Editorial: Jane Austen Month

For a person who died two hundred years ago, 2017 has been quite the year for Jane Austen. The author of beloved novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility was this year celebrated and remembered on the 200th anniversary of her death.

Perhaps the most notable part of this remembrance is the printing of her face on the new ten pound note, alongside a quote from Pride and Prejudice “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” A nice quote, but an odd one to choose when you know it comes from one of the most purposefully unpleasant characters in the book, Caroline Bingley.

I would like to celebrate Jane Austen's legacy in my own way. Instead of dwelling on her death, I have chosen her birth month, December, to be Jane Austen month on this blog. I think it only makes sense that we celebrate her life from the time it began and not at the time it ended, so we can be grateful that we had Miss Austen and her works at all.

Also, she was a Sagittarius like I am, so I'm happy about that.

So, how shall I best go about celebrating Jane Austen? I could try and read her books of course. I could write about them with great critical analysis and detail. But no.

Instead, I shall be taking this time to watch modern day adaptations of Austen's most famous work, Pride and Prejudice and analysing them. I will compare them to the original story, but also study them as their own product. So, without further ado, here begins Jane Austen Month on here at The Chick Flick Chick!