The Janeite Tag

Hannah at Miss Daydreamer's Place has tagged me with the Janeite Tag :-)  Many thanks, Hannah!

The Rules:

• Thank and link back to the person who tagged you.
• Tell us how you were introduced to Jane Austen and share one fun fact about your Janeite life (this fun fact can be anything from "I stayed up all night reading Emma" to "I visited Chawton and met Anna Chancellor.").
• Answer the tagger's questions.
• Write seven questions of your own.
• Tag as few as one or as many as seven other Janeites and let them know you've tagged them.

How I became a Jane Austen Fan:  I started reading Jane Austen back in high school -- I got a box set of 4 of her novels for Christmas or my birthday when I was probably 16.  Between then and when I went to college, I read those 4 (S&S, P&P, Emma, and Persuasion) and didn't really like any of them except Persuasion.  I didn't read Austen again until I was 30, when I read Mansfield Park and disliked it greatly.  But then in 2012, I bought a Jane Austen journal and a completely different boxed set of all 6 of her major novels, kind of on a whim.  I decided to try reading them all in one year.  And I did, and became a firm Austenite in the process.  And discovered that I still don't like Mansfield Park, I still don't completely love Emma or Sense & Sensibility, but that Persuasion, Pride & Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey all delight me exceedingly.

My Fun Fact:  I didn't truly become an Austenite until I was twice as old as when I first read one of her books (32 to 16).

Hannah's Questions:

What is your favourite Jane Austen novel?  Persuasion.  I identify with Anne Elliot more than any of the other Austen heroines, I find Captain Wentworth the most interesting Austen hero, and the story line of mature people knowing themselves well and learning to know each other again fascinates me.

Who is your favourite Austen hero and heroine? (I guess that could be considered two questions!)  I think I just answered that.  Oops!  It's Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.

Who is your favourite secondary character?  Miss Bates in Emma.  She's so unfailingly cheerful, even in the face of a very downtrodden existence.  She's one of the few Austen characters who makes me both laugh and cry.

Which relative of any of Austen's heroines/heroes do you find most annoying?  Mrs. Norris.  I want to push her into the coal scuttle.

Provide up to five of your favourite Austen quotes. (I know, hard! Just pick a few random quotes that you love. They don't have to be your absolute favourites)

“It is only a novel... or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language” -- Northanger Abbey

“Now I must give one smirk, and then we may be rational again." -- Northanger Abbey

“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.” -- Pride and Prejudice

“Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” -- Emma

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in F. W." -- Persuasion

(That last one brings me to tears even just reading it here.  Dear, dear Captain Wentworth!)

What is your favourite adaptation for each of Austen's books?  I haven't seen any versions of Mansfield Park, but I own the 1996 Emma, the 2005 Pride & Prejudice, the 2007 Northanger Abbey, the 1995 Persuasion, and the 1995 Sense & Sensibility.  Those are my favorites, though I would like to own the 1995 P&P too, because I like it a great deal.  And sometimes I almost want to buy the 2007 Persuasion, but first I want to get it from the library one more time and see if a second viewing smooths out the things I didn't like about it.

Are there any books that you would recommend to a fellow Janeite? For example: some books that I would recommend to a fellow Jane Austen fan are Much Ado About Nothing, North and South and Cold Comfort Farm.  Hmm.  I do wholeheartedly recommend Amanda Grange's series of "Diary" books (especially Henry Tilney's Diary and Captain Wentworth's Diary.)  They are diverting, amusing, and thoroughly enjoyable.  And they have zero questionable content.  

Okay, here are my seven questions:

1.  Would you rather board with the Bennets or the Tilneys for a fortnight?
2.  Would you rather have Edmund Bertram or Edward Ferrars as your pastor?
3.  If you could play any Austen character in a play or movie production, who would you want to portray?
4.  Which Austen book makes you laugh the most?  (Or do you not laugh over any of them?)
5.  How many times have you read your favorite Austen book?
6.  Which Austen parents do you think do the best job of parenting?
7.  If you could make a new movie version of any Austen book, which one would you adapt, and who would you cast?  (Feel free to get as detailed as you want, or just cast the principals -- your choice.)

And I hereby tag:

Emma Jane of A Lantern in Her Hand
Eva of Ramblings of a Janeite
Heidi of Along the Brandywine
Joanna of The Squirrel's Diary
Lizzie of His Redeemed Child
Monica of Spilled Ink
Ruth of A Great Book Study

Play only if you want to!