Jane Austen is one of my all time favourite authors. Why? Because she writes novels in which I would like to live. No, I don't want to live in a huge, impersonal mansion. Yes, of course I would like to wear those beautiful, feminine dresses. And yes, despite what I say about not dancing in public, I would dearly love to go to an Austen ball and, yes, if I went to one, I would dance!
But it is not the dresses or the balls that make her books so wonderful. It is the characters and situations that make it perfect. Lizzie Bennett is wonderful - brave, independent, a little outspoken but totally, totally honest. And what a lovely name. I much prefer Lizzie to my own name - I even tried using it for a while. It was fun. Lizzie was a lot more confident and funny than me. But, all that is by the by.
Back to the novels. Jane Austen's heroines are strong and stand up for what they think is right. However, she is not afraid to show them having flaws - eg the wonderful Emma, but they can always be redeemed, they inevitably do the right thing in the end, they admit when they are wrong, make apologies where needed and come out a better person.
And what about her heroes? Well, they are usually very strong too, they can always be relied upon in an emergency. They will drop everything and rush off to make things right for the woman they love. They stand by their honour, even if it is not in their own best interests and, above all, they love the heroine with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their strength. They will ride hell and high water to win their love and they always win their love in the end. Maybe it is because Jane Austen had to sacrifice her love for the sake of her family that she writes about such things. Maybe she knows that we all need to hope that true love will always win through no matter what the obstacles. Or maybe it's, just like me, that she loves truth, honesty, men of honour and very happy endings.
Everyone deserves a happy ending. Maybe that's why I still like to read children's fairy tales too - because I really hope and believe that the characters did live happily ever after. So I am sorry if it is boring and repetitive but I will read and reread Austen's novels as long as I live and hope that the world really is full of such heroes as Colonel Brandon and Edward Ferrers. Because, when it comes down to it, every girl has to dream.
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