blue eyes, light hair, regular features, and a look of great sweetness."Emma’s young protégé is as sweet and gullible as they come. In fact, she is so kind and pliable that her handsome yeoman farmer, Mr. Robert Martin, though hurt when she rejected his suit, was not at all turned off by her. As soon as he saw a second opportunity, he asked for her hand again. Even Mr. Knightley, that most discerning and exacting man, was won over by Miss Smith's artlessness and sweetness.

Miss Georgianna Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

Could there be a kinder, sweeter sister than Georgianna Darcy? This pretty, painfully shy sixteen-year-old trusts her brother's choice in a woman implicitly, and immediately accepts Elizabeth Bennet into her heart. Darcy's devotion to his sweet sister opens Lizzy’s eyes further to his character. Here is how Jane Austen describes her: “There was sense and good humour in her face, and her manners were perfectly unassuming and gentle.”

pollcode.com free polls

Jane Austen Character Throwdown: Sweetest Lady, #2

Miss Harriet Smith Miss Georgianna Darcy

Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World

Samantha Morton's Harriet Smith

Since 1991, when she was still only 14 years old, Samantha Morton has been building a solid career in Indie and main stream films. Quirky, outspoken, and talented, this actress is reputedly not easy to work with. However, her body of work as an actress speaks for itself. Her turn as Jane Eyre was so successful that for years I thought of Samantha as a plain woman. More recently she played Agatha, the precog, in Minority Report. As far as I was concerned, she was the real star of that film.

At age 20, with her luminous eyes, delicate cheekbones, and tender performance, Samantha created the best of the three cinematic Harriet Smiths in my opinion. In fact, Samantha's Harriet Smith makes one quite understand why Robert Martin keeps on loving her despite her rejection of his suit, and why Emma took the natural daughter of a gentleman on as her protege. Viewers can judge for themselves this Sunday on Masterpiece Classic when Emma (1996), directed by Diarmuid Lawrence and scripted by Andrew Davies will be aired at 9 pm on your local PBS station. As you can see from these screen shots, Samantha's looks are close to Jane Austen's description of the charming, young, and naive girl with the soft blue eyes. Physically, the only way in which Samantha did not resemble Harriet was that the young actress was quite youthfully slender at the time:

She was a very pretty girl, and her beauty happened to be of a sort which Emma particularly admired. She was short, plump, and fair, with a fine bloom, blue eyes, light hair, regular features, and a look of great sweetness, and, before the end of the evening, Emma was as much pleased with her manners as her person, and quite determined to continue the acquaintance.

She was not struck by any thing remarkably clever in Miss Smith`s conversation, but she found her altogether very engaging--not inconveniently shy, not unwilling to talk--and yet so far from pushing, shewing so proper and becoming a deference, seeming so pleasantly grateful for being admitted to Hartfield, and so artlessly impressed by the appearance of every thing in so superior a style to what she had been used to, that she must have good sense, and deserve encouragement.

Read more about Samantha Morton in these articles:

• Variety's articles about Samantha Morton

• Samantha Morton, Article in The Independent

• Samantha Morton, Biography

• Emma Adapted: Harriet Smith Restored, Austenprose
  

Read more about Harriet Smith here:


The Woman, The Gypsies, and England: Harriet Smith's National Role

The Enigma of Harriet Smith, Ivor Morris, Persuasions On-line


Image at left: scene after the gypsy attack
First image: Harriet and the girls from Mrs. Goddard's school

Posted by Ms. Place, Jane Austen's World