I do declare!

As you may know, I am quite a fan of Jane Austen's works. I am currently working my way through Northanger Abbey, which happens to be, to my delight, absolutely hilarious.

One thing I have to say, though: why do people consider Austen's works to be romantic works, rather than comedies? If you've ever read Jane Austen, you'd know exactly what I'm talking about, unless of course, the not-so-subtle humor was lost on you. Even Pride and Prejudice, her earliest work, is chock-full of characters she seems to love to make fun of. Her comments on Fordyce's Sermons (thank you, Miss Mary Bennet), Miss Bingley's whims and inconsistencies, and Mr. Hurst says a grand total of five to ten words in the entirety of the novel (more like three), and yet he manages to be one of the funniest characters, all have me laughing more than sighing over the romanticisms of Mr. Darcy.

Jane Austen is a lot better at writing humor than writing romance, to say the least.

In any case... whenever a teacher or friend of mine says, "those silly romantic novels, by whats-her-face... Austen!" I long to tell them "they aren't silly romantic novels, they're works of social commentary and comedic genius, and you'd know if you had ever opened one of them to read".

At least, that's what I get out of them. I mean to say, if one is going to wish for a bodice ripper and read Jane Austen, they might as well try reading Finnegan's Wake and expect sensible advice on lawn-mowing.

On another note, as I was telling Jared (G.), bodice rippers are just as entertaining, especially when you picture a short, portly gay man as the author of said bodice rippers. Or perhaps, picture Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow to be the heroine wearing the bodice... that ought to do.