"My Jane Austen Novel"

After writing the previous blog on the epigraph from Northanger Abbey, I realized (a little late) that I probably should have done a brief search to see if other authors (who had actually read the novel) could offer more substantial insight into the epigraph's relation to the text. Almost immediately I came across an extremely intriguing article by a university english professor, Juliette Wells, who incidentally wrote a very similar (though somewhat more informed) article about  the work of Jane Austen and its relation to Atonement. (Article Link: http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number30/wells.pdf) Wells took this observation further, however, arguining that the character of Briony was potentially modeled after Austen herself. I found this portion of the article to be extremely interesting as my aforementioned abhorrence of the work left me completely ignorant in regards to the life of its author. Incidentally, Austen too was a precocious youth who, much like Briony, indulged in writing and producing novellas and plays at a very young age. Briony's realization during the production of her play that she wanted to be a novelist, as that has a much more direct connection with the reader, is also reminiscent of Austen. Even the "happily ever after" that Briony gives to both the play, and the novel, is very reminiscent of Austen's style. In Briony's version, Robbie and Cecilia are reunited and still very much in love. Their relationship holds the promise of many possibilities, the foremost of which is marriage - which is exactly the way in which every single Jane Austen novel ends.

This realization, along with Wells' assertion that McEwan continuously refers to Atonement as "my Jane Austen novel" (102) was a complete and utter shock to me. I have never, ever, liked any of Austen's works: they're long, for the most part rather boring, nothing happens except silly little parties, and everything always end in happiness and marriage. Life doesn't always have the "happily ever after" that Austen novels portray, and I have always liked how in Atonement that happy ending was given - and then brutally yanked away only pages later. It left you shocked, betrayed, angered, sad, and most of all, it left you thinking. Perhaps some of McEwan's novel was based on themes from Jane Austen's work, however, the shockingly real themes of rape, war, anger, guilt, injury, and death are very, very different from anything one would find in an Austen novel. Regardless, I am glad I stumbled across this article. It is very interesting to see where McEwan got his inspiration for the plot, as well as the character of Briony. While I don't believe the book to truly be a "Jane Austen novel," I do believe that perhaps there are, as the title of Wells' article suggests, "Shades of Austen in...Atonement" (101).

Wells, Juliette. "Shades of Austen in Ian McEwan's Atonement." Jasna.org. Web. 2 Dec. 2011. <http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number30/wells.pdf>.