AUSTEN'S PRIDE: A CLOSER LOOK Writing Austen’s Pride Amanda Jacobs A Musical Love Affair with a Novel

Published in 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Baker agrees. “The love story of Elizabeth Bennett is celebrated today as one of the most popular—and and Fitzwilliam Darcy is timeless because it recognizes most frequently adapted—novels in English literature. that people can be unapologetically themselves and Despite a wealth of variations that allow aficionados to still have the capacity to reflect and grow. That love vehemently argue for their preferred film and television can bring out the best in us, and that unconditional is one of England’s about spending time with Lefroy and suggested adaptations or literary sequels and spin-offs, we have yet love is the greatest gift we can give one another. most famous female authors, and yet she was not romantic feelings for him, however the relationship Jane Austen to see a definitive musical production for the stage. “The most important thing I’ve learned in this journey,” publicly acknowledged for her writing until after did not last. Jane Austen never married, but Enter Austen’s Pride – A New Musical of Pride and Prejudice, she adds, “is that you have to know and own who you her death. She wrote six novels during her lifetime she did receive one proposal from Harris Bigg- a labor of love with book, music, and lyrics by Lindsay are. There is always room to grow and learn, but you also and her work continues to captivate readers 200 Wither, the younger brother of a family friend. The Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs. We recently had the need to claim your talent and possess inner-strength to years after her death. Her novels include Sense engagement was short lived. Austen accepted his opportunity to chat with Baker and Jacobs about the work. face the rollercoaster and stand up for yourself. By the and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger offer of marriage, and the following day changed “In its first production waaaaaay back in the beginning, the end of Austen’s Pride, through humor and heartache, Jane Abbey, Persuasion, and Pride and Prejudice, on her mind and rescinded her promise. This was show was originally three acts and four hours long!” Jacobs makes a decision about who she is and what she wants to which the musical Austen’s Pride is based. She also significant as marriage was the only way for a young laughs. “We really told the story of Pride and Prejudice!” be. We see that choice in her body of work. She owns her wrote a series of short works, collectively called woman to gain independence from her family. voice and that is something we should all strive to do.” “When we first started writing, Jane Austen wasn’t in the The Juvenilia, and several unfinished works. In her early twenties, Austen wrote Sense show,” Baker says. Now, Jane Austen is one of the central Austen was born in Hampshire, England on and Sensibility (originally titled “Elinor and characters in this telling of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, it’s December 16, 1775. She was the seventh child of Marianne”) and Pride and Prejudice (originally “First Jane Austen’s role in the musical that distinguishes Austen’s Bridget Morgan Reverend George Austen and Cassandra Leigh Impressions”). Her father sent a letter offering the Pride from other adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. Associate Director of Branding and Communications Austen. The Austens were a tight-knit family, and manuscript of “First Impressions” to a publisher, “We made a lot of discoveries through trial and Jane was particularly close with her only sister, but the offer was promptly rejected. In 1811, when error,” Jacobs says. “Originally, we placed the story as Cassandra, who was three years older. Austen and Austen was 35 years old, Sense and Sensibility was if she were newly writing it. But over time, we found her sister were primarily educated at home where published. The author was identified as “a Lady”. that if we put it in a place where she was revising, her father, a country clergyman, had an extensive Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813 followed we could incorporate references to her life.” library and indulged his daughters’ love for reading. by Mansfield Parkin 1814 and Emma in 1815. The Jacobs smiles. “What I think we tried most to honor was the As a result, both girls developed their literacy title pages of each book did not include her name. spirit of her words and story. By choosing to portray her as the creator writing her novel, we show a real artist with real fears talents despite the lack of a formal education. In 1815, Austen began writing Persuasion. and real talent, struggling to make her mark on the world and, Austen began writing as a child and her first However her health was beginning to fail when surprisingly, to find joy through the process of discovering works were comic stories, now referred to as the she completed the novel the following year. In something even greater than what she was writing.” Juvenilia. She had an interest in drama and comedy 1817 Austen moved with her sister to Winchester “I think that knowing the story as well as I do from all these and often staged theatrical productions for her to be near her doctor. She died on July 18 1817. years of working on the show has taught me so much more family. Her first novella was called Lady Susan and Persuasion was published in December 1817 than I ever imagined,” Jacobs says. “What Austen teaches was written in epistolary form (as a series of letters). along with Northanger Abbey. A “Biographical me through her writing and revising her story is that LOVE This first work was published long after her death. Notice” was written by her brother, Henry. In is the most important thing we can write about. I believe it the notice Jane Austen was, for the first time, In 1795, when she was 20 years old, Austen with all my heart. To quote one of the last lyrics of the show, Lindsay Warren Baker met Tom Lefroy. In letters to her sister, she wrote identified as the author of each of her novels. ‘Love is wonderful; it is glorious! It’s never, ever wrong.’” Who’s Who? A family tree of Pride and Prejudice

The matriarch of the Husband to Mrs. Bennet A distant cousin of Mr. Bennet, Mr. Bennet family, she and father to the five Bennet Collins is heir to the Bennet estate. is loud, tiresome, sisters. He is frequently He is a clergyman who boasts of Elizabeth’s good and wants nothing exasperated by his gossipy being under the patronage of friend. She marries more than for her wife and giddy daughters. Lady Catherine de Bourgh. He Mr. Collins because five daughters to He is often detached hopes to marry Jane or Elizabeth she is more interested get married. from the family except for Bennet, but ends up marrying in a stable home than short bursts of sarcasm. their good friend, Charlotte Lucas. marrying for love.

The middle child of The oldest of the An extremely wealthy gentleman Charles Bingley’s the Bennet family, Bennet daughters, she is who purchases Netherfield, an sister. Snobbish she is bookish and beautiful and reserved. estate near the Bennet family home. and haughty, she often annoyed by She is attracted to the He is an amiable, good-natured disapproves of the her silly sisters. wealthy Mr. Bingley, yet man who is immediately smitten attraction between her gentle manner is with Jane Bennet, despite her her brother and Jane mistaken for disinterest. family’s lower social status. He does Bennet because of not care about class differences. their class differences.

The second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, A wealthy gentleman, Also known as Elizabeth is intelligent, Darcy is the master of Catherine, she is quick-witted, and sensible. Pemberley, a grand estate the fourth Bennet While she understands in the English countryside. sister. Like Lydia, the societal pressure to Perceived by Elizabeth she is silly and marry, she does not have Bennet as snobbish and flirtatious with the same desperation to Mr. Darcy’s sister. proud, he is actually an the soldiers who find a husband. She initially intelligent and honest man. come to town. dismisses Darcy as arrogant and judgmental, but comes He admires Elizabeth for to realize the error of her her strong character. first impression.

Foolish and wild, Lydia is A handsome, fortune-seeking the youngest of the Bennet soldier. Elizabeth is attracted to sisters. Like her mother, she his good looks and seemingly Mr. Darcy’s aunt and enjoys gossip and flirtations gentle manner, but she soon patron to Mr. Collins. with eligible young men. Lady Catherine is Loving uncle learns he is more deceptive Lydia is impulsive and often concerned with status and aunt to the than he first appears. embarrasses her family. and class differences. Bennet girls.