That explains her lasting appeal, but I think the OP is more going for why the surge in popularity in the last 15 years. Her books were just as good 30 years ago as they are now.
I’m sure there’s some connection between comedies of manners and the prevailing zeitgeist but I don’t know what it is.
The books suffered a dip in popularity after the 80s. The same factors that have always kept them selling are fresh and “new” today.
As for the zeitgeist, all I can imagine is a collective reaction against the current zeitgeist. Which is yet another zeitgeist, ain’t it?
Interestingly enough, the mid 90s was also when “Seinfeld” flourished, which is a prime modern example of a comedy of manners… so maybe there is something there…
Perhaps because for some of us, it seems as if romantic comedies have gotten more vulgar and moved away from true romance? Not that vulgarity is a bad thing, certainly not always, but it’s become an end in and of itself. Sometimes a bit more delicacy and less raunch is desired. It’s a sherbet to refresh the palate.
Jane Austen’s novels hold deeper truths in them than they appear to – they’re not just about which girl gets asked to dance, or who ends up marrying the dashing baronet. They’re about uncertainty, taking risks, obeying your responsibilities, being honest with yourself and others; universal issues, all. The characters are involved in heartbreak and romance and longing and desire but never give up their admiration for wit and intelligence (the question “is he a man of information?” is of great importance when choosing a prospective amour – though admittedly not as much as whether he’s a first or second son). Honor, forebearance and above all kindness are esteemed just as highly.
The books (and films) also reveal a fascinatingly complex social and economic world. And they’re damn funny and incisive to boot.
I kinda think Jane Austen would be quite at home writing the second season of The Office.
I wonder if it has anything to do the way we’ve given up so many of our social “rules” these days. Women today are free to do pretty much anything they want…get married, stay single, shack up, have kids or don’t, have a career, be a stay-at-home mom, whatever. They can call a guy and ask for a date, they can have a one-night-stand every night if they want to.
All that freedom is great, don’t get me wrong, but it also can be scary. How do you know you’re doing the right thing? When you have so many choices, it can be daunting.
The heroines of Jane Austen didn’t have most of those freedoms. They were strictly bound by what was considered proper conduct, and were dependent on men (either their father or their husband) for their fortunes and happiness. If a man they were interested in went away, there was nothing they could do but hope he would come back. They had to wait for him to make all the moves.
I just wonder if modern women find that a bit appealing…all the difficult life choices (except occasionally whether or not to accept a proposal…and often that wasn’t really their own choice) and responsibilities taken away. Not that modern women would trade our world for theirs, but it’s kind of nice to read about it in an escapist way, especially since Jane Austen always gave us happy endings so we don’t really have to deal with the many negatives of living within those constraints.
It’s getting out of hand, now that an Austin TV show is followed by an Austin time-travel show.
I think that this is like asking why there is a Beowulf boom at the moment:
*Beowulf *is over a thousand years old, but there have been a lot of new translations of the poem, several films based on it, a number of graphic novel versions of it, and several musical adaptations of it just since 1997. With only one piece of fiction to work with, in the past fifteen years there have been almost as many artistic adaptations of it as of all the work of Jane Austen. I think it’s hopeless to try to explain why any given writer or work of art is popular in a given period.
There’s definitely been a boom in Austen-related fiction in the past several years. Joan Aiken did some spin-offs years ago, but I’ve never seen anything like the deluge of sequels, spin-offs, time-travel novels, mysteries,* novels with “Jane Austen” in the title so as to guarantee best-seller-dom, and so on that have been published lately. It’s gotten ludicrous.
*The mysteries, I think, may predate the sequels by a couple of years and can also be considered part of the trend of putting a famous author into any mystery.
Because her works have as their base a certain fundamental human truth that has always resonated with people. Especially Pride and Prejudice, which is far and away her most-adapted work. Once you strip away the frilly dresses and fancy manners, what have you got? You’ve got the perennial date movie, is what you’ve got. This fairly ordinary young woman–pretty and middle class, but not gorgeous or rich, kinda nerdy, and a right wise-ass to boot-- with a family who drives her nuts (but she loves them anyway) meets this guy. They don’t like each other at first, but then they slowly get to know each other and realize that the other one is pretty damn great after all. Not because of superficial stuff like beauty or wealth or social position, but because of who they really truly deeply are. And c’mon, who doesn’t want to be loved somebody wonderful because of who you really truly deeply are?
Also, P&P is essentially nerd girl porn. Well, not in the actual sex sense (except for a book I found several years back featuring “the lost sex scenes of Jane Austen”), but you know what I mean. Elizabeth Bennett is the quintessential nerd girl, except she’s wearing an elaborate dress and 20 pounds of underwear instead of jeans and a Threadless t-shirt. She meets this guy who’s handsome and smart and rich and kind and all manner of other virtues. And he loves her, not because she’s beautiful or rich, and not in spite of her nerdiness. He loves her because of her nerdiness. Nerd girls have always loved this story, but society hasn’t always loved nerd girls. Now that it’s cool to be kind of nerdy, you see a huge upswing in this kind of thing.
Austen’s sort of ubiquitous. Always. Same with Twain (though I think the upcoming movie will boost his popularity for a moment).
I also have not noticed any “sudden” popularity of Jane Austen. Ten or so years ago I’d have understood what the OP meant – the Pride and Prejudice miniseries with Colin Firth, Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow, that kind of weird Mansfield Park, and also the Emma-inspired Clueless were all released within a period of 4-5 years and (aside from Mansfield Park) were all pretty successful. I remember one of the big entertainment magazines ran a photo of a model with a Jane Austen hairstyle and bonnet lounging by the poolside and taking calls from her agent.
All this must have helped make Jane Austen a bigger part of the contemporary cultural landscape, but I can’t say I’ve noticed an increase in Austen-mania recently. Jane Austen’s novels have been steady sellers since her own lifetime, and while there’s some ebb and flow in popularity she’s never really fallen out of favor.
As to why modern women like Jane Austen, there are several different and somewhat contradictory reasons why Austen is appealing. First, I’d say that her books really ARE that good. Jane Austen was a great writer. But aside from the quality of the writing, the novels can be appreciated in different ways. Austen can be taken as a writer of genteel romances, a witty and ironic commentator on society and human nature, or a proto-feminist who pointed out the harsh economic and behavioral constraints her society placed upon women.
There are of course also plenty of people who are not so much interested in Jane Austen herself or even her actual novels but 1) would prefer to make their interest in romance novels seem a little more highbrow and/or 2) enjoy thinking about a romanticized version of “Ye Goode Olde Days”. I think that may be the market for a lot of the chick lit novels that name drop Jane Austen.
This current peak in appreciation began with the production with Colin Firth and … and Zombies is, I predict, it’s demise.
Not because Colin Firth did Darcy so well, but because Jennifer Ehle is the first actress since Greer Garson to do Elizabeth with spirit, humor, and awareness of the seriousness of her situation.
I see Zombies as the demise only because Spoof is always at one end or the other of a cycle.
Jane Austen is popular because she wrote simple stories about people. The only reason that her books are usually made as period as pieces is that the economic situation has changed so much for women. But then, the same is true about Dickens in many ways.
Actually, accepting a proposal was (and still is) just the start of making decisions and taking responsibility. Women find Austen appealing because Virtue is Rewarded, not with happiness-ever-after, but simply a Good Job, with security, good remuneration, good working conditions, responsibilities appropriate to one’s skills, and the opportunity for growth.
And sex with Colin Firth.
Good deal.