Thinking Out LoudJane Austen was born on 16 December 1775, which means she turns 250 years old this month.
Most people don’t live that long. But with her six perfect novels still only gaining in popularity, it rather looks like Jane will live forever.
There are many attempts to explain why. Her wit, her wry observation of human nature, her deeply satisfying marriage plots. One Twitter user summed it up: “Jane Austen’s works are timeless classics because she knew the real horrors in life are having to listen to men who think they’re better than you and receiving unannounced visitors.”
One under-appreciated element of the Austen magic is the goodness of her heroines. These days we often favour morally borderline characters, even anti-heroes; and the Austen women certainly have their faults. But even the sassy Elizabeth Bennet is very principled.
Lizzy doesn’t suffer fools gladly; but other Austen gals do, especially Persuasion’s Anne Eliot. Anne has in spades a virtue, underrated (certainly under-practised) by most of us reading about her today, once called forbearance. Surrounded by idiots – selfish, petty, grasping, thoughtless, i.e. ordinary people – Anne is consistently gentle and helpful to them all. Until rewarded/rescued by companionate marriage to a highly eligible suitor, suffering fools is what she apparently spends the bulk of her time doing.
Austen’s heroines are good, and in the end, satisfyingly, good things happen to them. They suffer along the way; “long-suffering” is another word for forbearance, and the Bible on which Austen was raised insists that God is long-suffering (towards us selfish, foolish creatures); that love is long-suffering; that we will need to be long-suffering too, to adequately meet the frustrations and temptations of daily life. But that at the end of that laborious road lies peace and joy and abundance. Even, the chance to live forever.
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.