Thursday, March 26, 2020

shouts out to all of my regency era girls

Unemployed and quarantining with my parents in the suburbs, I've been thinking a lot (well even more than usual) about the women living in country houses in those Jane Austen novels. They basically live in isolation - maybe they go to a country dance or have guests occasionally, but most of the time they're really just by themselves. They didn't do housework because they had servants. What did they do all day? From the novels we know they embroidered a lot, went for walks in the countryside, maybe played piano. I guess they spent a lot of time on their "correspondence." Did they not get bored? Maybe it never occurred to them to be bored, the pace of life was so slow then. The most exciting thing that could happen was a man of considerable fortune (5000 pound a year!) moving into the neighborhood. That was conversation fodder for months. Anyway I guess what I'm saying is that I'm Elizabeth Bennett now and if you email me I am absolutely thinking of it as my "correspondence"


at

2 comments:

  1. KateMarch 26, 2020 at 1:08 PM

    roger that

    ReplyDelete
  2. jennieMarch 27, 2020 at 7:55 AM

    Whenever I read these books, I always think about how much they walk in these books. And in such bad shoes!

    ReplyDelete

Test -- can you comment if this is here?

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Orienting Between Hyperobjects

An initial warning: I know this blog is for people to talk about the quarantine and various experiences they've been having, and I fully...

  • neighborhood
    I have always vaguely resented my parents for choosing to live in the suburbs.  To me, the suburbs are inherently lonely. People living next...
  • The Solitary Life
    Man, I realize some have only been holed up for a week now, but we are going on two weeks over here. California is now officially on lockd...
  • While washing his hands
    ...my dad had a lyric come to him out of nowhere -- "look at that GRASS," he said, surprised even as it left his mouth. There was ...