What Jane Austen can teach us about resilience
Curated from: bbc.com
Ideas, facts & insights covering these topics:
4 ideas
·936 reads
23
Explore the World's Best Ideas
Join today and uncover 100+ curated journeys from 50+ topics. Unlock access to our mobile app with extensive features.
Jane Austen: a model of perseverance
Beyond the love and romance, the novels of Jane Austen has a layer of steel and resilience that may inspire us in uncertain times.
Jane Austen's own life was a lesson of perseverance: She published six novels in seven years and died at the age of 41. When she was 25, her rector father retired. Austen, her parents and her sister spent the next eight years travelling between small properties in Bath, relatives' homes and seaside resorts. Much of this life is reflected in her heroines.
19
311 reads
Prevalent elements in Jane Austen's novels
- Displacement. In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood sisters and their mother are stripped of their inheritance and must leave their family home.
- Feeling trapped by familial friction, and walking to feel liberated. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett strives for freedom by walking about the countryside to get peace away from her family life.
- Imperfect families. Austen pioneered the way she showed families as flawed. Before that, parents were shown as perfect and harmonious.
20
232 reads
Jane Austen: Her heroines' growth
Austen's heroines are often required to persevere. Elinor Dashwood wrongly believes Edward Ferrars has married another. "I will be calm, I will be mistress of myself" is inspiring a strength of character.
The emotional growth of Austen's characters is another facet that can inspire us at a time of uncertainty. Many of her characters acquire a growth mindset - thinking that life should be lived by adapting to challenges and learning from your mistakes.
23
201 reads
Jane Austen's writing as a tonic
- Jane Austen's writing was prescribed to WWI soldiers suffering from severe shell shock. Rudyard Kipling's 1924 The Janeites celebrates this wartime association. It is about a group of soldiers who bond through their love of Austen.
- Even the author of Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne, bonded with fellow soldiers over his love for Austen.
- Winston Churchill was consoled during illness when his daughter read Pride and Prejudice to him.
- During the present-day lockdown, many enjoyed the richness of Austen's novels.
21
192 reads
IDEAS CURATED BY
Amir L's ideas are part of this journey:
Learn more about personaldevelopment with this collection
How to break bad habits
How habits are formed
The importance of consistency
Related collections
Similar ideas
6 ideas
6 Lessons From Jane Austen - On Love, Life And Writing | Writers Write
writerswrite.co.za
10 ideas
Top 10 Famous Fictional Heriones
thoughtco.com
3 ideas
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Personalized microlearning
—
100+ Learning Journeys
—
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates