Why the Jane Austen Party Will Never Be Over
This month we welcome a new voice, Shaney Lloyd, who writes on all things Austen. In this post, she muses on just what it is that keeps contemporary audiences returning to Jane’s Regency world?
The bunting is barely down from Jane’s 250th anniversary, yet with the recent success of The Other Bennet Sister and the eagerly anticipated new adaptations of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice making their debuts later this year, the party is far from over for Miss Austen. So what is it that keeps contemporary audiences returning to Jane’s Regency world?
As Sunday nights returned to must-see TV, we saw pints swapped for punch and bobble hats for bonnets as audiences identified with the plight of Janice Hadlow’s Mary Bennet. Although initially ushered in from the shadows by Hadlow’s masterful writing, Austen herself evoked feelings for the beleaguered Bennet. Who, when reading Pride and Prejudice, did not feel for poor Mary as she was loudly instructed by her father, in front of everyone at the ball, to stop playing. Austen’s expert eye for social interaction and understanding of human nature means that we see ourselves and our loved ones (as well as those we might not love quite so much) throughout her work. Just as human nature does not alter, our love for Jane endures.
This love affair became even more ardent at the start of the 2020s. Andrew Davies’ completion of Jane’s final work, Sanditon returned to ITV following public protests at its cancellation. Hot on its Regency slippers, Bridgerton made its debut onto our screens. Meanwhile, on bookshelves, Austen re-imaginings in crime fiction became almost a genre in itself. During the pandemic, a world where touch was forbidden and our social lives were dependent on the weather allowing a daily walk, we shared a renewed understanding of Austen’s world. We felt the frustration of Catherine sitting by the window, waiting for the clouds to part in order to meet friends and loved ones. A fear of illness meant that the concern Lizzy felt for Jane became something we could understand and we empathised with Mr. Woodhouse and his anxieties. However, it was not only storm clouds that our ancestors were seeing in the distance; war was also looming large on the horizon.
Soldiers and sailors populate Austen’s novels, much like Austen’s life, yet the world of war happens off the page whilst the Regency whirl continues its day-to-day normality. Beacons lined the high ground on the Kent and Sussex coast as a warning system in case of invasion. The Duchess of Richmond’s ball was famously broken up as men were called to fight, trading the ballroom for the battlefield. Austen and her contemporaries were only too aware of war as they waited for news of loved ones. Again, there is a parallel to be drawn as we watch live updates on news channels in bars and restaurants, attempting to continue with life as normal as wars are fought overseas.
Jane Austen’s juvenilia, The History of England by a Partial, Prejudiced & Ignorant Historian tells us of the importance the monarchy held over Georgian society. When ill health meant George III was succeeded by his son, the Prince Regent, Georgian society was upset as many were wary of their new king. Similarly, when Queen Elizabeth II died, people lost a long standing stalwart and began to wonder what kind of reign her son would bring. This uncertainty occurred, both in Regency and contemporary society, when people were looking for continuity and stability in periods plagued by war, poor health and poverty.
These days, where food banks are vital to sustain families, we can look back and see comparisons with the Regency, a time where policies such as the Corn Law and the Enclosure Act saw food prices rise and the right to roam limited. A 1777 parliamentary study states that in England there were 1,916 workhouses holding 90,000 people. Desperate poverty meant the government feared uprising as Britain lived in the shadow of the French Revolution. Contrary to her nephew Edward’s memoir which portrayed Austen as an innocent, Jane understood the world only too well. Her family gave refuge to her cousin Eliza as she fled France following her husband’s demise at the guillotine. Perhaps Jane is trying to alert us to the danger of ignoring poverty in society when Emma’s Harriet Smith is robbed whilst walking to Highbury.
It is not only the similarities in our societies that explain our love of the Regency; in our era of lounge wear and dating apps, we crave the differences too. Through Austen’s work, we experience beautiful ballrooms, gorgeous gowns and dance cards. This provides a world that, at least from an aesthetic point of view, allows us to escape to a time of romance and manners unlike anything we experience now. This, coupled with our shared experience of war, poverty and uncertainty in the establishment, means we relate to the Georgians whilst still finding their lifestyle different enough to intrigue us. This simultaneous similarity and difference makes Austen’s world the perfect match for our society. Everyone wants the perfect partner and that is a truth universally acknowledged.
Shaney has Jane Austen to thank for her English degree! It was her love of Miss Austen that took her to a Pride and Prejudice talk at her local University and within three months she was enrolled on their English course! Since graduating with a First, she has been working on an Austen retelling which brings marginalised characters to the foreground. She also writes as Rachel Lloyd and can be found on:
substack: @janeaustenpowers
Instagram: rachel.lloyd.12764
Threads: rachel.lloyd.12764
Bluesky: @austenpowers.bsky.social
