Surprised by Jane

We spent a day in Bath while himself and I were on holidays earlier this month, and decided to pop into the Jane Austen Centre on Gay Street. We don't go there every time we visit Bath, but I do love the place and was itching for another look around. We also went to Bath Abbey and I was notebook hunting as always, when I espied a book on the shelves called 'The Spirituality of Jane Austen,' by Paula Hollingsworth.*

Now I consider my fiction to be gentle with positive themes. My characters get a chance for redemption, for the most part, and I would have thought my writing was far more spiritual than Jane Austen's (though of course not even almost at the outskirts of the environs of her talent). My thought has long been that Jane Austen's writing has little spirituality. In fact, considering her father was a clergyman, I believed her treatment of clergy such as Mr Collins and Mr Elton revealed a disinterest and low opinion of the clergy, Edward Ferrars and Edmund Bertram not withstanding.

Apologies to those who don't recognise those names. If you don't, you really should brush up on your Austen :) 

I'm a huge fan of Jane, though she doesn't know we're on first name terms. So much so, on the first birthday of my first book, I wrote a song in her honour to celebrate. It's called, 'Miss Austen, may I borrow your writing mittens?" If you ask nicely, I might just sing it for you.

So... I bought Hollingsworth's book and spent the rest of my holiday reading it. I really enjoyed it and it gave me an insight into the religious/spiritual context in which Jane Austen was writing. In the first para of the introduction she addresses the issue of the silly clergy and I'm glad she did, because I would not have read with eagerness until she had.

Though the title of the book refers to being spiritual, Hollingsworth soon acknowledges that word would not have been used, that the term would have been 'religious', which has been somewhat discarded in contemporary Christian discussion. She notes, "the eighteenth-century Anglicanism into which Jane was born was a faith that was tolerant and pragmatic, focusing on self-improvement and right behaviour, with a belief in change that comes not so much from miracles but through self-reflection and inner growth. **  The evidence of Christianity was seen in how you lived within your social sphere. Adhering to the moral code, humility and respect toward the class above you, care and provision (if you could afford it) towards the class below you. Most of us might shudder at the thought of THAT defining spirituality, and we could discuss and debate the rights and wrongs long into the night. Hollingsworth suggests that whatever our opinion, that is how it was and we must read Jane Austen's work with that in mind. Almost all of Jane Austen's characters start with weaknesses, those who allow experience and self-reflection to make an impact on them, e.g. Fitzwilliam Darcy, are changed and come to good ends. Those who refuse to learn from their mistakes, e.g. George Wickham, do not.

With regard to the treatment of clergy, it turns out the Mr Collins was a favourite character in the Austin family. Jane Austin's mother particularly enjoyed him. It is also thought that Wickham's lack of respect for the role of a clergyman was a mark of his bad character. He certainly would not have done a good job.

I could go on. I was completely turned around by this book and it has given me more love for Jane Austen, which I did not believe possible. Understanding a little more of the context and language of her faith in her time, I can't wait to read her novels again, and see how she writes her faith into her characters and scenarios. It also challenges me to consider the times I am writing in and continue to weave my faith though my words to the highest standard.

If you're a Janeite, I highly recommend this book. It gives a whole new perspective on her writing.




* The Spirituality of Jane Austen, by Paula Hollingsworth, Lion Hudson, 2017
** As above, pg.12

Annmarie Miles is from Dublin, Ireland.
She lives with her husband Richard who is a pastor in the Eastern Valley of Gwent, in South Wales. She writes short stories, magazine articles, devotional pieces for Christian radio, and blogs about her faith at www.auntyamo.com Her first collection of short stories published in 2013, is called 'The Long & The Short of it'. Her second collection, 'A Sense of the Sea and other stories,' was published in 2018. She is currently editing a non-fiction book about being an overweight Christian called, 'Have mercy on me O Lord, a slimmer.'