Tag Archives: Sense and Sensibility

Greater and Lesser Tithes and Who Received Them

A church living was accepted to be a respectable occupation among the gentry and the aristocracy. It was a “job” which came with an income, house, and, often, farmland Continue reading

Posted in British history, Church of England, Emma, Georgian Era, history, Jane Austen, laws of the land, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era, religion, research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Protocol of “Being at Home”

During the Regency and Victorian Periods, ladies of the aristocracy rigorously made a daily round of social calls, which were governed by strictly adhered to conventions. Precedence and rank defined each of these engagements. However, there was a distinct difference … Continue reading

Posted in British history, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Celebrating the Birth of Jane Austen: 16 December 1775 – What I Learned from Jane Austen

(This post was originally published on December 16, 2010. However, I could not permit Austen’s birthday to pass without notice.) It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen remains an inspiration to throngs of readers more than two centuries … Continue reading

Posted in British history, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 95 Comments

The Strict Social Structure of Jane Austen’s Novels

Overall, the early 19th Century novels were those that expressed society in realistic terms. Austen’s novels, as well as others of her time, immerse the reader in the various levels of society, the social strata, so to speak. Austen does … Continue reading

Posted in Austen Authors, British currency, British history, customs and tradiitons, estates, Georgian England, Inheritance, Jane Austen, literature, Living in the Regency, marriage, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, primogenture, real life tales, Regency era | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Obsession with Money and Society in Austen’s Novels

 Austen’s novels speak loudly with society’s obsession with money and connections. Money and status was obtained through marriage. What we soon come to accept as a reader of Jane Austen’s novels is that her heroines marry for love (and a … Continue reading

Posted in Austen Authors, British history, estates, family, Georgian Era, historical fiction, Jane Austen, literature, Living in the Regency, marriage, marriage customs, Pride and Prejudice, reading, reading habits, Regency personalities, Regency romance, romance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Characterization of Elinor Dashwood in Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”

Austen began writing Elinor and Marianne as an epistolary novel in 1795. It was published as Sense and Sensibility in 1811. The novel set the tone for many of Austen’s titles: defiance of the social and economic barriers to marriage and … Continue reading

Posted in British history, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Lessons on Life, Courtesy of Jane Austen

Recently, I looked at the parts of Pride and Prejudice, which spoke to me early on in my life-long love of Jane Austen’s works. Then I began to think of the other Austen phrases, which have been a part of … Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Living in the Regency, reading, romance, tradtions, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On Being a Midwife, a Guest Post from Carole Penfield

During the Georgian and Regency eras, and even earlier, most women who were “breeding” worried a great deal, as these were the most dangerous years of their life. Two of Jane Austen’s brothers lost their wives in childbirth, so she … Continue reading

Posted in book excerpts, book release, British history, eBooks, excerpt, family, film, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Great Britain, Guest Post, historical fiction, history, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, medicine, publishing, real life tales, Regency era, research, Sense & Sensibility, trilogy, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on On Being a Midwife, a Guest Post from Carole Penfield

Primogeniture and Inheritance and the Need for a Widow’s Pension in Jane Austen’s Novels

By Jane Austen’s time, primogeniture was no longer the law of the land, but it remained a strongly entrenched custom of inheritance proceedings. Breaking apart large landholdings were frowned upon. An impoverished aristocracy, whose wealth rested in the agricultural realm, … Continue reading

Posted in Austen Authors, British history, customs and tradiitons, estates, family, Georgian England, Inheritance, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, primogenture, real life tales, Regency era | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Primogeniture and Inheritance and the Need for a Widow’s Pension in Jane Austen’s Novels

The Importance of Brothers in Jane Austen’s Novels

In James Fordyce’s Sermons to Young Women (1766), Fordyce says, “The world, I know not how, overlooks in our sex a thousand irregularities, which it never forgives in yours; so that the honour and peace of a family are, in … Continue reading

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, publishing, reading, research, Sense & Sensibility, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Importance of Brothers in Jane Austen’s Novels