The Genius of Jane Austen

May 1, 2017
Biographer Byrne (The Real Jane Austen) explores Austen’s relationship to the theater by placing her letters and novels within the context of popular Georgian-era dramas. While readers naturally associate Austen with the novel, Byrne argues that her use of devices such as comic misunderstandings and dramatic entrances and exits comes from theatrical tradition. Byrne provides a close reading of Austen’s various works, with a special emphasis on Mansfield Park’s play-related plotline. She draws comparisons between Austen’s novels and popular plays of her day, matching Sense and Sensibility’s satire to Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals and noting settings and character types Mansfield Park shares with David Garrick’s The Clandestine Marriage. Byrne also explores adaptations of Austen’s works for stage and screen, notably A.A. Milne’s Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Amy Heckerling’s Clueless. At odds with scholarship that casts Austen as provincial and perhaps stodgy, Byrne presents an Austen immersed in her time’s popular entertainment, visiting Bath’s Theatre Royal and London’s Covent Garden, among others, and commenting astutely on performances in her correspondence, from which Byrne quotes liberally. While Byrne’s language skews academic, any Austen devotee should appreciate the thorough analysis of the novels and the crediting of previously overlooked influences.

May 15, 2017
Biographer Byrne (Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth, 2016, etc.) explores Jane Austen's passion for the theatre and the influence of comedic plays on her writing.In this updated edition of her first book, originally published by an academic press as Jane Austen and the Theatre, Byrne focuses on the theatrical world of the late 18th century, providing a broad history of the playwrights and the theaters of that time as well as an overview of the performances that Austen attended. The performances served as a source of inspiration for the private family theatricals of Austen's youth and closely influenced her early attempts at playwriting and fiction and eventually her novel Mansfield Park. In later chapters, Byrne examines how Austen's knowledge of theatrical technique and use of dialogue played an essential role in building effective scenes and developing characters in all of her novels. The author's updates of her previous book, geared toward drawing in nonscholarly readers, include an introduction assessing Austen's increased popularity over the past two decades and, in the final chapter, "Why She Is a Hit in Hollywood," assessments of the many film and theatrical adaptations of Austen's work that have captivated audiences over the past century. These include A.A. Milne's play Miss Elizabeth Bennet, numerous versions of Pride and Prejudice, and the outrageously subversive updating of Emma as the film Clueless, and Byrne evaluates which have proven most successful on their own terms. This chapter, though perhaps more accessible for contemporary readers of Austen, represents a departure from her more scholarly arguments. Ultimately, she writes, "the key difference between the merely escapist and romantic screen renditions of Jane Austen and those that truly succeed as works of art in their own right is the adaptation's truth not to the letter of her text...but to the spirit of her comedy. The spirit, that is, which she herself learned from the comedic theatre." A thoroughly researched, somewhat scholarly investigation of Austen's oeuvre for devoted Austen fans with some background in literature.

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June 15, 2017

Byrne (Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth) previously published this book in 2003 as Jane Austen and the Theatre, now out of print. This updated edition includes a new chapter that examines the success of Hollywood's Jane Austen adaptations. Byrne challenges 20th-century literary critics who claimed that Austen distrusted the theatre, instead arguing that Austen's passion for the stage manifested itself in her novels. In the first part of this work, Byrne captures Austen's fondness for the dramatic arts by describing her theatre attendance and her readings of plays. In Part 2, she astutely analyzes Austen's use of particular theatrical techniques such as dramatic entrances/exits, comic misunderstandings, and tableaux in particular novels including Pride and Prejudice (which relies on dramatic speech) and Emma (which explores the theatrical notion of the performed self). The final chapter on Hollywood adaptations includes a touching anecdote on A.A. Milne's (Winnie the Pooh's creator) excellent play remake of Pride and Prejudice and a meaningful analysis of the movie Clueless. VERDICT This book will appeal to Austen fans and anyone interested in the film versions of her works.--Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA

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