The Dark Side of Jane Austen

When we return from our “recalibration” period, we’ll be discussing the only novel assigned for this course that isn’t written by Jane Austen. The Woman of Colour (1808) was published anonymously not long after the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807. We don’t know who wrote it (anonymous publication was very common at the time—remember that Austen’s works were likewise anonymously published during her lifetime). However, scholars have speculated that the epistolary novel—about a mixed-race woman forced by her father’s will to travel to England to pursue a marriage of connection—was also written by a mixed-race woman, given the level of seemingly personal detail. (We’ll talk about this more in our discussion section.)

In order to help you think about the situation represented in the novel, I’m asking you to read this short essay by the historian Catherine Hall. The essay is actually a review of a different book, but it does a nice job of summarizing the complex subject position of real life figures like the fictional Olivia: illegitimate children born to enslaved women who were raped by their owners. Children who, nevertheless, could lay claim to certain legal rights.

As you read The Woman of Colour, use this historical context to get your bearings. In a short comment on this post (~250 words), due Monday 4/6, give your first impression of the novel. Please make a connection either to the Catherine Hall essay or to one of the Austen novels we’ve read. Your post should include at least one specific reference to The Woman of Colour. (Please be sure to quote accurately and cite page numbers.)

Dido Belle, born into slavery, adopted daughter of Lord Mansfield. Belle is pictured on our edition of this novel. I’ll say more about her in our discussion section. 

HERE’s a Dropbox link to the video of our live session today. To view the whole thing, you’ll need to download it or add it to your Dropbox. You can, of course, delete after viewing. Please let me know if you have trouble accessing the video, and we can come up with another arrangement that works for you.

(I’m sorry that those of you not using video show up nameless here; I could see names live but they seem not to record. If you’d like to change this for future sessions, try adding an image to your Zoom profile.)

Thanks to those who were able to make it! If you weren’t able to join, and would still like to be present for this session, please watch the video and leave a comment below this post with your contribution. 

For everyone: please stand by for more on possible changes to our course schedule. I’m still getting conflicting information from the Baruch administration. Once that’s ironed out, I’ll pass along the settled information to you (hopefully by tomorrow morning).

Also, to follow up on something from the end of the session: I’ve contacted the company offering free digital access to our textbooks. They’re processing my request, and I’ll let you know as soon as they’re available to view.

Finally, if you’re interested in watching the 1999 Mansfield Park film we discuss during the session, it’s available for streaming (not free, unfortunately) on Amazon Prime.

Young Fanny in Rozema’s 1999 Mansfield Park

I hope you and your loved ones are well and getting by. Contact me at any time if this changes and/or if you need help.

First, if you haven’t already, by sure to read the post for the first online assignment, which is here:

Feeling as *We* Ought about Fanny Price

Every Thursday, I’ll be posting an assignment that takes the place of our Monday class (which will no longer meet “live”). Be sure to keep an eye on the course blog, but I’ll also send email reminders. I know you have a lot to keep track of.

Here are some useful links as we transition to online:

On Mondays, from 2-4PM, I’ll hold virtual office hours on the chatting platform Slack. Just click HERE. I’ll also be available for a quick response via email if you prefer (and I’ll check my email and the Slack chat periodically throughout the week).

On Wednesdays, from 12:50PM-2:05PM, we’ll have a class discussion on Zoom. Every meeting will work from this link (once I’ve shown up—just like with our real classroom!): https://baruch.zoom.us/my/profhershinow

• If you haven’t used Zoom before, you’ll need to download it. In my experience, it’s been quick, but give yourself a few minutes. You can also download the app on your phone if you prefer.
• I understand that many of you may have new commitments and responsibilities that mean you can’t join our Zoom discussion during our typical class meeting time. For this reason, immediately after each session, I’ll post a recording of the session and ask those who were unable to make it to “join” by posting a comment that responds to or builds on the discussion. (If you have trouble streaming the video, just reach out to me, and we’ll figure out another way!)
• This platform will have a LOT of traffic in the coming weeks, since the whole world is moving online. If it doesn’t work for us, we’ll stay flexible and try something else.

This Wednesday’s discussion will be both a check in and (I hope) a chat about the short readings about Mansfield Park and empire listed on the syllabus. (See the syllabus tab of this blog.)

I’m working on scaling back our course assignments, and I’ll have an update on that during the Wednesday live session. I’ll confirm everything over email. Also, please bear with me on grades/feedback for previous assignments. I had done nearly all of them in hard copy and need to translate those into a digital form. I’ll get those (and the midterms) to you as soon as I can.

Just for fun, check out this twitter account, which is monitoring Jane Austen and William Shakespeare’s lives under quarantine:

Tweets by PridePlague

First, a short video from me to say hi and check in can be found HERE.

For Monday’s class (3/23), you should finish Mansfield Park and read Nina Auerbach’s essay, “Feeling as One Ought about Fanny Price.” I’m so curious what you think of this essay! In my experience, it’s very controversial.

For this online assignment, we’re going to start pretty slowly. All I want you to do by the end of the day on Monday (3/23) is post a comment below this post responding to Auerbach’s essay. (This should be a paragraph full enough to express your ideas clearly; 250 words or so is a ballpark.) What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Give reasons and be sure to refer to a specific part of the essay (with a quotation and citation) at least once in your response. You should absolutely feel free to use your response to respond to previous comments left by classmates, but this is not a requirement.

A few thoughts to help you gather yours:

• Whether or not you agree, it’s worth thinking a bit about the argument as a powerful example of “against the grain” reading; Auerbach builds a pretty polemical (that is, strongly critical, expecting a debate) argument about Austen’s heroine on a pattern of evidence that probably wouldn’t lead us to her conclusions after a first reading of the novel. Does her argument lead you to revisit your own reading?
• One thing that might interest us is the way that Auerbach brings Mansfield Park into the Gothic tradition we’ve been discussing since the beginning of class, not by noticing explicit or literal invocations of the Gothic, but thinking about how Fanny takes the form of a Gothic villain in a more abstract way. Is Mansfield Park a secretly Gothic novel?
• Auerbach largely ignores issues of class in her reading. Does this feel limiting to you? Or just focused? What would bringing those questions back in look like? How would they change her argument?

You do not have to respond to any or all of these, but you may use them however you wish.

I’m looking forward to your responses. I’ll synthesize some of them in a short video for Wednesday’s class. I’ll also be emailing out a link to a synchronous Zoom videoconference for Wednesday’s session. PLEASE NOTE: while I encourage you to participate in the Zoom class session if you can, it is not required. This is because I know many of you have new work or caregiving responsibilities. I will post video of the class meeting and give an alternative way of registering your “presence” in class.

As always, email me if you have questions. I’ll also have virtual office hours from 2-4pm on Monday afternoon. Most importantly: stay safe and be well. I’m thinking of you.

Fanny Price…about to drink Edmund’s blood?

In case we’ll need to move our work to the course blog, I want to add you all as users who can comment, post, etc. You should receive an email giving you access. Please leave a comment on this post to confirm that you can log in and access everything.