Synopsis: An alternate ending to Lady Susan, written in epistolary format rather than the conclusion paragraph. The adaptation takes place in the current day New York City tri-state area amid the current coronavirus pandemic.
From: [email protected] 3/15/20
Dear, Catherine
I am absolutely devastated that I can no longer come and visit you and Uncle Charles out in Long Island this weekend. What’s even more devastating, is now that the stay-at-home order is in place, not only can I not come visit you guys, but I am also trapped in the apartment with my insufferable mother. While I have been doing all of the grocery shopping and waiting in line for hours on end at Trader Joe’s, my mom has been acting like we’re not living in the epicenter of a pandemic outbreak. If you ask her, she’ll tell you it’s just like the flu, and it’s not a big deal. She’s still out gallivanting all over the Upper East Side with Alicia and has even gone as far as to bringing her boyfriends over. I try to lock myself in my room when I can, so I can protect myself from her reckless behavior, but when her guests leave, I am always the one that has to disinfect the entire townhouse, so she doesn’t get us killed. I wish I had planned to visit you guys last week so I could quarantine out there. Away from the city and away from my mother. I miss you so much. Hope to see you soon.
Love,
Fredrica
From: [email protected] 3/20/20
Hey, Alicia
Reginald is throwing a quarantine dinner party tonight at his place. Ditch your husband tonight and let’s go. I’m sure you’re sick of seeing him all day everyday anyway. I’ll stop by your place so we can arrive together, but I am just giving you a heads up that you’re probably going to have to go home by yourself because I am planning on staying at Reginald’s. Hopefully I can convince him to leave his apartment all together and quarantine with me. I am so bored in the house all day with nothing to do and no one to talk to. I know Fredrica is there but talking to her is like talking to a rock. You know, sometimes it’s hard for me to even believe I even gave birth to that girl because she is just so unlike me. Absolutely dreadful just like her father was. She is constantly trying to stress me out about this virus, and I can’t understand why she is behaving like this when it’s really just like the flu. She is constantly complaining about me going out and having people over. I can’t believe she expects me to just stop living my life and stay in the house just because some old people are getting sick and dying from the virus. I am the mother here and not her, so I’ll be going to that party tonight and hopefully bringing Reginald home tomorrow. See you later girl.
Love,
Susan
From: [email protected] 4/10/20
Dear, Catherine
I can’t say that I’m surprised this has happened, but my mom is in the hospital. After going out every day to attend dinner parties, see her friends, and even invite friends into our home, she began to come down with a terrible fever last week. Her fever never subsided, and she then began to struggle to breathe, so I called the ambulance and they rushed her to Lenox Hill Hospital. They got her test results back today, and it has been confirmed that she tested positive for Covid-19. I am now isolated in the house by myself, because although I have not been tested, I am presumed positive. I lost my sense of smell for a few days, and had a little sniffle, but aside from that I am fine. It seems that my mother’s partner in crime, Alicia, has not been as lucky. I don’t know whether she gave it to my mom, or vice versa, but she too has been hospitalized with similar symptoms as my mother. While I am concerned about them both, I cannot say that I am surprised that this happened because they vehemently refused to adhere to social distancing guidelines. I am not allowed to visit my mother in the hospital, but hopefully her condition improves. I can’t say that it hasn’t been nice being home alone though.
With love always,
Fredrica
From: [email protected] 4/25/20
Dear, Fredrica
I can’t say that I am shocked to hear about your mom the slightest bit, nor can I say that I am sorry. I have just found out that my brother Reginald is currently fighting for his life at Mount Sinai. He tested positive for Covid-19 and I just know that he was infected by your promiscuous mother. I wish I could drive out the city to go see him, but I am afraid that he too is not able to have any visitors. The very second that he is discharged from the hospital I am going to get him and bring him out here to Long Island. I would love nothing more than to bring you here as well as soon as your two weeks of self-isolation has finished. Your mother has done nothing but damage to you and to this family and reckless behavior during this incredibly sensitive time is where I draw the line. I will be there to pick you up hopefully next week. Start packing your bags. I hope to see you soon.
Love,
Catherine
From: [email protected]
Hi, Catherine
I just wanted to let you know that I won’t able to come to Long Island with you just yet, as my mother has lost her battle with covid-19. The medical examiner has taken her body from Lenox Hill, and I have opted to have her body cremated. Do not worry about me as I am okay, just a bit in shock. I will have to settle a few matters here in the city with finalizing some things in regard to my mother, but I look forward to seeing you and Uncle Charles as soon as I am done. I know you are probably riddled with worry right now, but I cannot stress enough that I am absolutely fine.
All my love,
Fredrica
Through reading the various works of Jane Austen, one can easily surmise that she is a moralist. Austen’s female heroines often do not step outside of the boundaries of morality, and when they do it is not without punishment. Through these heroines, Austen draws a clear line on what moral behaviors she feels are acceptable and unacceptable for women during the 18th century. Austen’s strict stance on morality is one of many things that makes Lady Susan stand out from the rest of her novels.
Lady Susan is a very similar character to another one of Austen’s characters, Maria Bertram of Mansfield Park. Maria Bertram engages in an affair with Henry Crawford, despite being married to Mr. Rushworth. This act is a blatant display of a lack of morality, and Austen ensures that Maria is punished for that behavior, as Maria becomes disgraced, shames her family, Henry refuses to marry her, and Mr. Rushworth sues her for a divorce. In doing so, Austen demonstrates her fierce stance on morality practices and what type of punishments are deserving of that behavior. However, Lady Susan also engages in an affair, as Mr. Manwaring becomes one of her many conquests. Although Lady Susan may be one of Jane Austen’s characters with the least amount of concern for morality, she is not punished for her choices the same way that Maria Bertram was. She ultimately ends up marrying Sir James, the suitor she originally intended for her daughter, but does not suffer the same shame and humiliation that Maria does. This contrast in choices made by Austen is what prompted me to draw a parallel between the two character’s fates in my adaptation. Rather than allow Lady Susan to subvert punishment and still achieve her goal of remarrying, I decided to somewhat mirror her fate to that of Maria Bertram.
While I originally intended to keep the setting and time period of my adaptation the same, there was a line at the very end of Lady Susan that inspired me to make a drastic change. In the conclusion of Lady Susan, the narrator states, “The lucky alarm of an Influenza, decided what might not have been decided quite so soon.—Lady Susan’s maternal fears were then too much awakened for her to think of any thing but Frederica’s removal from the risk of infection. Above all Disorders in the World, she most dreaded the Influenza for her daughter’s constitution.” I found the coincidence of the mention of the fears of an epidemic spreading to be incredibly inspiring for my adaptation. This line made me consider removing the characters from 18th century England and placing them in the modern-day New York City tri-state area amid the coronavirus pandemic. The current situation of millions of people obeying stay-at-home orders and practicing social distancing, versus others who refuse to refrain from leaving the house and continue to visit friends and family, is an appropriate instance for demonstrating a lack of morality in the new adaptation setting. Rather than center the discussion of morality around the concept of adultery, I felt that centering it around social responsibility was far more relevant to the moment.
One of the many aspects of Lady Susan that makes it such a fun novel to read, is the epistolary format. The epistolary format allows the reader to get a first-person perspective from multiple characters in the novel, rather than a first-person perspective from one character, or a third person perspective for all. The conclusion, however, was wrapped up into a brief paragraph, and I found that to be somewhat disappointing. I would have liked to hear from Lady Susan herself about her nuptials to Sir James, or her sending Fredrica back to Churchill with Catherine and Charles Vernon. This inspired to use my adaptation to finish Lady Susan in the epistolary format. However, in the year 2020 it is very uncommon to find people exchanging letters; thus, I updated the epistolary format to be in email exchanges rather than traditional mail.
Lady Susan’s lack of morality demonstrated in the novel gives me good reason to believe that she would much rather maintain her social life and disobey social distancing orders than stay home to protect herself and others had she existed in 2020. Her daughter Fredrica, however, is a stark contrast from her, and a sensible young woman, so it is easy to imagine that she would do the responsible thing and stay home. Their contentious relationship and obvious differences in their character would certainly cause tension in their household while both under a stay-at-home order. I wanted to find a way to reference Lady Susan’s disdain for her daughter, so I felt that demonstrating her carelessness for her daughter’s safety and health, and well as ignoring her pleas to be responsible by refraining from going out to visit others, or by bringing others in, would be a great way to display that.
Ultimately, I decided the best way to punish Lady Susan for her lack of morality amid the coronavirus pandemic, was to cause her to succumb to her illness. While killing off Lady Susan, is a morbid choice, it is a parallel punishment for her actions, as is divorce for Maria Bertram’s. In my adaptation it not only serves as a punishment for her lack of morality, but a very real possibility for those who mirror her actions amid this pandemic. Lady Susan’s lack of morality and choice to put the lives of others in jeopardy, ultimately cost her her own life. For Fredrica, she is still rewarded for her morality, and her fate remains true to that of the novel, as she is away from her mother and is sent to live with Catherine and Charles Vernon, two people who love her and care for her very deeply.