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<title>Dwiggie.com message boards - Tea Room</title>
<description>For the discussion of all things Austen, and a great deal more.</description><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/list.php?4</link><lastBuildDate>Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:33:24 +0100</lastBuildDate>
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<title>When Mary Takes a Stand (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131833,131833#msg-131833</link><description><![CDATA[LizzyS,<br /><br />Will there be an Epilogue to this story?]]></description>
<dc:creator>Kimberly F.</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 01:09:17 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131814,131814#msg-131814</guid>
<title>Can anyone recommend a good Jane Austen forum? (1 reply)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131814,131814#msg-131814</link><description><![CDATA[I mean, one which has a current, lively discussion, preferably with hundreds of followers, treating Jane Austen as a serious writer. Since Austen Underground went underground, I can't find one. Dwiggie is good, but it has about four regular readers. There are numerous sites catering for such deep questions as "Who is JA's hunkiest hero?" or "What do you think of the latest Netflix adaptation?", but I need more than that. Any ideas?]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 20:41:57 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131808,131808#msg-131808</guid>
<title>Are there two (or even three) sketches of Addisonian hyper-pigmentation? (3 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131808,131808#msg-131808</link><description><![CDATA[Has anybody noticed that the Cassandra (CEA) sketch and the Stanier Clarke (JSC) sketch BOTH show evidence of Addisonian hyper-pigmentation? High-resolution images of these sketches are disappointingly difficult to find online, but do your best. Bring them up side-by-side on your screen and use heaps of magnification. Experiment with noise reduction, if your viewer has it; it helps a lot. I will mainly use the JSC sketch as a reference point, because most medical opinion agrees that it shows hyper-pigmentation consistent with Primary Adrenal Insufficiency (Addison's Disease).<br /><br />Begin by looking at the right-upper eyelid in the JSC sketch. It is mostly black, but at the outer end it changes abruptly to pure white, extending in a crescent down the right cheek. In CEA the same transition is (arguably) just about visible. I accept that this is arguable, because in CEA the angle is not very friendly and the sample size is very small; but it is definitely possible to trace a consistency.<br /><br />In JSC there is an area of darker pigmentation immediately above the left eyebrow. In the CEA sketch we see a shaded area in the same place; at a casual glance, one would take it for a shadow cast by the curly fringe, except that it doesn't resemble it much in outline, and we don't see a similar shadow anywhere else.<br /><br />In JSC there is a prominent black spot immediately under the lower lip (probably blue-black in real life). In CEA, there is a hint of a dark patch in the same place. JSC also appears to show a less-severe but larger patch of pigmentation on the left upper lip, in the region of the left nostril; this pattern, too, is repeated by CEA.<br /><br />Most telling of all, in JSC much of the left side of the face is severely hyper-pigmented, with irregular borders, below and forward of the left ear. In CEA the discoloration is less pronounced, and not advancing so far forward, but it has similarly well-defined borders which are too sharp, clear, and irregular to be mistaken for natural shadow. After noise suppression, this appears to be contiguous with the discoloration above the left eyebrow and, in a lighter form, extends down the left side of the neck - just as it does in the JSC sketch.<br /><br />Overall, the pattern of hyper-pigmentation is more severe in the JSC sketch, which was almost certainly done by Stanier Clarke on 13 November 1815, when Jane visited Carlton House. This was around the time she began to feel positively unwell, and probably some years after the CEA sketch. Had Cassandra finished hers, it is possible those early signs of PAI would have been more clearly delineated; Jane evidently insisted that JSC represent them honestly. In both cases, however, the artist has made clever use of light, shadow, and composition to minimise the visual impact of the disfigurement. In the CEA sketch, particularly, the casual observer does not recognise the hyper-pigmentation for what it is, and mistakes it for the ordinary effects of light and shade. But the longer and more closely one examines it, the less plausible such a rationalisation seems.<br /><br />Footnote: Astonishingly, the Godmersham sketch of a tall, skinny lady sitting writing at a desk, who may be Jane Austen, shows facial markings fully consistent with the above. Unfortunately the only image I can find online is hopelessly low-resolution and over-contrasty, so I'm not making an issue of it here. But post-processing definitely reveals a black right eyelid which appears to abut a white crescent running down the right cheek. There is indisputably a darker patch above the left eyebrow. An area of excessive contrast and shadowing makes it impossible to verify the black chin spot separately; but this dark area, as a whole, corresponds more or less exactly with an area of variegated hyper-pigmentation visible in the other two sketches, especially in noise-reduced CEA. These are too many coincidences to be ignored. Interestingly, there is a black spot on the upper right side of the nose, which does not appear in JSC. Perhaps it offended his sense of symmetry, or perhaps this sketch was done even later. Entre parenthèses, I wonder if any of this explains why Jane is facing AWAY from the artist in the bonnet sketch? Had she not yet come to terms with her condition?]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 16:12:20 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131807,131807#msg-131807</guid>
<title>Was James Stanier Clarke trying to seduce Jane Austen? (1 reply)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131807,131807#msg-131807</link><description><![CDATA[On 15 November 1815 Jane Austen writes to James Stanier Clarke to clarify the protocol governing the dedication of Emma to HRH (Letter 125[D]). Clarke responds next day with the required information (Letter 125[A], 16 Nov), and ends with a very interesting postscript:<br /><br />"P.S.<br />I am going for about three weeks to Mr Henry Streatfeilds [sic], Chiddingstone Sevenoaks - but hope on my return to have the honour of seeing you again."<br /><br />There is no necessity to meet again. In modern terms, Clarke is asking Jane for a date. He puts it in a postscript, because that way it seems more like a spontaneous, last-minute thought, without any agenda. But Jane is evidently unimpressed; she could have written to him at Sevenoaks, but she doesn't answer his letter for three weeks, during which time she maintains a normal correspondence with everyone else in her world. When she does reply (Letter 132[D], 11 Dec) she ignores the suggestion of a personal meeting, and discusses literary matters with humour and irony. Evidently, Clarke amuses her as Mr Collins amused Mr Bennet.<br /><br />Ten days later, Clarke writes again (Letter 132[A], 21 Dec). He continues to groom Jane, covering her with fulsome, sticky compliments, mingled with mawkish attempts to enlist her sympathy for his own troubles; but hitherto she has not responded as he would wish. Mindful that she doesn't seem interested in another meeting, he suggests they begin a regular (doubtless "literary") correspondence. But perhaps he needs to make his meaning plainer! He decides to go for broke. His final paragraph is worth quoting in full:<br /><br />"Pray, dear Madam, remember, that besides My Cell at Carlton House, I have another which Dr Barne procured for me at No 37, Golden Square - where I often hide myself. There is a small Library there much at your Service - and if you can make the Cell render you any service as a sort of Half-way House, when you come to Town - I shall be most happy. There is a Maid Servant of mine always there."<br /><br />This is an astonishingly improper proposal, and Jane is surely gobsmacked. Think about it. He is inviting her to come to town and shack up with him at a discreet private address; and, we suspect, as often and for as long as she likes. As bait, he offers the freedom of his personal library. A maid on the premises is no chaperone - is she going to make up a third, every moment of the day? What are the odds that sooner or later, such a visit wouldn't mysteriously coincide with the maid being given a day off? And without being too Freudian about it, he could have picked his words better; "cell", "procured for me", "hide myself", "half-way house" - this is not the kind of language to reassure a lady of moral integrity.<br /><br />Jane Austen is being propositioned, and she knows it. "Come to town? ON the town, I should think he means!" She drops the correspondence like a hot potato. Thankfully, Clarke can take a hint. It is three months before he writes again, and then only at the command of HRH (Letter 138[A], 27 Mar). The letter is short and only politely effusive. Neverthess, he must try his luck one more time: "Pray dear Madam soon write again and again." (The "pathetic puppy" gambit!)<br /><br />Jane responds courteously but firmly (Letter 138[D], 1 Apr). It is obvious by now, even to JS Clarke, that the lady is NOT interested.<br /><br />Is this being unkind to the man? He does seem to have been genuinely smitten. But he is a clergyman, for heaven's sake. To suggest that Jane accommodate herself in his private lodgings - discreetly, he implies - was simply immoral. She must have been disgusted.]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Tue, 20 Jan 2026 20:35:07 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131798,131798#msg-131798</guid>
<title>Richard Musgrove (1 reply)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131798,131798#msg-131798</link><description><![CDATA[If you are familiar with Jane Austen's letters, you will know that she had a bit of a thing about the name Richard. Of one acquaintance with that name, she notes that his marriage is postponed, presumably until he has found himself a better christian name. Another time, she suggests that she would accept any John or Thomas rather than a particular Richard. All three are contemporary south-of-England euphemisms for 'penis' (Richard=Dick=dick=).<br /><br />Jane Austen conceived one of her minor male characters as (literally) a dick.  The passage, which occurs early on in Persuasion - p76, Penguin Classics edition - is the most calculatedly, deliberately spiteful and vindictive she ever wrote. She does not use the word 'dick' explicitly, of course, but one has to supply it mentally in order to make sense of the passage. <br /><br />His name is Richard.  He has died even before the story begins. He had been "a very troublesome, hopeless son", and his parents had had "the good fortune to lose him before his twentieth year". He was "stupid and unmanageable", and "very little cared for at any time by his family, though quite as much as he deserved". He was "nothing better than a thick-headed, unfeeling, unprofitable Dick Musgrove, who had never done anything to entitle himself to more than the abbreviation of his name, living or dead".<br /><br />After eviscerating his character and vilifying his memory, the author concludes that he was, in plain words, a dick; a total dick; and nothing but a dick.<br /><br />Losing a son before his twentieth birthday is good fortune? Christ. Jane's cousin Eliza de Feuillide's son was severely handicapped, but dearly loved till the day he died; Richard Musgrove was, at least, a functioning adult. The hatchet job is unbelievably savage, and very unusual for Jane Austen. Nothing in the plot of Persuasion necessitates so vicious an assault She might equally well have made Richard Musgrove a likeable, well-meaning simpleton who tried hard without ever succeeding. Was she using the cover of fiction to vilify a detested real person? It would be interesting to know the circumstances behind this, but I don't suppose we ever shall.]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2026 19:44:33 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131790,131790#msg-131790</guid>
<title>The Mansfield Park Silhouette (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131790,131790#msg-131790</link><description><![CDATA[Is the MP silhouette an image of Jane Austen? I've found scattered arguments for and against. There are many data to evaluate but, like a good jigsaw puzzle, it's not initially obvious how they fit together. I'd like to suggest a way they might form a coherent picture. I'd appreciate your comments and any relevant links you might be aware of.<br /><br /><br />Arguments in favour: 1. The Missing Piece<br /><br />We possess verifiable silhouettes for Jane's sister Cassandra, and for her parents, George and Cassandra Austen, as well as portraits of the brothers. Jane is the only one for whom we have no formal likeness. Does this not seem odd? These likenesses were the equivalent of our family photo album; unless you were well off (and the Austens weren't), a silhouette was the only likeness of a loved one you could ever hope to have. It's conceivable no silhouette of Jane was ever made; but perhaps one WAS made, and went missing, for a reason I will discuss presently. This does not contribute to proof of identity, as such, but it is a material circumstance which is worth keeping in mind, because it establishes a logical space which the MP silhouette would fill.<br /><br /><br />Arguments in favour: 2. The Scene Of The Crime<br /><br />The silhouette was found inside a second-edition copy of Mansfield Park (1816), and it can be dated to the period 1810-1820. This justifies a tentative identification; as R W Chapman asked, what other Jane would have her silhouette in such a place? Why would somebody label a silhouette as "Jane", and put it inside a novel written by Jane Austen, knowing it to be some other person? Not conclusive, of course, but definitely a brick in the wall.<br /><br /><br />Arguments in favour: 3. The Family Resemblance<br /><br />The facial features are consistent with a recombination of the silhouettes of Mr, Mrs, and Miss Austen, and such as we would expect to see in a sibling of the Austen family. There is the "classical" Austen nose, with a slight Leigh kink towards the tip; below the nose, the somewhat receding line of the Austen mouth features, terminating in a Leigh chin. An AI analysis would be useful here, particularly in comparison with the silhouette found among sundry papers (if I understand correctly) when Godmersham was auctioned in 1983. This second silhouette, possibly a self-portrait c.1815, faces the opposite direction, and the features are not quite perfectly identical, but they are sufficiently alike to be the same person done by a different hand.<br /><br /><br />Arguments in favour: 4. The Lovable Jane<br /><br />The superscription "L'Aimable Jane" is definitely a worry. It would appear to have been written by someone who knew Jane, loved her, and either was French, or liked to affect French manners. No prizes for guessing who THAT would be. Jane and Eliza de Feullide loved each other; as Eliza lay dying of breast cancer, Jane's presence was all the comfort she needed; she died while Jane held her hand; indeed, quite possibly, while Jane held her in her arms. It is possible Jane had sometime gifted the silhouette to Eliza, and she had endorsed it "L'Aimable Jane". This would be quite in character. An AI analysis of handwritings would be useful here; unfortunately, though her letters survive, no image of Eliza's handwriting is in the public domain (as far as I know). The book was printed after Eliza's death, so she could not have put the silhouette into it herself; this must have been done by another - husband Henry, or perhaps even Jane herself? She would have treasured such a "memento mei". It may even be significant, that the book was Mansfield Park; like Fanny Price, Eliza was lifted out of obscurity and into a life of privilege. Subsequently, the silhouette was overlooked as the book passed into other hands. It is curious that the two silhouettes date to around the same period - was the second done to replace the one given to Eliza? Or did the existence of two make it possible to give one away?<br /><br /><br />Arguments against: 1. The Tits Are Too Big<br /><br />One (female) commentator has suggested that the breasts in the MP silhouette are too generous to belong to one as tall and slender as Jane was reported to be. This is problematic on so many grounds, it is difficult to know where to begin.<br /><br />(a) There is no law which says tall, skinny women cannot have breasts.<br /><br />(b) In any case, the breasts in the silhouette are not so big as all that; they are just being pushed unnaturally high by the stays. On bath nights, they must have appeared much less formidable.<br /><br />(c) With human nature in mind, I assume a silhouette artist might sometimes exaggerate a lady's bust to make her more attractive. In portraiture, length of arm and leg was often exaggerated for this purpose; Emma's sketch of Harriet is criticised for it.<br /><br />(d) In any case, the "tall and slender" descriptions apply chiefly to young Jane. The silhouette probably dates to her thirties, by which time she may have put on a few pounds.<br /><br /><br />Arguments against: 2. It Could Have Been A Fanboy/Fangirl Fantasy<br /><br />It's been suggested an unknown lady's silhouette could have been co-opted as part of a Janeite fantasy-obsession. One must concede that anything is possible but, currently, there are no data to support or imply this hypothesis.<br /><br /><br />There is no conclusive argument on either side of the question, but the balance of probability points to an identification with Jane Austen. Further advances in AI and DNA analysis will doubtless add more fuel to the debate. We haven't heard the last of this yet!]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 13:13:18 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131789,131789#msg-131789</guid>
<title>Rational Woman (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131789,131789#msg-131789</link><description><![CDATA[Most Janeites know that Jane Austen's favourite authors included Burney, Edgeworth, Johnson, Richardson. There is one author whose influence, I contend, has been generally understimated, acknowledged only by a few of the more perceptive commentators, and directed the course of Jane Austen's creative thinking all of her life. I refer to Mary Wollstonecraft. Jane Austen was familiar with 'A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman' and, even if she never read more than the introduction, one sentence there influenced her creative thinking more than any other single sentence in English Literature:<br /><br />"My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them as rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone."<br /><br />Could anything more typically sum up Jane Austen's creative approach? This sentence alone may have provoked her to revolt against the pathetic, helpless heroine of the Gothic novel. But as a matter of more immediate interest, I'd like to point out that the word "rational" is actually scattered about a dozen times throughout P&amp;P. I've made a list (but unfortunately I did not think to record chapter references):<br /><br />01 - Caroline Bingley, hoping to impress Mr Darcy, suggests that conversation is a more rational pastime than a ball.<br /><br />02 - At Sir William Lucas's house, Wickham says Darcy is rational when he wants to be.<br /><br />03 - Lizzie judges that Wickham has given a rational account.<br /><br />04 - LIZZIE PLEADS WITH MR COLLINS TO RECOGNISE THAT SHE IS A RATIONAL CREATURE.<br /><br />05 - In her letters, Charlotte Lucas presents a rationally-softened portrait of life at Rosings.<br /><br />06 - Mr Bennet says Kitty must behave rationally for 10 minutes every day or he will not let her out.<br /><br />07 - Jane hopes Lydia and Wickham will live in a rational style.<br /><br />08 - Lizzie thinks Lydia not capable of rational happiness.<br /><br />09 - Lizzie concedes it is not rational to hope that Mr Darcy may still love her.<br /><br />10 - Jane and Lizzie persuade Mr Bennet with rational arguments.<br /><br />11 - Lizzie judges that Mr Bingley's hope of future happiness is rational.<br /><br />12 - Lizzie sarcastically describes Lady de B's visit to Longbourn as a rational plan.<br /><br />I apologise again for not having precise editional or chapter references; but, I do not write for such dull elves who cannot trace these things for themselves...]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 10 Dec 2025 12:33:42 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131784,131784#msg-131784</guid>
<title>Was Charlotte Lucas Gay? (3 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131784,131784#msg-131784</link><description><![CDATA[I posted this message, originally, on another website which is now defunct. Comments were few. I post it again here in the hope of fresh commentary.<br /><br />Did Jane Austen conceive of Charlotte Lucas as a lesbian? The next time you dip into P&amp;P, carefully examine every conversation, every transaction, every authorial comment involving Charlotte, and ask yourself: could this woman be in love with Elizabeth Bennet? What is her subtext when she tells Lizzie, you mean as much to me as my own father and sister? Why is she so anxious to keep up the friendship after Lizzie, deeply disappointed in her, seems inclined to let it drop? What does it imply, that she has "no high opinion of men or of matrimony"?<br /><br />I hope no-one will dismiss this as some fashionable, new-age interpretation of Dear Auntie Jane's text; there is nothing 'new-age' about lesbianism, or bisexuality, which category includes myself; Jane Austen understood the facts of life very well indeed.<br /><br />Why would Jane Austen imagine Miss Lucas as a lesbian? The first, short answer would be: because she could! Her sense of humour was mischievous and broad-minded. This is an author, remember, who could give us at least three - possibly as many as five - major female characters bonking outside of marriage (the Bertram sisters; Lydia Bennet; Lady Vernon; Isabella Thorp). She could crack a joke about Lydia Bennet going on the game, put a smutty joke about "rears and vices" into Mary Crawford's mouth, and make off-colour wordplay with the names 'Richard', 'John', and 'Thomas' in her letters. She spent a significant chunk of her life in bed with other women. She understood.<br /><br />The second answer might be: because it softens the implications of Charlotte's marriage to Mr Collins. He is repellent, but comfortably-off, well-connected, and future master of Longbourn. Moreover, he is not romantic, and seems unlikely to make excessive amorous demands (so Charlotte might reason). An aversion to heterosexual intercourse would probably be interpreted by him (she would hope) as a becoming, virtuous distaste for carnality. Thus he might be encouraged to moderate his demands even further. For a 27-year-old lesbian contemplating a lifelong spinsterhood in genteel poverty, such a "lie back and think of England" marriage might not seem like such a bad option; and I hope naive, idealistic Lizzie would (eventually) overcome her prejudice and forgive her for taking it.]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Sat, 13 Dec 2025 12:02:06 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131783,131783#msg-131783</guid>
<title>Something JA (bless her) did not understand about sex... (4 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131783,131783#msg-131783</link><description><![CDATA[Mr Knightley fell in love with Emma when she was 13 years old. He was 30 at the time. In most jurisdictions today, that is pedophilia; but we overlook that, because it was no such thing in Jane Austen's time, when the legal age for female marriage was 12. This was only pragmatic; a girl might become pregnant at that age; there had to be a path to respectability, and avoidance of the taint of illegitimacy.<br /><br />What Jane almost certainly didn't know, but we do today, is that Emma would not reach her sexual peak until her early 30's, when Mr Knightley would be fiftyish, and quite possibly suffering early-stage age-related impotence. He would certainly be 30 years past his sexual prime.<br /><br />Could Emma have been tempted to dally, then, with some young stud? Would Mr Knightley have consented to look the other way, knowing it was only a dalliance, and that he was secure in Emma's love?]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Fri, 02 Jan 2026 12:28:45 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131774,131774#msg-131774</guid>
<title>The Cassandra Sketch (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131774,131774#msg-131774</link><description><![CDATA[The Cassandra sketch is famously the only frontal image of Jane Austen we have. A number of commentators have said this Jane is seriously annoyed. She resents being made to sit still while her sister draws her likeness. Defensive, cross, she folds her arms and stares sulkily into the distance.<br /><br />Apple sauce. It is too far out of character, for both women. Would Cassandra force her sister to sit still, like a naughty child, and then deliberately sketch "Angry Jane"? Would that be the kind of sketch the Austens would love to hang on the wall and look at every day? If Jane were not in the mood, would she not have explained that to her sister, and ask to put it off till another time? Or, if Cassandra were really so assertive, wouldn't she insist that Jane adopt a more elegant pose and look at her properly? None of it makes any sense.<br /><br />Let us take another, more careful look at the sketch, and see what we can deduce from the detail.<br /><br />The first clue to a proper interpretation, ironically, is the chair. You can just see the back of it around Jane's right side. It does not look like a sitting-room or occasional chair; it is more likely a kitchen or dining-table chair. The setting, then, is probably a mealtime (as far as we know, Jane never used the dining table for writing; it was not sufficiently private; also, she had a writing-desk). The meal has just ended, or perhaps is between courses. Jane is relaxed, sitting back in her chair. She has folded her arms, as one does at such moments. From across the table Cassandra is sketching her; evidently, Jane does not object. The conversation is flowing, and she is giving her attention to someone on her right. She is amused. Look at that face (second clue) - are you sure that is a frown? Is it not rather an incipient smile, such as every face wears at a convivial dinner party? This was surely typical Janey, gorgeous Janey, and Cassandra could not resist to capture it. It is unfortunate that nobody approved of the likeness (evidently, a "driver's licence" image!). Nevertheless, there must be a reasonable resemblance, or Cassandra would not have gone as far with it as she did.<br /><br />Jane Austen was said to be very 'conversible'; her chat was witty, lively, and interesting. But she took equal pleasure to listen and observe - as she is doing in this sketch.]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Sun, 30 Nov 2025 06:59:48 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131773,131773#msg-131773</guid>
<title>Lady Susan - is it worth reading? (5 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131773,131773#msg-131773</link><description><![CDATA[Questions regarding Lady Susan come up constantly on social media. 'Is it worth reading?' 'Why isn't it the same as Jane's other novels?' 'The heroine is very different kind of person as Jane's other heroines' etc. etc. What we have to remember is that Jane never put this novel forward for publication when she became successful. She wrote this as a teenager and had not yet quite found her feet as an author so she copied a style she herself admired, i.e. writing a story in letter form. That doesn't mean it isn't any good. It's actually quite astonishing to realise that a young girl could have such insight into adult behaviour and relationships. The character of Lady Susan can only be described nowadays as “a self centred bitch”! whose behaviour is quite shocking and certainly controversial. In contemporary Western times we are not likely to be comfortable with the mother/daughter relationship portrayed here.<br />Lady Susan Comes Alive was written by Gillian Hiscott during Covid shutdown because she felt that a contemporary reader's first impression of Lady Susan as written by Jane might not highlight just how deep and clever it is and that expanding the storyline would give it more clarity. The intense scrutiny of society needed from a teenage girl to produce this is much to be admired.<br />Relevant professional English actors were also contacted to help produce a recording for an audiobook – one reading the main story and each character reading their “letters”. So although there is a complete book which can be purchased from Amazon it is also split into 3 parts mainly for the purpose of reading alongside the audio book which can be accessed<br />on Amazon by searching under Gillian Hiscott or via website gillianhiscott.weebly.com]]></description>
<dc:creator>sunnniecornwall</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 03 Dec 2025 23:11:18 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131757,131757#msg-131757</guid>
<title>Do NOT underestimate Eliza de Feullide! (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131757,131757#msg-131757</link><description><![CDATA[There is a consensus among Jane Austen commentators that Eliza de Feullide was a mental lightweight, an airhead; "vain and frivolous" and "giddy" are adjectives I have seen. What a sad failure of critical judgement that is! A woman who - risking the guillotine - bluffed her way out of Revolutionary France, with a lame-duck English husband in tow! An assignment worthy of James Bond himself. She had something more than luck going for her. If she could make Jane Austen love her too, she must have had even more going for her.<br /><br />Jane Austen didn't like people easily. She definitely had NO time for airheads or moral degenerates. She set the bar of friendship high. To qualify, you had to be "rational" (one of her favourite words) - grounded, sensible, clear-thinking. You also had to be intelligent, well-informed, and interesting; and of course, a highly-developed sense of moral values was essential.<br /><br />That Jane Austen loved her so well is all the evidence we need that Eliza possessed these qualities in abundance. She did indeed love the social whirl; not because she was dizzy, but because it was FUN. She was an incorrigible flirt; not because she was flighty, but because it was FUN. To confuse flighty behaviour with character is a common mistake.<br /><br />In their love of flirting and good company, Jane and Eliza were so much alike. They probably shared many a giggly secret together, after the ball. But within the Austen family there is never so much as a whisper that Eliza was immoral. Jane, particularly, prided herself on her ability to "sniff" an adulterer; had she suspected Eliza, her brother's wife, she would not have countenanced friendship for a second.<br /><br />There was nothing giddy or superficial about Eliza. She had known terror and tragedy. To what extent her personality was driven by post-traumatic stress disorder, or a wanderer's need to fit in, or both, is an interesting question. We do not know what dreadful sufferings she may have revealed to Jane, in private conversation. We do not know what final words she spoke to Jane, whose hand was the only hand she wanted to hold as she lay dying. We do know that she was an independent-minded, "liberated" woman, and the loving mother of a handicapped child; a female dynamo who loved life, but gambled her life to save her husband a jail term. Her story is the stuff of novels. What a crazy diamond of a woman she was! And Jane Austen loved her.]]></description>
<dc:creator>alibom32378</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:37:06 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131744,131744#msg-131744</guid>
<title>Are there any North and South fanfiction archives? (1 reply)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131744,131744#msg-131744</link><description><![CDATA[Hello everyone!<br /><br />Lately I have been looking for North and South fanfictions, inspired either by Gaskell's novel or by the 2004 miniseries. However, there are very few in the bigger fanfiction archives (ao3 or fanfiction.net).<br /><br />Do you know if back then there were any forum like this one, where people posted their stories? Any websites that may be still active now?<br /><br />Any help welcome :)]]></description>
<dc:creator>Lily</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:36:18 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131711,131711#msg-131711</guid>
<title>Epilogue for When Mary takes a Stand (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131711,131711#msg-131711</link><description><![CDATA[LizzyS I hope all is well. Will there be an epilogue for When Mary takes a stand?]]></description>
<dc:creator>Kimberly F.</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Tue, 14 Oct 2025 21:52:27 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131709,131709#msg-131709</guid>
<title>JAFF Index is active (2 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131709,131709#msg-131709</link><description><![CDATA[JAFF Index is up and running.<br />Does Dwiggie have the new password? I did a site search here, but nothing came up.]]></description>
<dc:creator>KR Ham</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 06:24:14 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131699,131699#msg-131699</guid>
<title>JaOctGoHoNo 2025, prompt? (5 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131699,131699#msg-131699</link><description><![CDATA[Has anyone decided on the prompt for this year's JaOctGoHoNo? If not, does anyone want to volunteer?]]></description>
<dc:creator>NN S</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:55:16 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131589,131589#msg-131589</guid>
<title>Looking for a story (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131589,131589#msg-131589</link><description><![CDATA[I remember a story in which Wickam hides himself in the house of Lord Matlock and kills him, but I cannot remember the title. Can you helpme?]]></description>
<dc:creator>M Kralt</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 17:27:34 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131546,131546#msg-131546</guid>
<title>Story by Dwiggie author reposted by KittyBennetFanficCollector (18 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131546,131546#msg-131546</link><description><![CDATA[A story published here by Shemmelle in 1999-2000 has been republished at a big fanfiction site by a user named "KittyBennetFanficCollector."<br /><br />While Shemmelle is credited it's not clear this person has permission to republish this work, especially at a commercial site supported by advertising from which authors receive no benefit.<br /><br />I haven't seen anything by/about Shemmelle in +10 years, have no idea how to contact them about this situation that may constitute intellectual property theft.<br /><br />If you have published any JAFF in which Kitty Bennet is a lead character, keep your eyes peeled for similar "borrowing."]]></description>
<dc:creator>Femme Malheureuse</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 05:32:11 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131533,131533#msg-131533</guid>
<title>JAFF Index down? (1 reply)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131533,131533#msg-131533</link><description><![CDATA[Hello everyone!<br /><br />After a long time, today I've tried to access the JAFF Index, to no avail. Before, the website used to load and <i>then</i> I could log in no problem. But now, even before loading, my browser asks me for user name and password. The problem is, despite typing them both, the website doesn't load anyway. I'm using a laptop with windows 10 and Firefox.<br /><br />Can anyone help?]]></description>
<dc:creator>Lily</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 11 Jun 2025 20:27:03 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131527,131527#msg-131527</guid>
<title>Looking for a story (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131527,131527#msg-131527</link><description><![CDATA[I am looking for a story where Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam meet Lizzy and Maria at a stop. Mr. Collins only purchased them a ticket part of the way back and the gentlemen brought them to London.<br /><br />This has been bugging me for a few days. Thanks in advance for helping.]]></description>
<dc:creator>LizJohnson</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2025 02:08:24 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131504,131504#msg-131504</guid>
<title>I wish for more (1 reply)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131504,131504#msg-131504</link><description><![CDATA[I dont know if this is the right way to express my wish for more. But I give it a try and if you think it doesnt belong here you can delete the post.<br /><br />I have been reading Possibilities by Lori. I love the story and wish for more. If Lori reads this I want you to know I think it is an exciting story and I would like you to continue the story.<br /><br />This also counts for Practicing Economy – one shot by LizzyS. I love this story and wish for more. Please LizzyS. I hope you will read this and continue the story.<br /><br />Thank you<br />Anmaon]]></description>
<dc:creator>Anmaon</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2025 20:14:54 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131465,131465#msg-131465</guid>
<title>Chinese version of Pride and Prejudice (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131465,131465#msg-131465</link><description><![CDATA[I have been a fan of Pride and Prejudice for going on 40 years. I try to watch, read, or own every version I can. Of course, reading all the versions is difficult as you can imagine. Anyway, for those of you interested, there is a Chinese drama playing now on Netflix called <i><b>Perfect Match</b></i>. It is about a widow trying to marry off four of her five daughters (one is already married). I have watched through episode 9 and it is loosely based on Austin's novel, complete with Mr. Darcy (Chai An) and Elizabeth Bennet (Li Kangning). The actors playing the Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett roles are well cast. So far really enjoying it. So if subtitles in English for those who don't understand Mandarin don't bother you, I would recommend watching. Netflix appears to be releasing two episodes a day (with a few one a day releases in early Feb). I believe there are 32 episodes in total. Also, the first nine episodes concentrate on the Darcy/Elizabeth story, while the other sisters (Jane, Lydia, and Kitty) will follow, I presume. Not a faithful retelling, but Pride and Prejudice lovers will recognize some of the classic scenes from the novel.]]></description>
<dc:creator>kittyweese</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2025 01:53:30 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131464,131464#msg-131464</guid>
<title>Second try: Anyone know of stories where Elizabeth and a sister go to school? (4 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131464,131464#msg-131464</link><description><![CDATA[I recall starting a story, somewhere, with Elizabeth and one of her sisters - I think Jane - going off to boarding school together. I know of a story where Elizabeth was sent to a boarding school alone, and later winds up in a forced marriage with Darcy, but the one I'm trying to find begins with a scene of the two girls in carriage on the way to school. I think Jane pulls out some fans from a bag as they are arriving, after Lizzy says they forgot to bring fans and all the other girls have them.<br /><br />Anything close, even if it's not the same story, would be appreciated. Thanks.]]></description>
<dc:creator>Harvey</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Mon, 11 Aug 2025 20:38:43 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131448,131448#msg-131448</guid>
<title>Mary Bennet Marries George Wickham (2 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131448,131448#msg-131448</link><description><![CDATA[I don't remember much of the story other than Mary and Wickaham being forced to marry because she took shelter from a storm in her Uncle Phillips' office while Wickham is inside working. I believe he is a clerk and had been in Meryton for some time when this happened.]]></description>
<dc:creator>MissAnne</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jan 2025 01:07:15 +0000</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131409,131409#msg-131409</guid>
<title>stories where Jane and Elizabeth go to boarding school (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131409,131409#msg-131409</link><description><![CDATA[I once read the start of a story where Jane and Elizabeth went to boarding school, and wonder what happened to that. I'd be interested in any stories where J&amp;E or just E go to school, provided it includes scenes at school, as opposed to mentioning that it happened, since the story may have been rewritten. The only story I can think of with any school scenes is one with a D&amp;E forced marriage and a young Japanese woman who is E's modiste, which isn't the story I'm looking for.]]></description>
<dc:creator>Harvey</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 09 Oct 2024 23:38:42 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131404,131404#msg-131404</guid>
<title>Looking for a specific book where Darcy is Sick (3 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131404,131404#msg-131404</link><description><![CDATA[I read a good variation a few years ago and am having trouble finding it again:<br />It opens with Darcy proposing because he thinks he is dying and needs an heir. Elizabeth marries him and does a bunch of research to try to help alleviate his symptoms, which lead to him starting to get better they are doing well until he goes to Hunsford without her...<br /><br />Can anyone help? TIA]]></description>
<dc:creator>Colleen</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Thu, 24 Oct 2024 09:09:42 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131403,131403#msg-131403</guid>
<title>JaOctGoHoNo 2024 prompt request (3 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131403,131403#msg-131403</link><description><![CDATA[Can someone who posted a story or comment in the last 12 months please volunteer a prompt for this year's JaOctGoHoNo? Your deadline is early 1-Oct.<br /><br />For new folks, JaOctGoHoNo is Jane Austen October Gothic Horror Nonsense (or something like that). It's pretty flexy. Be scary, be funny, be romantic, be you. The writing challenge is to produce:<br />1. A one shot<br />2. Based on the works of Jane Austen<br />3. Written by you some time in October<br />4. Posted on 31-October (whatever time zone you're in)<br />5. That somehow satisfies the prompt (TBD).]]></description>
<dc:creator>NN S</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Fri, 04 Oct 2024 18:29:25 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131381,131381#msg-131381</guid>
<title>Help finding old stories (6 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131381,131381#msg-131381</link><description><![CDATA[Hello!<br /><br />I've been diving back into the world of JAFF lately and I'm trying to track down a few fics I remember.<br /><br />One featured a deaf Mr Darcy. I believe he lost his hearing as a result of meningitis as a small child. Georgiana traveled with him to Netherfield, partially to serve as an interpreter.<br /><br />Another featured a blind Elizabeth. I don't remember a ton about this one.<br /><br />A third involved Mr Darcy breaking his leg and having to convalesce at Longbourn.]]></description>
<dc:creator>KMarie</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Thu, 15 Aug 2024 02:26:09 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131355,131355#msg-131355</guid>
<title>Looking for a story (no replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131355,131355#msg-131355</link><description><![CDATA[I just finished reading the Kitty &amp; Ash stories.<br /><br />Wasn’t there also some Kitty &amp; Thorn stories? Or other stories about Kitty &amp; Mary (where they don’t marry Darcy)<br /><br />Thanks in advance!]]></description>
<dc:creator>LisaZ</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Wed, 03 Jul 2024 18:43:57 +0100</pubDate></item>
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<guid>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131329,131329#msg-131329</guid>
<title>Looking for a Story (2 replies)</title><link>https://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?4,131329,131329#msg-131329</link><description><![CDATA[It's a light-hearted story from several years ago: Elizabeth and Darcy are on the same delayed airplane. She unknowingly critiques his company's tech and after landing, takes him for burgers. He makes his way to Los Angeles where he is engaged to an actress (Caroline?) who dumps him. Lizzy makes him a birthday cake and he proposes. I can't think of the name of the story and where to find it!]]></description>
<dc:creator>Nan</dc:creator>
<category>Tea Room</category><pubDate>Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:15:22 +0100</pubDate></item>
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