My Jane Austen Moment

It is becoming clear to me, that I do not give the staff here at mwbh enough to do. Recently some of the research staff founded a Jane Austen Book Club. They've been bugging me ever since to write a piece on the Catholic underpinnings of her works. Well I suppose I would had I ever read one of her novels. Once I saw the film production of Sense and Sensibility starring Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. Why are most of the guys are a bunch of preening pompadours, and how can they get the girl in the end acting like that? Is that the best those gals can do? No wonder the Brits got their asses handed to them by the Yanks, because shooting at a bunch of guys standing in a straight line beats the hell out of chasing rabbits, unless you're fetching dinner.

But I digress.

Here's what Saint Louis Catholic wrote about using Jane Austen novels as a means of ... liturgical allegory???

If today's faithful Catholic is represented by Elizabeth Bennet, bright, hopeful and coming of age, then the liturgical forms would have to be represented by Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham.

Mr. Wickham is immediately accessible, loves to talk--especially about how bad ol' Darcy is-- has some initial minor flash but soon proves to be tedious and unreliable.

Mr. Darcy at first glance looks stuffy and condescending, but proves over time to be noble, true, of high quality and charitable.

The ordinary and the extraordinary ...

(I think I know where they got this idea, but I can't prove anything.)

It's probably worth clicking on the block quote just to read the comments. And now that I read this analysis, it very pointedly describes my own experience with both forms of the Roman Mass. Indeed, I probably couldn't explain it better, although the Book Club will be on my case tomorrow expecting me to give it a shot anyway. I have get one of the books first, though. I could even get one to read on my cell phone.

Ah, but where to begin?
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