On nearly a monthly basis, The Jane Austen Collaborative, spearheaded by Jane Austen & Co., presents a free, virtual lecture that is led by a renowned and accomplished speaker. Sometimes, authors are featured. Occasionally, performers take the stage. But most often, audience members are treated to a forty-five-minute academic presentation based on a given topic which relates to an overarching theme. Shortly thereafter, each subject area specialist joins audience members in a question-and-answer session.
Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, Janeites from around the globe had the pleasure of engaging with Deborah Barnum. She is the co-founder of the JASNA Vermont Region and has spoken at several JASNA AGMs. She was the third host in this fall’s series dedicated to Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters. Her lecture for the evening was entitled: “Illustrating Jane Eyre…with a Little Bit on Jane Austen”.
Barnum began the evening by speaking about the works of Jane Austen, touching on how the first person to truly illustrate any of her famous works was naturally her sister, Cassandra. From there, visual images, drawings, and representations of Austen’s novels filled the screen. These included references to the 1821 French edition of Persuasion that was the first to feature any illustrations at all, as well as carry Austen’s name. Then, there was the 1875 edition of Mansfield Park which presented seven illustrations which were all dark, menacing, and exceedingly Victorian, marking how the artist drew to represent the era rather than the time in which the piece was written. It is because of discrepancies like these that many readers began to align Austen’s work with that of the Bronte sisters.
Throughout the evening, Barnum focused on answering six specific questions that can be used to analyze all illustrated works:
1. What would you choose to illustrate?
· Settings—Architecture or Landscape? Is the detail in the text? What is the atmosphere that is conveyed?
· Characters—Do we see their features?
· Scenes—Which scenes deserve our attention?
2. How strictly do you adhere to the text?
3. Do the illustrations advance the plot, foreshadow the plot, giveaway the plot or interrupt your reading?
4. Do the illustrations give a true account of the time and setting of the story?
5. Is the technique right for the action?
6. Does an illustration that does not agree with your subjective view ruin your idea of the book?
Using these questions to kickstart the conversation, Barnum spent time evaluating various illustrated works that were created to accompany Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre, and with good reason. For “Jane Eyre is one of the most oft illustrated texts in the English language, just as it is also one that has been adapted many times for modern audiences.”
Missed last night’s event and wish to learn more on this interesting topic? Stream “Illustrating Jane Eyre…with a Little Bit on Jane Austen” on the Jane Austen Summer Program YouTube Channel.
“Illustrating Jane Eyre” Alphabetized List of All the Illustrators Who Were Referenced in This Discourse
Bình luận