I.
Today is Jane Austen's 241st birthday!!! Yay!
This is definitely something to celebrate. So here's some links to help you celebrate, too!
II.
Here is one of my series on Jane's writing, if you want to catch up:
Also, Jane's characters figured prominently in my Seven Characters post!
III.
A wonderful way to celebrate today is to watch Pride and Prejudice. The ONLY Pride and Prejudice. As in, the one featuring Colin F as Mr. Darcy. Because I do not acknowledge any others. :-P Keira Knightly is not Lizzie in my world.
IV.
If you would like to watch a Jane biopic, there is Becoming Jane, which I recommend. Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy are fantastic.
Anne Hathaway as Jane in Becoming Jane
V.
You could also practice your instruments if you play any. Be like Marianne and play a "powerful concerto". Or just listen to the Sense and Sensibility movie soundtrack, which is perfection.
And since it's Christmastime (well, almost), we might wonder what carols would Jane have known? Here's a piece about Regency Christmas carols, and here's one from the Jane Austen Center. Also, Messiah was composed in 1741, thirty-four years before Jane was born, so she might have been familiar with some of the pieces. (It was first performed in Dublin, but had its London premiere in March 1743). Her father was a clergyman, and the piece was performed in cathedrals around the country after the London premiere, so it might have been possible for Jane, or members of her family, to have heard it.
Not familiar with some of the regency carols? I've provided some audio for your listening pleasure.
VI.
A little bit about Jane's family: her father, George Austen, was a clergyman who married Cassandra Leigh on April 26, 1764. Jane was the seventh of eight children and the second (and last) daughter--her sister, Cassandra, who was her best friend, was two years older than she was, and outlived Jane by twenty-eight years.
The rest of the siblings were: Rev. James Austen; George Austen (who was severely disabled--either with epilepsy or cerebral palsy, we're not quite sure); Edward Austen-Knight (he was adopted by the Knight family as their heir, thus his last name); Henry Austen, Jane's favorite brother; Francis (Frank), who became a vice-admiral in the British Navy (giving Jane plenty of knowledge about the navy for her novels, especially Mansfield Park and Persuasion); and her younger brother, and youngest sibling, Charles, who also joined the Navy.
Edward ended up being instrumental in the care of his widowed mother and unmarried sisters after their father died in 1805; he provided them with Chawton Cottage, where Jane did most of her writing, and where she died on July 18, 1817 at the age of forty-two. (All of the brothers, though, helped support the women in the family after the reverend's death, with money and offerings of housing, etc.)
VII.
And finally, we must have tea! if you really want to drink tea like Jane did, get some Twinings, which was the brand she and her family drank! From the Twinings website:
A century later, writer Jane Austen was a devoted customer because, at a time when tea leaves were sometimes mixed with tree leaves by unscrupulous vendors and smugglers, Austen could be sure of buying unadulterated leaves at Twinings. In an 1814 letter to her sister Cassandra, she mentions: “I am sorry to hear that there has been a rise in tea. I do not mean to pay Twining til later in the day, when we may order a fresh supply.”
She visited the shop to buy tea for herself and her family when she was in town (meaning London) visiting her brother, Henry. So, we must have tea on Jane's birthday. Their Lady Grey tea is an excellent choice for afternoon tea drinking.
Here's a piece on tea in the Regency Era , and one on tea in her novels.
There is also the delightful book Tea with Jane Austen as well as At Home With Jane Austen. One day I WILL get to England and do the Jane Austen tour. My entire bucket list is basically that.
