The History of England
Posted by Helen on February 06, 1998 at 10:58:55:
In response to I think she was..., written by Lesley on February 06, 1998 at 00:24:09
] I've read this several places but I have Valerie G. Meyer's bio at hand. On page 125 she says, " In her [JA's] History of England from from the reighn of Henry IV to the Death of Charles I 'by a partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian,' written when Jnae was fifteen, she followed family tradition in passionately defending the Stuarts especially Mary, Queen of Scots, and vilifying King Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I."
I agree - the HofE is a highly subversive document... but then, there is a tongue-in-cheek attitude to it: maybe this suggests hidden romantic depths to her character which her own pragmatic good sense, as much as any social pressures, made her ridicule.
It seems that for most of the C19th, from JA's generation down to Angela Brazil (a very extended definition of C19th, I know), adolescent girls were Jacobite and pro-Mary QofS because they were attracted by the romantic possibilities in these lost causes - an interesting psychological phenomenon, I think, comparable to today's fantasies about celebrities...
Helen
- Hidden Romantic Depths Caroline 19:42:12 2/06/98
(5)
- Henry Crawford Helen 08:58:59 2/08/98
(4)
- What makes Henry Crawford so attractive Caroline 10:14:37 2/08/98
(3)
- Henry Crawford or Henry Tilney?? Linda 18:16:15 2/08/98
(2)
- Well, I'm off to crawl under a rock... Helen 12:42:40 2/10/98
(1)
- The Flesh is tired......... Caroline 19:31:51 2/11/98
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- The Flesh is tired......... Caroline 19:31:51 2/11/98
(0)
- Well, I'm off to crawl under a rock... Helen 12:42:40 2/10/98
(1)
- Henry Crawford or Henry Tilney?? Linda 18:16:15 2/08/98
(2)
- What makes Henry Crawford so attractive Caroline 10:14:37 2/08/98
(3)
- Henry Crawford Helen 08:58:59 2/08/98
(4)
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