01
In the late 1770s, in the small town of Steventon in Hampshire, England, the grass was lush and the birds were chirping, and in the foggy morning, green vines wrapped around the corner eaves of the house, 20-year-old Jane Austen was already sitting in the early morning hours.
With the slow pace of the pendulum, the words in her heart were conceived.
When the pleasure of writing or the inspiration fades, Jane carries the mood into the melody of the notes under the fingertips. Even this sudden sound of the piano woke up the family members who were still asleep.
The mother, who was suddenly awakened, shouted, "We have to find a good husband for that girl."
But who can be worthy of her excellent daughter? This is indeed a problem.
Jane Austen was born into a family that was not wealthy but grew up in a relatively relaxed environment. She was smart, pretty, and a girl with an independent mind. Loves to write and thinks girls are going to marry for love.
The mother was born into the gentry class, but at that time women had a very low social status. Women have no inheritance rights.
The accepted idea is to focus only on female gender roles, and women don't need to be very talented, what they need is to believe in God and find a good family and live dependent on men.
So my mother hoped that Jane could find a rich family and live a comfortable life. In the eyes of the mother, although love is desirable, money is indispensable.
My father was a learned pastor who supported his family on a modest income.
Fortunately, the parents do not force their children to choose, respecting their hobbies and sense of independence.
Father Mr. Austin and mother argued that Jane should marry someone she loved, not the one with the highest bidder.
Jane Austen's ability to think independently, the idea of marrying love, and the consciousness to support herself through writing are still in sync with excellent ideas today.
02
Before long, this kind of idle time reading, writing, and helping my mother with housework was broken. Jane is a married girl of the right age who goes to parties and other parties.
Her beauty and cleverness were favored by the town's nobleman, Lady Gresham. The noblewoman has no children, and she has to choose a future bride for her nephew Wesley, who will inherit her property in the future.
The noblewoman had arrogantly said that this was Jane's best choice. Wesley also liked Jane Austen, and he changed himself and went to the prom to try to cater to Jane. But Jane didn't like the gentleman's somewhat wooden, boring Wesley.
She rejected the marriage proposal, which seemed impeccable to others. The mother was very angry about this, saying that marrying for love was a stupid idea, and that this was a good opportunity for Jane to change her fate.
Jane told her mother that she could live by writing in the future, and her mother angrily asked her to give up the idea.
While reading her engagement message to her sister Kassandra and Mr. Foy, Jane meets for the first time with Mr. Tom Lefroy, who breaks in.
He was a handsome and insightful trainee lawyer, and his uncle was a famous justice in London. Mr. Lefroy studied with his uncle as his future heir.
Because of Tom's recent depravity and playfulness, he was punished by his uncle to experience life at a relative's house in the small town of Steventon, so he became a neighbor with Jane. He is also a friend of his brother's profiteering.
However, the first meeting was not pleasant, and while everyone was immersed in Jane's wonderful congratulatory message, Tom listened sleepily, pointing out that her greeting was too long and a bit pretentious.
This devastated Jane, who ran to her upstairs room and burned the manuscript.
The second time they met was in the grove outdoors, where they were distracted but inadvertently bumped into each other. Jane had to talk to Tom perfunctorily.
One thinks the other is savage and not gentlemanly enough; the other thinks the other is self-righteous and lacks a broad vision. Although they were unhappy again, they each read the books recommended by the other party.
This is the beginning of their slow understanding of each other and discovering each other's strengths... At this time, love has already sprouted in their hearts.
During a walk, Tom fights someone else for an unequal boxing match on the side of the road. Although she loses out of distraction, Jane has completely eliminated her prejudice against Tom and knows that she is in love with him.
Similarly, Tom falls in love with the talented Jane through constant contact. After confessing to each other, they decided to set off for London to meet Tom's uncle, hoping to get his permission.
However, things did not go well, and someone wrote a letter to the judge's uncle, describing Jane as a vain and vain gold worshipper. The uncle was furious and told Tom that if he insisted on being with Jane, he would cut off all funding for him.
Just when Jane thought that Tom would bravely choose to stand with her, Tom helplessly said to her: I have my own things and obligations to complete, and there is no way to oppose my uncle's decision.
This undoubtedly dealt Jane a heavy blow.
The only takeaway from the trip was that Tom took her to visit the low-key female writer Mrs. Radclever. This made Jane determined to embark on the path of writing.
Shortly after Jane returned home, her father, Mr. Austin, received news that her sister's fiancé had contracted an illness and died while working as a military chaplain, and Kassandra had lost love like Jane.
03
They each returned to their own life trajectory.
Jane Austen agreed to Wesley's marriage proposal in the doldrums. But Tom shows up, saying that he can't live in lies, and that life has no meaning if he can't be with Jane.
In the end, Tom and Jane agree to "elope" for love. But on her way out of Hampshire, Jane accidentally finds a letter from Tom's family.
The content of the letter was roughly that the family thanked Tom for the money he sent home each time, otherwise the family's five children would not be able to support.
Jane suddenly realizes that the serious consequences of this elopement will not only discredit their respective families and ridicule their families, but also put Tom's family in a dilemma of survival.
What worries Jane even more is that the difficult circumstances after losing his reputation will make Tom live in guilt, self-blame and remorse, and slowly erode love.
Jane chose to give up, to give up for love.
Back at home, she rejected the men's marriage proposals and reconciled with Wesley and became friends.
In August of the year after the breakup, Jane completed the first draft of her famous novel Pride and Prejudice. Love seems to continue in another form at the tip of her pen...
Years later, middle-aged Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy meet again. Tom has become an outstanding lawyer and Chief Justice of Ireland.
He named his eldest daughter "Jane."
Jane Austen also made an exception on the day, reciting her own book in public for her ardent little book fan Jane Lefro Iran.
04
Jane Austen said, "Feelings are ridiculous. It's like doing something stupid for women. ”
It is true that love and reason are contradictory at all times.
Jane Austen was one of Britain's finest realist novelists of the 18th century, who used delicate brushstrokes to create touching and profound love stories, but she never married herself.
Although she gave up love for love, she did not give up on herself and her life. In that era when "a woman's talentlessness is morality", her spirit of independent thinking and self-pursuit eventually became an eternal classic in our hearts.
Author: Jane Y, a member of the Intensive Reading Friends Association, draws the fragrance of life from simplicity.