43: Austen-tatious

Jane Austen is rightly considered perhaps the greatest British novelist of her day, or any age. Her novels about women, marriage and family among the English gentry, especially Pride and Prejudice, have defined how we think about British society in the late Georgian and Regency eras for all time. Like almost no other person, Austen is the living historical embodiment of the 1810s, the decade that saw the publication of all of her novels—and her untimely death. But how did she come to be? What was her story? What drove her, and why, after a lifetime of writing, did she finally achieve her long-awaited success during the Second Decade? In this episode of Second Decade, Dr. Sean Munger takes you into the modest bedrooms and parlors of Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen’s home for the most productive period of her life, and investigates how Jane’s wonderful literary creations came to be and why they reflect the spirit of the time and the society in which she lived. You’ll get a crash course in the tangled relations of Austen’s family, you’ll learn how and why Jane kept her literary vocation a secret from all but her closest kin, and you’ll gorge on Hog’s Puddings, Vegetable Pie and Toasted Cheese at the dinner table of the Austen women. This is a fascinating look at a genius at work in a very special historical and cultural moment, one that has come to define a country and an age in popular consciousness. Correction: in this episode I mistakenly refer to Tom Lefroy as English-born. I meant to say he was Irish-born. Sean’s Patreon Make a PayPal Donation Additional Materials About This Episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can listen to 43: Austen-tatious online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

43: Austen-tatious is an episode from Second Decade by Kerkoporta LLC.

This episode is 49:31 long.

This episode was published on Jun 9, 2019.

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