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Minor Characters, Major Importance: Jane Austen Collaborative's Favorite Unsung Austen Characters



Jane Austen & Co.'s latest series 'Unsung Characters' features live scholarly talks about various essential minor characters in Austen's works. Her richly portrayed secondary characters serve various roles throughout the novels including propelling the plot, influencing the main characters' actions, and providing comic relief. Past lectures include Why Mr. Collins? Jane Austen’s Most Memorable Clergyman and The Contemplative Eleanor Tilney. The next lecture is "That Elasticity of Mind": Mrs. Smith and Nurse Rooke in Persuasion which takes place Tuesday, March 31 at 7pm ET. Playwright Katherine Koller talks about the process of adapting Persuasion for the stage and why she chose to include Mrs. Smith and Nurse Rooke in her play. Please register here.



In anticipation for this event, we asked members of the Jane Austen Collaborative team to share their favorite minor Austen characters:



Mr. Collins, Pride and Prejudice



"Mr. Collins is my favorite because of how he turns the plot forward and creates such wonderful occasions for Mr. Bennet’s humor."- Sarah Marsh, Jane Austen Summer Program (JASP) Director 




Note: You can watch Brenda Cox's lecture "Why Mr. Collins? Jane Austen’s Most Memorable Clergyman" here. In her talk Brenda explores Mr. Collins' words, actions, and character, including his marriage proposal, comparing him to Austen's other clergymen, satirical cartoons, and Anglican and Evangelical ideas of the time.


Admiral and Mrs. Croft, Persuasion



"I love the way Austen describes their successful marriage by means of their cooperative style of carriage driving." - Inger Brodey, Jane Austen Collaborative (JAC) Founder and President


"They are the epitome of mutual love and respect in a marriage." - Delicia Johnson, JASP Head of Publicity





Eleanor Tilney, Northanger Abbey



"Eleanor is clearly an intellectual match for her brother Henry. She has some of the romantic impulses that Catherine displays (walking in her mother's favorite spots out of nostalgia), but not run away with by her feelings, and she has a keen sense of humor. The fact that she is finally able to marry her chosen partner with her father's blessing always felt like a reward Austen bestowed on her for being generally amazing."- Heather King, JAC Secretary


"Eleanor is the perfect combination of sense and sensibility, levelheadedness and idealism, and gentleness and strength. I love how in many ways she is a more developed 18th century Gothic heroine."- Delicia Johnson, JASP Head of Publicity


Note: You can watch Natasha Duquette's lecture "The Contemplative Eleanor Tilney" here. In her talk Natasha considers how Eleanor's contemplative practices are shaped by her reading.


Miss Bates, Emma



"She's very important, so I'm not sure she counts as "minor," but Miss Bates! Such a familiar, endearing, and yet frustrating character. I can't read the Box Hill scene without crying, and yet I know exactly how and why Emma stumbles into that situation." - JAC Director and Jane Austen’s Desk (JAD) Co-Creator, Sarah Walton








Mary Crawford, Mansfield Park




"Mary Crawford is my second favorite. Her manipulations and cunning are just so stunning in their subtlety."- Sarah Marsh, JASP Director 





Mrs. Norris, Mansfield Park


"I love to hate Mrs. Norris. She's Professor Umbridge levels of infuriating. I can feel my blood pressure rising every time she speaks."- JAC Director and JAD Co-Creator, Sarah Walton





Mrs. Jennings, Sense and Sensibility



"I have a soft spot for Mrs. Jennings, who I think has a good heart and a giving nature, even if her approaches to comforting Marianne are way off base. The part where Elinor and Mrs. J laugh together about the misunderstanding to do with Col. Brandon's 'proposal' is a much needed moment of levity in an otherwise depressing part of S&S."- JAC Director and JAD Co-Creator, Sarah Walton




Mr. Shepherd, Persuasion



"If it wasn't for Mr. Shepherd masterfully persuading Sir Elliot to let Kellynch Hall, Anne and Captain Wentworth may have never reunited. His ability to maneuver Sir Elliot to act practically by appealing to his vanity is remarkable.- Delicia Johnson, JASP Head of Publicity







Mrs. Gardiner, Pride and Prejudice



"Aunt Gardiner is insightful, practical, and competent. She offers real guidance to Lizzy, and does so with a sense of humor that keeps her comments from sounding preachy. Small wonder that Darcy finds the Gardiners pleasant company, and Elizabeth finds she needn't blush for her whole family so long as she can claim them as part of it. I would go so far as to say that the genuine fondness we see between the Gardiners is a good model for the kind of marriage Darcy and Elizabeth hope to have."- Heather King, JAC Secretary



Who is your favorite Austen minor character on this list? Do you have other favorites? Let us know in the comments!


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