Why JA stopped writing after the first three books...
Posted by Barbara on April 03, 1998 at 16:42:35:
I've been mulling over Tomalin's assertions about why Jane stopped writing at around the time her family moved to Bath.
Do I misunderstand that she is saying that it was because JA was depressed at the situation, and felt uprooted (as she had as a child sent into the village and a girl sent away to school), so with her orderly little world thus disturbed, she felt unable to write?
I have a few questions, and I know that many of you know a lot more about this than I do.
First, is it absolutely certain that she did stop writing at that time? Has there ever been any suggestion that she was starting other bits of work, such as she did with The Watsons. I can see how The Watsons was hitting way too close to home and she would want to give it up.
Second, is there a generally held supposition as to why she stopped writing? I mean, is Tomalin's view generally accepted, or are there other theories? I have a book called The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen which suggests that the conditions once she settled in at Chawton were more suitable to writing, so she started back at it again. To me this suggests a feeling of rootlessness, but not necessarily depression.
And finally, could it be that she was indeed discouraged, because she had as yet been unable to have her three manuscripts published, so she had given up for a while?
Please understand that I am not saying that I disagree with Tomalin's view, only that I am wondering what other theories have been put forth on this subject.
- Perhaps they were destroyed(nfm) karen l 20:12:49 4/16/98
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- it seems unlikely... Kate 14:41:12 4/18/98
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- My Theory Tim 12:20:59 4/06/98
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- theories P. Bingham 00:08:03 4/06/98
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- an addition... P. Bingham 14:28:48 4/07/98
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- an addition... P. Bingham 14:28:48 4/07/98
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- The missing years? Cheryl 00:50:16 4/04/98
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