Watching the most recent Jane Austen novel screen adaptation (Emma, released in February, in case I forgot to say it within the last 30 seconds) made me realize just how much of a Jane Austen nerd I am. I was freaking out over things that would be absolutely no big deal in a film set during the present day or in more recent decades, and it occurred to me that this has been the case for a good long while. So, I am compiling a list of characteristics that I have noticed I possess (and that I probably inherited from my equally nerdy and totally gorgeous mother) that I believe categorize me as a Jane Austen nerd.
You might be a Jane Austen nerd if…
… you have read any of her novels more than once (for fun, not for a class or assigned reading);
… you have read all of her novels multiple times;
… you can name all six of her novels (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park);
… you have a favorite Mr. Darcy (mine is Colin Firth),
… and a favorite dance scene (I actually have several of those);
… you have strong opinions about men’s sideburns,
… and nerd out over ladies’ bonnets;
… and you swoon over significant eye contact,
… and touching hands without wearing gloves (see Pride and Prejudice, 2005, and Emma, 2020);
… you’ve had at least one Jane Austen marathon (my annual one is coming up);
… you want to learn cotillion/Regency era dances because of the ones you’ve seen in Austen adaptations;
… you know about or have read Lady Susan (Jane Austen’s only epistolatory and only short story);
… you know about or have read a version of Sanditon (Jane Austen’s unfinished novel that many other authors have finished themselves);
… you’ve seen and love “The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” on YouTube (and the accompanying book: The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet);
… you know that the movie Clueless is based on the novel Emma;
… and, maybe last but definitely not least, you enjoy watching/reading/hearing anything Jane Austen related.
Fellow Jane Austen nerds, feel free to add to this list as you please. I’m off to plan my annual Jane Austen marathon; I still need to plan tea and snacks.