“Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey” airs Friday night’s at 10pm on WOSU TV beginning November 2.

Jane Austen’s Persuasion was written between August, 1815 and August, 1816. It’s reported this was this time period in which she became ill and eventually died in July of 1817. Persuasion was published a year after her death by her brother, Henry Austen, who was a big fan of his sister’s work. Actually it was Henry who determined the title Persuasion. Miss Austen had no title written for her last work before she died. Although we’ll never know what Jane may have called her story, I think Henry did a pretty good job!

Masterpiece Classic:Persuasion airs 10pm, Thursday, July 7 on WOSU TV.

Jane Austen

In publishing Persuasion, Henry Austen also took the liberty to write the preface to the book. He felt it was time to introduce the world to its author and his beloved sister, Miss Jane Austen. In this small excerpt from the preface you get a glance into a brother’s love, but I also see some of her wonderful characters.

Preface from Persuasion:
“Of personal attractions she possessed a considerable share. Her stature was that of true elegance. It could not have been increased without exceeding the middle height. Her carriage and deportment were quiet, yet graceful. Her features were separately good. Their assemblage produced an unrivaled expression of that cheerfulness, sensibility, and benevolence, which were her real characteristics. Her complexion was of the finest texture. It might with truth be said, that her eloquent blood spoke through her modest cheek. Her voice was extremely sweet. She delivered herself with fluency and precision. Indeed she was formed for elegant and rational society, excelling in conversation as much as in composition. In the present age it is hazardous to mention accomplishments. Our authoress would, probably, have been inferior to few in such acquirements, had she not been so superior to most in higher things. She had not only an excellent taste for drawing, but, in her earlier days, evinced great power of hand in the management of the pencil. Her own musical attainments she held very cheap. Twenty years ago they would have been thought more of, and twenty years hence many a parent will expect their daughters to be applauded for meaner performances. She was fond of dancing, and excelled in it. It remains now to add a few observations on that which her friends deemed more important, on those endowments which sweetened every hour of their lives.

If there be an opinion current in the world, that perfect placidity of temper is not reconcileable to the most lively imagination, and the keenest relish for wit, such an opinion will be rejected for ever by those who have had the happiness of knowing the authoress of the following works. Though the frailties, foibles, and follies of others could not escape her immediate detection, yet even on their vices did she never trust herself to comment with unkindness. The affectation of candour is not uncommon; but she had no affectation. Faultless herself, as nearly as human nature can be, she always sought, in the faults of others, something to excuse, to forgive or forget. Where extenuation was impossible, she had a sure refuge in silence. She never uttered either a hasty, a silly, or a severe expression. In short, her temper was as polished as her wit. Nor were her manners inferior to her temper. They were of the happiest kind. No one could be often in her company without feeling a strong desire of obtaining her friendship, and cherishing a hope of having obtained it. She was tranquil without reserve or stiffness; and communicative without intrusion or self-sufficiency. She became an authoress entirely from taste and inclination. Neither the hope of fame nor profit mixed with her early motives.”

Spend some time, once again, with a masterpiece.

Stacia H.

I started this last year when a few viewers asked why they never get to see a repeat of the good drama’s they enjoy each winter. Yes, you’ll see a Jane Austin pop up here and there on a Sunday afternoon, but I felt these viewers had a good point and I needed to do some investigating on the subject. So when the new season of MASTERPIECE MYSTERY begins each summer, instead of repeating another mystery on Thursday nights we now use the summer to take another look at some of the great drama’s you enjoyed over the past winters.

Tonight we start off at 10pm on WOSU TV with A ROOM WITH A VIEW.

In June you’ll see a little Dickens and Jane Austin and in July we’ll repeat this winter’s hit DOWNTON ABBY.

I hope you’ll spend some time with the classics this summer on Thursday nights at 10pm or set your DVR to enjoy later.

Stacia H.

Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey starts 9pm, Sunday on WOSU TV.

Downton Abbey is an Edwardian country house owned by the noble Grantham family. When the Titanic goes down in 1912 the family and their servants futures are turned upside down.

DOWNTON ABBEY was created by writer Julian Fellowes who did Gosford Park, but I think this creation is ten times better than Gosford Park. There is a good balance between the family upstairs and the servants downstairs. You really get to know both sides of the house and as a consequence are drawn into the entire drama. The acting is superb, and the costumes and scenery are fantastic. It’s no wonder it was a instant hit when it first premiered in Great Britain.

I’ve already seen the entire series, but I’ll be watching again on Sunday and I hope you will be too.

Stacia H.

This adaptation has pretty much everything: “star-crossed” lovers, mysterious obstacles to their love, stormy landscapes, snarky friends—the list goes on. What makes the series work is the cast, Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens, the landscape, and a great gothic story. Wilson and Stephens do a pretty wonderful job bringing to life the lovers. Jane may be plain (a real bummer that her looks are always such an issue!), but her plainness goes only so far. She’s strong, resilient, interesting, and deep. What you see isn’t what you get, and most of us have learned that the deeper the person, the more interesting and compelling they are. Jane is deep, and she is compelling. Rochester learns this very quickly after meeting her, and the story is set in action.

The director, Susanna White of Bleak House, brings in enough of Jane’s upbringing to explain her backbone; she does the same for Rochester. We understand him fairly well too—why he’s drawn to the depth of Jane, the promise of a better life—a fulfilled life—if he could just win her over and transcend the huge obstacle of his life: the madwoman in the attic.

I always forget the name of Rochester’s first wife—Bertha Mason. I always remember the name of the feminist text inspired by her: Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth Century Literary Imagination. Others have certainly remembered her as well; The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys tells the story of Jane Eyre from Bertha Mason’s perspective. White’s depiction of Bertha Mason here suggests why Bertha is such a pivotal character. For me, she also manages to convey the sense that Rochester doesn’t simply hate Bertha—he seems to be genuinely torn between a past passion, sympathy and horror at what she has become, and the tragedy his life has become.

As in the book, the St. John Rivers character is the least satisfying for me. Blake once said of Milton that he was “a true Poet, and of the devil’s party without knowing it.” St. John could use some of that—he tries too hard to be good, and his character is never really peeled back enough to determine whether there’s any fire beneath the surface. He serves a purpose both in the book and the series, but we all know that for Jane, there’s only one guy. The fun of watching this particular Masterpiece Theatre is to see how it all comes together at the end.

We’ve said this before, but really, tune in tomorrow night, December 9, at 10pm. You won’t regret it!

Guest Blogger: Susan M.