Jane Austen // Current TV

Date Talk: What Women Want (aka The Man with the Plan) - Thump

Typically in these Date Talk columns, I aim to give advice that applies to both male... more

ThumpBlog
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Women Writers’Sentimental and Feminine Tosh?’ « Ramani's blog

Arrogance personified.... more

ramanan50
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Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts by Mitzi Szereto (book trailer)

Author Mitzi Szereto brings you the entire cast of characters from Jane Austen's... more

MitziTV
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Analyzing: Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice while a fictional love story was also a... more

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Pride & Prejudice at Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory

Video Preview of the FPAC presentation of "Pride & Prejudice"... more

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Jane Austen’s Fight Club [video]

Have you read Jane Austen’s books? The first time I read them, I was... more

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the High Street

When real life is weirder than fiction...... more

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'Jane Austen's Fight Club' is the best thing you'll see all day (Video)

The whole Jane Austen mashup sub genre has become more than a little irritating but I... more

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Jane Austen's Fight Club

Tea, cakes, embroidery and fighting. A spoof trailer of the Jane Austin world flying... more

Mcellie
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Austen power redux: Is David O. Russell set to give life to 'Pride & Prejudice and Zombies?'

No sooner than the news of Natalie Portman starring and producing the film version of... more

MediaJor
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Austen power: Natalie Portman to star and produce film version of 'Pride & Prejudice and Zombies'

Jorge Carreon blogs on how Natalie Portman has signed on to lead "Pride and... more

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Natalie Portman to star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Actress Natalie Portman is set to star in the film version of the book Pride and... more

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The Perfect Holiday Gift For $20 ("Literally")

Who knew a book could be sexy, fashionable and stylish.....and also be 200 years old!

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Pornography and Prejudice: Jane Austen's Dirty Talk

"What is this inescapable desire we have to mess around with Jane Austen? The poor woman has been through the mill of late, with the literary world seeing Elizabeth Bennet contending with the undead in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and the Dashwoods about to take on tentacled sea creatures in Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Meanwhile, onscreen, Elton John's Rocket Pictures is working on Pride and Predator.

So far be it for theatre to miss out. Fresh from a run on the Edinburgh fringe, Jane Austen's Guide to Pornography arrived at Battersea's Theatre 503 last week with an all-male cast and not a little innuendo. Steve Dawson's piece pitches a gay pornographic playwright, tired of only churning out one-liners and sex, up against Austen herself, who is near death, bored with her stories and "awaking screaming at the thought of another Mr Darcy". The pair look for inspiration from each other: Jane wants a bit of raunch in her new novel, Brett the playwright wants to inject true love into his writing.

There are some predictably nudge-nudge elements – ooh, let's make Jane Austen say "enormous cock", that'll be hilarious – but it actually works pretty well, particularly when Jane and Brett are squabbling over storyline ideas. It's silly, but it's also funny: "No one has ever fainted in my novels except for Emma, and that was the only one and not because she met this 'Dick' person," Jane tells Brett firmly. The burgeoning romance between the two actors/characters dreamt up by Jane and Brett is sweetly believable, ending with a clever twist on the "Marianne sprains her ankle" scene from Sense and Sensibility. Perhaps the mention of felching – "it sounds frightfully Mediterranean," says Jane – will get the Jane Austen Society up in arms, but the play is actually a very affectionate portrait of the author, so I hope not.

It does make me wonder, though, about this trend to sex up Austen. Someone has even written a book of "deleted sex scenes". Perhaps it's the buttoned-up nature of her characters – the closest we get to a bit of frolicking in Austen is probably Mr Knightley drawing Emma's hand through his arm. Maybe it's just immature and deliberately provocative, but I think our appetite for postmodern character cutting and pasting comes down to the genius of good writers. In Austen's case, we love her characters, we believe in their romances: we want to know – and see – more.""What is this inescapable desire we have to mess around with Jane Austen? The... more