Jane Austen ever popular
This summer, the UK will honor its favorite writers, Jane Austen (1775-1817), by making her the face of the new £10 note. In the 200 years since her death, Austen has been getting more and more popular all over the world.
And yet Austen's works are so English that it's rather strange she should be so popular all over the world. Her novels are so of their time that it's strange that she's still enjoyed in this very different age. Her most famous works including Pride and Prejudice, the one which she is most known for are about the world of the English gentry(贵族阶层)in the late 18th century.
Most of her works is about young women of that time. Women of the gentry could not work so their chances of happiness or even basic living depended upon finding a husband. This is a very serious subject matter, of course, but the joy of Austen's stories is her ability to make wonderful, but also touching, comedy out of something so serious.
Take Pride and Prejudice as an example. Elizabeth Bennet is one of six daughters in a family that struggles with money problems. Her mother wants to marry off as many of them as possible. Mrs Bennet is one of the great comic characters of English literature.
The novel is developed by the love-hate relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. The pleasure of the novel is reading how these obstacles(障碍) are overcome and how the comical and unexpected ending is achieved.
If we think about this story, it's clear why Jane Austen is still popular 200 years after her death, and why readers can still identify with characters from the long dead world of the 18th century English gentry. Although there have been many changes since that time, it's still the greatest challenge in life for men and women to find the partner of their dreams.
