Jane Challenge

Other groups have challenges. Let’s try one here! You can answer questions, post questions, or ask for more clues.

Here is one to start: What are the names of the three Dashwood sisters?

Eleanor, Marianne, Margaret are the names of the three sisters in Sense and Sensibility. Margaret gets short-changed in the action.

I'll start the next one:

What is the word that is intended in the first stanza of Mr. Elton's charade that he contributes to the effort by Harriet and Emma? Here's the stanza in question:

"My first displays the wealth and pomp of kings,
Lords of the earth! their luxury and ease.
Another view of man, my second brings,
Behold him there, the monarch of the seas!"

Any takers?

#2 You got it!

Yes, poor Margaret. She was a good character in the Emma Thompson movie, though.

#3 Court!

#3 What was the second word?

Ship! ;)

I have one in two parts -- part one "easy"; part two "advanced"

1.) Name the title and author of the novel referenced in Northanger Abbey.

2.) In speaking of said referenced novel, what is it that Catherine believes is "hidden behind the black veil?"

With regard to #4 and #5, the second word was ship. Mr. Elton was trying to convey the word court-ship.

I confess that I was rather like Harriet in not understanding the charade the first time I read through his missive.

#6 - there are a few novels mentioned but I think the one you talking about is The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe.

If I remember correctly Caroline expects to find a skeleton?

edited for errors in punctuation

#8 -- yeah! you're good.

</i>In the 90's Sophie Thompson acted in two Austen screen adaptations. What were the movies and which characters did she play?

She played Miss Bates in Emma (the Douglas McGrath/Gwenneth Paltrow version) and Mary Musgrove in Persuasion (which I, embarrassingly, have had from Netflix for like three months now without watching!).

I've got to think of a question....

Fanny Price gets it right!

Have you watched Persuasion before? It is one of my favorites. It moves a little slower than some of the other movies, though.

I got another one:

In Emma, which characters were not raised by a parent(s)? I can think of three.

I think I know - they are Frank Churchill, Jane Fairfax and Harriet Smith, right?

Okay, I struggled to think of a question - in Emma, what pet-name of foreign origin does Mrs. E badly mangle when applying it to her husband, thereby demonstrating just how vulgar and uneducated she really is? You can either give the incorrect form or the correct form.

Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it right again Fanny Price! You really know your Jane!

I have know Idea on your question. Got to go get the book. Be back soon...

Mrs. Elton refers to her husband as "Mia cara sposa", which I believe is wrong because she uses the wrong gender version of the word in referring to him. Sposa should be sposo. I think that's it (based on limited recollection of high school Spanish grammar of thirty or so years ago. Elton is trying to use Italian, of course, but the basic premise is the same.) Of course, I could be wrong.

Yup - she tries a number of combinations, mismatching the genders within the term and referring to her husband as a woman. What I can't remember is if she ever actually gets it right!

Okay, from which Austen book is this quote taken?

"...she was proportionably more anxious to get Frederica removed from such a Mother, & placed under her own care; and, tho' with little hope of success, was resolved to leave nothing unattempted that might offer a chance of obtaining her Sister-in-law's consent to it. Her anxiety on the subject made her press for an early visit to London; & Mr. Vernon, who, as it must already have appeared, lived only to do whatever he was desired, soon found some accommodating Business to call him thither."

I very particularly chose a segment with two characters named. Any guesses?

#18 -- Is that Lady Susan?

That's from Lady Susan, isn't it?

If I'm right, here's one... what proper name is used for both a heroine and a villainess in two of Austen's books?

Yes, it was taken from Lady Susan so jhowell got that one.

I have no idea of the answer to Wisewoman's question.

go jhowell and wisewoman! I haven't read Lady Susan (yet), so I was completely lost with that one. I am racking my brain trying to think of the answer to wisewoman's question too! Is it Catharine, from the juvenile writings, and Lady Catherine deBourgh from Pride and Prejudice?

Nope. But that's a good one I didn't think of.

You must read Lady Susan, fannyprice. It is so elegantly clever... much of the story is told through letters the characters write to their friends. It is so interesting, hearing all their different perspectives on the situation and trying to figure out who is telling the truth and who is lying...

(The answer to my question is not in Lady Susan, btw. In two of Austen's main works, she uses the same proper first name, once for a heroine and once for a woman of less-than-noble character...)

I'm away for most of today but I hope this game continues. I just haven't a clue what the answer might be. Go, FannyPrice!

I keep thinking maybe it is Jane Bennet and Jane Fairfax, but I don't think so. Although Miss Fairfax is a rival, she is not a "villainess" or "less-than-noble." She is just to reserved and entered into an imprudent engagement.

I find it interesting that Jane Austen used her own name for a few of her characters.

Well, I'm flummoxed! I assume that by heroine, you mean the main female character and not one of the lesser females associated with her who also gets a prominent (i.e., Emma but not Jane Fairfax). Remembering the all the vulgar, less than noble women in JA is a challenge!

Oh wait, I think I know (duh) - Is it Fanny Price Mansfield Park and Fanny Dashwood Sense and Sensibility? Does she count as a villain?

Ok, this is a question about Jane Austen's life, rather than her works. What disease is Austen believed (by modern scholars) to have been suffering from when she died?

#26 -- I think it was lupus, maybe?

( Sorry, I am having trouble thinking up another question in return I am at work with out my books.)

#26 I had to look it up on Wikipedia:

"It is now thought by some that she may have suffered from Addison's disease, a failure of the adrenal glands that was common in the 19th century due to its being a frequent complication of tuberculosis."

Who are the two "bad guys" whose last names begin with "W"? Which books were they in and who did they end up marrying?

Ooh, I know, Wickham, in Pride & Prejudice, married Lydia Bennett, and Willoughby, in Sense & Sensibility, married, um um um.... darn, I can't remember - he married someone with money, because he had none.

#29 Everything is right so far! You just have to figure out who Willoughby married. She was a very minor character. I couldn't make the question to easy :)

Miss Grey - did she have a first name that was given?

fannyprice wrote: Oh wait, I think I know (duh) - Is it Fanny Price Mansfield Park and Fanny Dashwood Sense and Sensibility? Does she count as a villain?

Yep, that's it. I thought Fanny Dashwood rather villainous because of how self-centered and hypocritical she is. Quite the opposite of Fanny Price!

I don't think Miss Grey had a first name given. And I don't know what disease Austen was possibly suffering when she died...

Okay, here is another one:

Who was the tallest of the five Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice?

Lydia.

"... Lydia, my love, though you are the youngest, I dare say Mr. Bingley will dance with you at the next ball."
"Oh!" said Lydia stoutly, "I am not afraid; for though I am the youngest, I'm the tallest."

It is speculated to have been Addison's disease, as compskibook answered. Sounds like a really crummy disease.

#34 Falkin

You got it! I thought that would be harder.

Well, it wasn't so hard, because a while before you posted your question here, I started reading Pride and Prejudice again. ;-) Therefore I remembered that episode with Lydias height instantly. Otherwise I confess, I would have thought some of the eldest sisters would be the tallest.

Name Jane Austen's books in the order they were published. Also, name them in the order they were written.

38: Was that to hard or so easy no one has bothered :)

Here are her six books alphabetically:

Emma
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abby
Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility

How about I just ask which was published first?

Published order:

Sense and Sensibility - 1811
Pride and Prejudice - 1813
Mansfield Park - 1814
Emma - 1815
Northanger Abbey - 1817
Persuasion - 1817

I think Northanger and Persuasion were published in one volume?

As for written order, that is a little more complicated, I guess.

I know that Northanger is first, and that S&S (and P&P?) were written later but were re-workings of earlier projects. I am not sure if those earlier projects were written before Northanger though. I think otherwise the publication order is the same as the order written?

Fanny wins! Nice job!

What was Henry Tilney's occupation?

Parson??

43: I was thinking clergy, but it is close enough for me!

Next question: How about Frederick Wentworth? What was his occupation?

Appeared in Persuasion. Mrs. Smith suggests that they must have attended the same concert as Anne in Bath one evening as she is extracting details of the event that she missed.

Foxhunter,

Of course you can join this group. I don't think Library Thing stands on invitations.

I guess if I was to reread the stories, I would do it in order of when she wrote them. That would make Northanger Abbey first and then the rest in publication order. The characters would seem to grow and mature as you went.

I have never read any of Jane's letters. Could you or anyone else suggest a good collection?

Foxhunter, you're quite amazing in your own right. In response to your message #47 above, I only knew the answer because at some point, I wrote a paper on Persuasion and searched high and low for previous references to these characters.

Things have been way to quiet here at ILJA. Time for a two part question:

A: Before they were married, which Austen heroine was the most well off financially?

I feel this one is less clear cut. Try to justify your answer (you can justify your first answer, too:)

B: Which heroine was the worst off financially?

Extra Credit: Put the heroines in order of financial security!

A: I assume it was Emma, since I believe she was Mr. Woodhouse's heir and would inherit his estate. She felt no need to marry for financial reasons.

B: This one is hard! I don't know enough about the specifics of money in the Regency period to know the answer to this. I guess I would say that if she did not have the resources of the Bertrams to aid her, Fanny Price would be the worst off. Anne Elliot's family had a title and an estate, but no cash... Elinor Dashwood's family had very few resources after her father's death and Fanny Dashwood's manipulation of their brother, but they were able to secure housing thanks to the generosity of a relative. However, with only their mother and the three daughters to split resources between, I think they might have actually been more secure than the Bennets, who had five! But the entailment of the estate to Mr. Collins might have made Elizabeth potentially better off, had she been stupid enough to accept his proposal.

I think that Anne, Elizabeth, and Elinor all had parents who could provide them some annual income or some inheritance from their parents. I think that Catherine was probably more well off than either of these ladies. Given the fact that Fanny Price's own parents were completely unable to supply her with any financial resources, I would have to vote for her as the poorest of Austen's heroines. Without the Bertrams, she would be a serving wench or something!

There is no way I can qualify for the extra credit, but I'm going to guess: Emma, Catherine, Anne, Elinor, Elizabeth, and Fanny.

Edited to add Catherine Morland from NH, whom I cannot believe I forgot.

Oh crap! I can't believe I forgot NH - its one of my favorite books! I am such an idiot!

Not that it is particularly useful, but I would agree with fannyprice's assessment of Emma and Fanny. My question becomes -- Fanny married up in terms of wealth and class; did Emma?

Mr. Knightly isn't a titled individual but he seems to have far more money at his disposal than Mr. Woodhouse.

Any body offering any thoughts? I'm off the grid over the next 48-72 hours but I'll check back when I've gotten back home..

Sorry it took me so long to get back to my own question, but Fanny answered it so well, despite forgetting Catherine! Great job! Extra credit point included!!

I don't think Emma married "up." I think Knightley was considered a "gentleman farmer" and not a full gentleman. His money would have made up for it, as well as his status in the neighborhood. Also, it doesn't hurt that his brother married Emma's sister and he wasn't even the one who would have inherited the land.

What character said this quote:

"Such a charming man!-So handsome! So Tall! -Oh, my dear! Pray apologize for my having disliked him so much before. I hope he will overlook it."

Mrs. Bennet about Mr. Darcy?

Next question: How many "horrid" novels make up the "Northanger Canon" (i.e., the Gothic novels that Isabella recommends to Catherine in Northanger Abbey. Bonus points for naming at least three of them. Double bonus points for naming all of them. (Not that anyone is actually keeping score!)

Oh boy, how stupid am I? I didn't realize when I posted my question that there was a thread in this very group that answers this very question. Well, I guess negative bonus points to me for unoriginality.

Anyone have a new challenge?