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| Ihre 10 Minuten Englisch pro Woche |
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Dear email,
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Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 on a frosty Saturday in the village of Steventon, Hampshire, the seventh of eight children. Expectations of the baby girl were probably not high. Her father mentioned being pleased that Jane’s older sister, Cassandra, would have a companion to play with, and both her mother and father likely hoped Jane would later have a comfortable life as the wife of a respectable local man.
Jane did become a much-loved companion to Cassie, but remained unmarried, turning her energies instead to writing. Most of us have encountered Jane’s work, either by reading her novels or through film and TV adaptations of the books. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of her birth, I’ll be thinking of the hard work, dedication and heartache that writing must have meant for Jane. As she snatched precious moments from her busy life to secretly write, and endured the early rejection of her manuscripts, she could have had no idea that centuries later, people around the world would still be enjoying her humorous, clever and beautifully written stories. Jane Austen, we salute you!
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Inez Sharp
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Editor-in-chief, Spotlight
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encounter: begegnen | dedication: Hingabe | heartache: Kummer | snatch: ergreifen
| precious: kostbar | endure: ertragen | rejection: Ablehnung
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| Jane Austen • More Jane Austen |
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Word to go
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Regency
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The Regency was the period of British history from 1811 to 1820, when George, the Prince of Wales, governed the country as prince regent because his father, King George III, suffered from mental illness. The adjective “Regency” refers to the style of architecture, furniture, art, fashion or literature produced around this time.
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© Illustration: Georg Lechner
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Ihr Gutschein für Spotlight
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Spezialangebot: 3 Hefte für 9 Euro
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Mr and Mrs Elton (Josh O’Connor and Tanya Reynolds) in Emma (2020)
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History
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Did you know?
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There was arsenic in Jane Austen’s wallpaper.
That wasn’t at all unusual. Arsenic was widely used in green wallpaper, which was found in the dining room at Chawton, where Jane lived from 1809 to 1817. Some people even think Jane died from arsenic poisoning, not because of the wallpaper or because she was murdered, but from medicine she may have been given for her rheumatism.
It’s one theory. More widely accepted explanations for her death in 1817 at the age of 41 include Addison’s disease, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and lupus. In a letter she wrote at the time, Jane does indeed mention that her skin was “black and white and every wrong colour”. Was this caused by arsenic?
Another possible clue was found in Jane’s writing desk: three pairs of glasses. One pair was relatively weak, another was much stronger. This led to the suggestion that she may have had cataracts, possibly so severe that she was almost blind when she died. We now know that arsenic poisoning can cause cataracts. But, of course, it may have been simply pain that made Jane stop writing and reading as her health grew worse.
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arsenic: Arsen | wallpaper: Tapete | Addison’s disease: Nebenniereninsuffizienz | Hodgkin’s lymphoma: Morbus Hodgkin (Lymphgranulom) | lupus: Lupus erythematodes, Schmetterlingskrankheit | cataract: Katarakt, grauer Star
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© Image: Alamy Stock Photo
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Quiz
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Biting comments
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Jane Austen can be really harsh when describing her characters. We’ve picked out three of her most biting comments. Translate them into modern English by matching the quotations to their meanings.
1. “He does seem to have had some scruples; it is a pity they were ever got over.”
2. “He seemed always at hand when least wanted.”
3. “He was not a sensible man, and the deficiency of nature had been but little assisted
by education or society.”
A. He was always around even when nobody wanted him there.
B. He was unintelligent and uneducated.
C. He knew right from wrong, but he still did the wrong thing.
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be at hand: zur Stelle sein | sensible: vernünftig | deficiency: Unzulänglichkeit
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© Image: Georg Lechner with AI
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| Answers: 1. C., 2. A., 3. B.
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Literature
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Austen’s wit and wisdom
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ON CLEVER WOMEN: “A woman, especially if she has the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.” (Northanger Abbey)
ON MARRIAGE AND DANCING: “In matrimony and in dancing … man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal.” (Northanger Abbey)
ON JUDGEMENT: “It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion to be secure of judging properly at first.” (Pride and Prejudice)
ON HAPPINESS IN MARRIAGE: “Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.” (Pride and Prejudice)
ON A PARTNER’S FAULTS: “It is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.” (Pride and Prejudice)
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misfortune: Pech | conceal sth.: etw. verbergen | matrimony: Ehe | refusal: Zurückweisung | incumbent (up)on sb.: erforderlich für jmd.
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© Image: Georg Lechner with AI
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| Jane Austen • More Jane Austen |
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Quiz
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Jane Austen
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Are you a real Austen aficionado? Test your literary knowledge in our Austen-themed quiz!
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aficionado: Liebhaber(in), Kenner(in)
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© Image: Elaine Howlin / Unsplash.com
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Mitarbeit: Dennis Draber, Judith Gilbert, Susanne Krause, Nadia Lawrence, Mae McCreary, Richard Mote, Rachel Preece, Inez Sharp.
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