The Jane Austen Pick-Me-Up

Why we watch and read Jane Austen things – comfort? Is the romance like a placebo for post-orgasm chemicals or milk chocolate?

The promise of worlds where even the bitchiest people are civil, and all people have purpose. It is not simply that Romance wins in the end, but also that all the characters know where they are in the world, and how to achieve their goals.

True, marriage is often the key to everyone's purpose. In deed, it seems the only purpose anyone ever has, unless it's to spite some one. But those are normally gentle spoofs on the culture. And, the new adaptation Lost in Austen explains it best as a desire for not the marriages, but the style of polite, vibrant life.

Point is, they lose their purpose every once in awhile, regardless of whether it's marriage or not. They turn down marriage proposals, they lose estates to prettier prospects. If Carrie Bradshaw loses a marriage, she drinks a bunch, hangs out in Cancun, and hires an assistant. If Elizabeth Bennett loses a marriage she sits and listens to her screaming relatives for months and months. She loses hope. Her purpose is taken, and it, unfortunately, is not one that can be existentially rectified.

It is not the situations, necessarily, but the emotion characters go through. When Carrie has to pull herself up and go DO something in her darkest hour, Elizabeth honestly cannot. The comfort of powerlessness, of being a victim, is the comfort of fatalism. If that emotional stage is not on the recovery checklist, it should be.

Which is to say, read Pride and Prejudice the fairy tale, then watch Sex and the City. If you're anything like me, your summer will look suddenly much brighter, and that move back to America, joblessness, friendlessness, zero health care, driving, lack of recognition/prestige, family, and the inability to tune one's guitar properly due to pressure changes.

Don't worry, though. My sister says pianos take a year or more to adjust to climate change and hold their tune—guitars surely will after six months.

Buck's gas passing notwithstanding.