"How Did Jane Austen Make the 10 Pound Note?"

On Monday night, I went to a lovely talk by Dr. James Thompson from UNC Chapel Hill.  This talk made me realize that English-Literature is a good major for me.  Dr. Thompson gave an excellent lecture on Jane Austen.  He outlined her posthumous rise to fame and analyzed aspects of her writing.

Dr. Thompson used the term the "cult of Austen" to describe the mania surrounding fandom of these iconic books.  He spoke of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and their yearly conference which always sells out, complete with a room full of Jane Austen merchandise.  There is this unique love for Austen that inspires bumper stickers that assert, "I'd rather be reading Jane Austen". 

Austen's writing is unique for several reasons.  First, she was a "beneficiary of enlightenment thinking about psychology". Previously, it was generally believed that people didn't really develop.  Children are small people, and they grow up into big people.  There was no concept of adolescence or development.  Austen countered this widely-held belief by creating characters that were "additive".  Her characters develop and gain new self knowledge throughout her novels.  The Mr. Darcy who is introduced in the beginning of Pride and Prejudice is not the same as Mr. Darcy at the end of the story.

Second, Austen was an "innovator in literary devices".  On device that set Austen's writing apart is her use of "free and direct discourse".  This means that she has in her novels direct transcription of character's conscience.  Rather than saying, "she thought" or "she felt", Austen simply pours out the inner thoughts and feelings of characters.  This causes the effect of the intertwining of the narrator's voice and the character's voice.  This is especially evident in Jane Austen's masterpiece, Emma.  At some points in the novel it is nearly impossible to differentiate between the narrator's and Emma.  The reader can interpret whether the narrator is endorsing Emma, criticizing Emma, or whether Emma's thoughts are simply being transcribed. 

For these, and many other reasons, Austen's novels have stood the test of time, enduring through wars and across generations.  Austen will soon take her place on the 10 pound note, a reminder to the nation of Great Britain of her impeccable contributions to the British literary canon.