The People Have Spoken!

   Written by Mercedes Rodriguez

  When thinking about who I wanted to interview to get more of an insight on what others thought about Jane Austen, I found myself having a difficult time narrowing down my options to just one lucky person to pick their brain. I decided that I would have a whole cluster from the UIW community because the more the merrier!

    I hung up a poster on campus with a simple question:

"What Do You Know About Jane Austen?"

    The following are various responses, some anonymous, others, claimed by different majors. 

"I played one of her characters" 

     --Art Major

"She's a Romantic trail blazer-feminist. LOL :) She was beyond her time as a writer."

    --Anonymous 

"She made me reconsider my standards <3"

    The above statement received an enthusiastic "YEP!" To no surprise, others commented similar thoughts with some humor thrown in, something that I believe the Late Great Jane Austen would have had a nice chuckle at for sure.

"She's one of the reasons I'm still single (standards too high)."

    --Bio Chem Major

Dearest Bio Chem Major,

    I one hundred percent can relate. I have found time and time again that my standards are much too high and have been told the same too. But can you really blame a girl when we have legends like Austen to look up to? Is it so hard to find my Mr. Darcy in a world full of Mr. Wickhams?

    I believe that Austen is one of the first writers to introduce the idea of the romantic novel (also including the Brontë sisters of course). If you look at her novels and short stories, it's easy to pick out the enemies to lovers trope (Pride and Prejudice), second chances trope (Persuasion), or even the grumpy sunshine/black cat and golden retriever characters (I'm looking at you, Mr. Bingley). There is a reason why we keep coming back to Austen's work and it's because it's pure genius. 

    Here is what I have to say to those who tell us fellow Austenians to lower our standards: I absolutely will not because Jane Austen has shown me what real love could look like. 

    Sincerely,

        The Author of this Blog Post

"She is the one who introduced me to romance novels!"

    --Anonymous 

"I know I love her books and style of writing"

    --Anonymous 

"She is iconic even if you haven't read her books..."

    --Anonymous 

    While many responders chose to remain anonymous, I found it quite fascinating that people from different academic backgrounds like STEM still had a great love for Austen as much as any English person would. No matter the background, it seems that everyone has heard the name Jane Austen. I whole heartedly agree that Miss Jane Austen is and always will be iconic.