Why Single Girls Love Jane Austin

Every single girl I know loves Jane Austin. . .Recently I have been putting some thought into why. Mainly, this thought has been brought on by my fear of leaving the house and having yet another disaster to add to my growing list but that was the last blog and I digress. So, staying in has led to the renting of a lot of movies. The movie renting fit has also been brought on somewhat by one of my favorite Vegas discoveries, the DVD rental vending machine.

My two favorites by far of the very long string of movies I have rented lately both involve Jane Austin. The first is a remake of the many times made Pride and Prejudice. The second is the Lake House which references and somewhat depends upon Jane Austin's last book Persuasion. I could list on the books by Jane Austin but for simplicity sake we will focus on these two.

The first thing we love about these books is that they have heroines not wimpy women waiting for their prince charming. The characters do not sit idly by waiting for their "prince to come" like in a fairy tale. They are not simple and often they take great risks and pass up the easy answer of just any man being enough. They are willing to accept a life of less luxury and great solitude rather than settle.

The second thing we love is the lack of apology these characters have about who they are. The woman we all wish we had the strength to be is Elizabeth Bennett, who is bright, dignified and kind. She is the type of woman we want to be and hope to be on our best days. We cheer on her bravery and her bookishness. She is also human and makes mistakes but is strong enough to own up to those mistakes and correct them.

Ann, the heroine of Persuasion, also fights for what she wants. She holds out hope of a better tomorrow and sees beyond the material possessions to fall in love with someone that is a true soul mate. She waits years for him.

These women are unyielding and uncompromising. They fight hard despite having all the odds against them and somehow after all the heart ache come out on top.

I will admit the last thing we love. . .is the idea of the clothes and dresses of the era. As much as I love a nice pair of pants, as do most modern women, I can't resist the idea of fancy ball gowns and white gloves.