Jane Austen Center Celebrates English Author
Geraldine Birch
June 16, 2008
Wandering through the narrow hallway of the Jane Austen Center in Bath, England, I came upon a British teenager, about 16-years old, who seemed to be enraptured with the various exhibits about the famous English author. She read each exhibit closely and was particularly taken with the beautiful costumes on display from a British made-for-television movie, "Miss Austen Regrets."
When the teenager lagged behind the group she was with, I asked what her favorite Jane Austen novel was, expecting her to answer either "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility." To my chagrin, she said she never read any of the author´s six novels, but was "very much into" the various movie and television productions.
Thus for those aficionados of Jane Austen—either her novels or the films made from her novels—the Jane Austen Centre is a celebration of both.
The city of Bath, about a 70 minute train ride from London´s Paddington Station, takes advantage of its most famous visitor, who lived in the ancient Roman city from 1801-1805 with the Jane Austen Festival scheduled annually. This year it is set from September 19 to 28, 2008.
The heart of the history of Austen, however, is at the Jane Austen Centre, about five minutes from the famous Roman baths, on a well-marked trail of tourist signs. There the focus is Austen´s five years of living and socializing in Bath, the places she lived in and visited—between 1801 and 1806—as well as the locations which were the inspiration for her lively wit and sharp satire. The permanent exhibition tells the story of Austen´s Bath experience and the effect living in Bath had on her writing. Two of her books, "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" refer specifically to the city.
The house where the centre is located is at 40 Gay Street, just a few doors down from 25 Gay Street, where Jane actually lived for a few months following her father´s death. The house stands in a quiet neighborhood, up the street from a park. Only a small blue sign near the doorway notes it is the Jane Austen Centre. A charming mannequin dressed in period costume stands on the sidewalk beckoning visitors.
The entrance leads to a gift shop where tickets are sold to enter the centre. I had a difficult time tearing myself away from the myriad of enchanting items—from a Georgian-style cotton nightgown to a pair of cameo silhouettes of Jane Austen and her sister, Cassandra. Of course, all of her books are there to purchase, as well as stationery sets and even Jane Austen ink for the quill pens on sale for those of us who long for a moment away from 21st Century technology.
However, I was warned by one of the guides not to linger because the lecture on Austen was about to begin. Upstairs in a room decorated as it would have been during Austen´s time, there was also a large sketch of Jane Austen nestled between period furniture. Terry, one of the centre´s guides, began by explaining Jane was the seventh of eight children created by the marriage of George Austen to Cassandra Leigh.
"Eight to eleven children was a normal family then," Terry said to a group of women whose reaction was a smattering of moaning sounds.
Terry smiled, knowing he had all of our attention, and proceeded to tell Jane´s history, particularly her time in Bath. She first came to the city in 1797 when she was 21 year old, visiting her Aunt Leigh-Perrot for a period of time. The author considered it a fun city, he said, and about a year later she wrote the first draft of "Northanger Abbey" then titled "Susan."
In 1801, Jane´s father decided to retire from the ministry on his church pension of £600 a year, and because it was the city where he married his wife, he chose to retire to Bath. Funds were tight, however, because the rental of their home ate up £150 a year. It was during this time, in 1802, Jane accepted a marriage proposal from a suitor, Harris Bigg-Wither. The following morning, however, like a scene out of one of her novels, she declined the offer and returned to Bath.
In 1803, she completed "Northanger Abbey" and sold it to a publisher for £10. It was never printed. Years later, in 1816, Jane´s older brother Henry bought back the manuscript, after publication of her other novels. Jane, however, wrote very little while living in Bath, considering her output in later years. Town life did not suit her, Terry said, but her observations and experiences were important as she developed as a novelist.
Life became more difficult for Jane and her family in 1805.
"Jane´s father caught a cold and died," Terry explained. "As a widow, Jane´s mother was totally without funds. There were no pensions then for widows, but her sons came to the rescue and they raised £450 a year to take care of their mother, Jane and her sister, Cassandra."
It was then the family moved to 25 Gay St.
"It was a slide down the scale for them. They rented the middle floor of the house, of which this house is a replica. It cost them 76 shillings a week and they survived here six months," Terry said.
But the family was forced to move again to an even cheaper neighborhood on Trim Street near a pub where prostitutes and pimps abounded. Their life was drastically changed and Bath was no longer the fun city Jane experienced years before. When Jane later recalled her time in Bath, her comment was telling: "There are no flowers in Bath," she said.
Eventually Jane´s brother, Edward, received an inheritance from his father´s brother, very like the situation Austen wrote about in "Pride and Prejudice." The mother and daughters moved to Hampshire to live at Chawton Cottage where Jane and her sister resumed their long country walks and four of her novels were published under the title "by a Lady."
It was not until after she died in 1817—it is surmised she died of Addison´s disease—that "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" were published. In the forward written by her brother, Henry, he names his sister Jane as the author of her other four novels.
"Writing at that time was not a career for a lady," Terry said.
I ended my visit to the centre with a pot of real leaf tea and a slice of Mrs. Bennet´s lemon drizzle cake (Mrs. Bennet is the ditzy mother of Elizabeth, the main character of "Pride and Prejudice") in the Regency Tea Rooms on the second floor of the house on Gay Street. As a confirmed Austen fan, it was the perfect conclusion to a day visit to Bath.
When the teenager lagged behind the group she was with, I asked what her favorite Jane Austen novel was, expecting her to answer either "Pride and Prejudice" or "Sense and Sensibility." To my chagrin, she said she never read any of the author´s six novels, but was "very much into" the various movie and television productions.
Thus for those aficionados of Jane Austen—either her novels or the films made from her novels—the Jane Austen Centre is a celebration of both.
The city of Bath, about a 70 minute train ride from London´s Paddington Station, takes advantage of its most famous visitor, who lived in the ancient Roman city from 1801-1805 with the Jane Austen Festival scheduled annually. This year it is set from September 19 to 28, 2008.
The heart of the history of Austen, however, is at the Jane Austen Centre, about five minutes from the famous Roman baths, on a well-marked trail of tourist signs. There the focus is Austen´s five years of living and socializing in Bath, the places she lived in and visited—between 1801 and 1806—as well as the locations which were the inspiration for her lively wit and sharp satire. The permanent exhibition tells the story of Austen´s Bath experience and the effect living in Bath had on her writing. Two of her books, "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" refer specifically to the city.
The house where the centre is located is at 40 Gay Street, just a few doors down from 25 Gay Street, where Jane actually lived for a few months following her father´s death. The house stands in a quiet neighborhood, up the street from a park. Only a small blue sign near the doorway notes it is the Jane Austen Centre. A charming mannequin dressed in period costume stands on the sidewalk beckoning visitors.
The entrance leads to a gift shop where tickets are sold to enter the centre. I had a difficult time tearing myself away from the myriad of enchanting items—from a Georgian-style cotton nightgown to a pair of cameo silhouettes of Jane Austen and her sister, Cassandra. Of course, all of her books are there to purchase, as well as stationery sets and even Jane Austen ink for the quill pens on sale for those of us who long for a moment away from 21st Century technology.
However, I was warned by one of the guides not to linger because the lecture on Austen was about to begin. Upstairs in a room decorated as it would have been during Austen´s time, there was also a large sketch of Jane Austen nestled between period furniture. Terry, one of the centre´s guides, began by explaining Jane was the seventh of eight children created by the marriage of George Austen to Cassandra Leigh.
"Eight to eleven children was a normal family then," Terry said to a group of women whose reaction was a smattering of moaning sounds.
Terry smiled, knowing he had all of our attention, and proceeded to tell Jane´s history, particularly her time in Bath. She first came to the city in 1797 when she was 21 year old, visiting her Aunt Leigh-Perrot for a period of time. The author considered it a fun city, he said, and about a year later she wrote the first draft of "Northanger Abbey" then titled "Susan."
In 1801, Jane´s father decided to retire from the ministry on his church pension of £600 a year, and because it was the city where he married his wife, he chose to retire to Bath. Funds were tight, however, because the rental of their home ate up £150 a year. It was during this time, in 1802, Jane accepted a marriage proposal from a suitor, Harris Bigg-Wither. The following morning, however, like a scene out of one of her novels, she declined the offer and returned to Bath.
In 1803, she completed "Northanger Abbey" and sold it to a publisher for £10. It was never printed. Years later, in 1816, Jane´s older brother Henry bought back the manuscript, after publication of her other novels. Jane, however, wrote very little while living in Bath, considering her output in later years. Town life did not suit her, Terry said, but her observations and experiences were important as she developed as a novelist.
Life became more difficult for Jane and her family in 1805.
"Jane´s father caught a cold and died," Terry explained. "As a widow, Jane´s mother was totally without funds. There were no pensions then for widows, but her sons came to the rescue and they raised £450 a year to take care of their mother, Jane and her sister, Cassandra."
It was then the family moved to 25 Gay St.
"It was a slide down the scale for them. They rented the middle floor of the house, of which this house is a replica. It cost them 76 shillings a week and they survived here six months," Terry said.
But the family was forced to move again to an even cheaper neighborhood on Trim Street near a pub where prostitutes and pimps abounded. Their life was drastically changed and Bath was no longer the fun city Jane experienced years before. When Jane later recalled her time in Bath, her comment was telling: "There are no flowers in Bath," she said.
Eventually Jane´s brother, Edward, received an inheritance from his father´s brother, very like the situation Austen wrote about in "Pride and Prejudice." The mother and daughters moved to Hampshire to live at Chawton Cottage where Jane and her sister resumed their long country walks and four of her novels were published under the title "by a Lady."
It was not until after she died in 1817—it is surmised she died of Addison´s disease—that "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" were published. In the forward written by her brother, Henry, he names his sister Jane as the author of her other four novels.
"Writing at that time was not a career for a lady," Terry said.
I ended my visit to the centre with a pot of real leaf tea and a slice of Mrs. Bennet´s lemon drizzle cake (Mrs. Bennet is the ditzy mother of Elizabeth, the main character of "Pride and Prejudice") in the Regency Tea Rooms on the second floor of the house on Gay Street. As a confirmed Austen fan, it was the perfect conclusion to a day visit to Bath.
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