23 July 2009

A Freakin' Minefield

"What you want frightens you to death, that is why you fail to comprehend yourself."
- Lost in Austen

This one sent me spinning when I heard it...

My irrational response to Jane Austen follows:
(...and yes I do talk to deceased authors in my head.)
Oh really Jane, you can cut this crap out right now! Quit getting into my head and KNOWING what I'm thinking. It's upsetting and rude. How dare you understand ME!?!

My more rational response:

It seems to resonate and yet I can't comprehend it fully. (Which of course, Jane said I wouldn't! Vile creature you are Jane. Vile.) But is it true? Do I know what I want? Am I frightened to death? Do I comprehend myself? Do I fail to comprehend myself?!?! Does ANYONE comprehend themselves?

I don't know.

To be honest, I started pondering this blog months ago. I had hoped I would be able to wrestle with the questions the quote provoked and compose an elegant response, or perhaps even two. Well plans change... and to be honest I failed. I am almost thirty years old and I might not know what I want. In the movie, in which I first heard this line, the heroine knows what she desires, she wants to marry Mr. Darcy, but she also knows that she can't have him, because he is destined for another, Miss Elizabeth Bennett. In the end, (plot spoiler alert!) she gets the man and lives happily ever after. Well real life isn't like that... or that's what I hear from people who seem to know things. In the "real" life that I live, the struggle that makes up the beginning of a Jane Austen plot is the majority of my life. The miscommunication and misjudgements seem to be what I experience, without any of the enlightening moments to clarify the misguided motivations of genuine love. Each of us imagines that we are the Elizabeth Bennett or the Emma of our life's plot, but what if I'm the Charlotte or Miss Bates. What if I am not the heroine of the love story?

"Reading Jane Austen is a freakin' minefield!"
- Jocelyn, The Jane Austen Book Club

to be continued...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this post.
Was FREAKIN mad at that movie. I loved it right up until Charlotte ran off and Jane married Mr. Collins. I did, however, appreciate Mr. Wickham and the bit in the lake...And I hated that Darcy read the book. And that Darcy didn't end up with Elizabeth. It's like Juliet opting not to kill herself when she finds Romeo dead. It turned me into Erika-hulk I was so mad. Aaarrrrgghghhhh!

Kate A. said...

I was angry at first when I watched Lost in Austen... haha but then I took it as it is, a satire. I laughed so hard in the end and I love it just for what it is... and I'm sure Jane Austen would die again if she ever saw it. Anyway the series' highlight for me was this quote. I think it's true. If anyone has ever watched the movie The Wedding Date there's a part in the movie were Dermot Mulroney's character states his belief that every woman has the exact love life she wants. If you watch The Wedding Date and think about your own life, you'll find this true enough to understand fake Lady Catherine de Bourgh's quote. (This one is not from Jane Austen it's from the movie's script).

Kate A. said...

Along the same lines of my previous comment, I think everyone of us decides who we want to be in the "play" of our lives. Maybe in the book Charlotte Lucas did not have a choice because Jane Austen didn't give her one, but who says someone is writing the story of your life? Aren't you the author of it? Here's another movie connection (yes, I do watch too many movies): in 'The Holiday' Arthur Abbot, a retired Hollywood screenwriter, tells Iris (Kate Winslet)something to think about, "Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend."
I agree, I think whatever age you are, whatever the situation might be you decide what to do with what you have. Just because life gives you lemons doesn't mean you have to do lemonade, you can make lemon pie, or lemon sherbet, or throw them at someone you are really mad at.... be creative! :)