The screenwriter for a new British TV drama called, “Miss Austen Regrets,” wants the show to depict a realistic woman as Jane Austen. “She was lively and ferocious. Some of the comments about her neighbors make your eyes water,” writer Gwyneth Hughes said.
I don’t know. For modern screenwriters, “realistic” generally means foul-mouthed and sexually promiscuous.
I’ve seen Miss Austen Regrets and was left a little cold by the portrayal. Not that I’m a keeper of Austen’s flame by any means, but her sister, Cassandra, destroyed at Austen’s death much of their correspondence. I have the feeling that proof of the real Jane Austen, and any of her regrets, may have gone up the chimney. (Though, enough of her personal writing remains for us to know she was very much many of her characters. Good and bad.)
I was hoping you would see this post, Susan. Thanks for commenting.
I bet the real Jane Austen defecated, but I don’t want to see or read about it.