Why Jane Austen? Why Now?

From Masterpiece Theater’s “The Complete Jane Austen” Web page.

Masterpiece Theater brings the complete works of Jane Austen to television at a moment when interest in the author—both her works and her quiet, early-19th century life—may never have been greater. Since the 1940s, full-length film productions of Jane Austen’s novels have been turned out at a steady rate of three to seven per decade. Today, Austen “mania” is everywhere, from two new Hollywood features inspired by her life and work, to Jane’s image featured on the cover of Newsweek, to MySpace and YouTube. Her novels and books about her novels crowd the bestseller lists. Nearly two hundred years after the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen still has enormous appeal for contemporary readers and viewers. What accounts for the continuing popularity of Jane Austen? Why Jane, and why now?

To read the rest of the article, please visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/bookclub_whyjane.pdf