James Collins explains how the novels of Jane Austen can serve as a moral compass in today’s world:
Today’s readers tend to appreciate Austen despite her didacticism rather than because of it. She can be positively priggish, and that is an embarrassment. The contemporary reader who loves Jane Austen sort of blips over the moralizing sections and tells himself that they don’t really count. It is possible to ignore this aspect of her work, just as it is possible to discuss a religious painting with hardly any reference to the artist’s religious intent. But this seems absurd: Ignoring a writer’s central concern is a strange way to attempt to appreciate and understand her.
The question arises, then, of how to reconcile Austen’s moralism with modern sensibility. To address this problem, it would be useful if we could find someone with this modern sensibility who actually reads Austen for her moral instruction (in addition to the literary pleasure she provides). How convenient that we have someone who fits that description available to us: me.
I find that reading Jane Austen helps me clarify ethical choices, helps me figure out a way to live with integrity in the corrupt world, even helps me adopt the proper tone and manner in dealing with others. Her moralism and the modern mind are not, in fact, in direct opposition, as is so often assumed.
December 5th, 2009 | 7:37 pm
An interesting article, and a curious one — because to me the idea of reading Jane Austin without paying attention to her moral points is a bizarre one. Why would you do that?
Although I suppose some people must. That is really what drove me crazy about the newest film of “Pride and Prejudice.” In the book, Jane is “too” good — but that is what Elizabeth loves and admires about her. In the movie she’s rather a simpleton, and in the end Elizabeth gets her to say something bad about her future sisters-in-law, which is supposed to be a triumph. Elizabeth is a more sympathetic character than Jane, but she herself knows that she is NOT as good as Jane and that that is a fault, not a good thing.
When I first read her novels I was in my 30s. I was delighted at the end of “Sense and Sensibility,” which was not at all what I expected. I can’t imagine anyone writing a book today with an end like that.