Christmas at my house is the season of Jane Austen, and repeated showings of all five tapes of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. This year we watched the entire series twice, augmented with an airing of “Sense and Sensibility”. I then plowed through the novel “Persuasion”, and yep, tonight I just finished reading “Pride and Prejudice”. It’s an odd tradition for the Christmas season, I suppose. I can’t explain the attraction, though Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy does speak for itself.
Curious about the cause of Jane Austen’s early death at 41, I did a little searching on the internet. I came across a site that is loaded with interesting background information on Regency life, including biographical details of JA’s life. Check out the page on Regency Rose Gardens.
While you’re there, don’t miss the page on “a History of Pain”, and the story about the tough soldier who was annoyed by the screams of the fellow in the next bed, “so much so, that as soon as his arm was amputated, he struck the Frenchman a smart blow across the breech with the severed limb, holding it at the wrist, saying, ‘Here, take that, and stuff it down your throat, and stop your damned bellowing!’ “
POLLENATRIX 