Despite Jane Austen’s reputation as the ur-romance novelist, her happy endings are notoriously odd and unsatisfying—short on swoony declarations of love and long on ironic detachment. In other words, quite different from the popular screen adaptations of her novels, which give viewers all the ardent avowals and tremulous first kisses they could possibly want.
The contradictions between Austen’s work and her popular reputation, between her novels and the films based on them, are the subject of Inger Sigrun Bredkjaer Brodey’s Jane Austen and the Price of Happiness, which we’ll discuss at our next JASNA-New Jersey meeting, taking place over Zoom on May 17 at 2 pm (US Eastern).
Brodey, a professor of English and comparative literature at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, will join us for part of the conversation. In her book, which was published last year by Johns Hopkins University Press, Brodey draws on Austen’s work, her literary influences, and the modern film adaptations of her books to argue that understanding Austen’s endings is crucial to a full appreciation of her goals as a novelist.
Brodey is a well-known figure in JASNA circles, not least as the creator of the twelve-year-old Jane Austen Summer Program, held annually in Chapel Hill; as the founding director of the online lecture series Jane Austen & Co.; and as co-creator of Jane Austen’s Desk, a still-under-construction website envisioned as a space for scholars, readers, and fans.
Attendance at the May 17 discussion is free, but you must register to receive a Zoom link. To do so, please email us at: jasnanewjersey AT gmail DOT com.
Jane Austen Society of North America - New Jersey Region 