It may be wrong to make a hasty assumption that just because she has never been married, Jane Austen was not capable of rendering the fascinating clashing of hearts and souls, but it certainly rang the bell in me for my credulousness in believing her novels were quite loyal to their real life counterparts, for intentionally or innocently, Miss Austen has left out a greater portion of a full life cycle of relationship that is alienated to her experience, namely, what could happen after the merry wedding bell.

    "Pride and Prejudice" is among her early works, although its publication is later in line. It is by far the best one. After bewitched by "P&P", I hastily devoured almost every word ever written by Jane Austen, but sadly and a little disappointedly found that none surpassed "P&P" in its plot and writing, and its perfect touch of sarcasm. There is no wonder that among all the criticisms she received, the most frequently mentioned is that all her stories are based on a very limited settings-that of late 18th and early 19th century British countryside, when and where Jane herself lived-and that her pages are teemed with country balls, afternoon teas, and acceptances, as well as rejections of proposals. Admittedly, flipping though pages of "Pride and Prejudice", "Emma", "Sense and Sensibility", "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion", you will come across a lot of familiar scenarios, and might wonder if you have met the same character some where before. Yet, for a really fan, maybe that's the best part--you can review the moment you loved again and again. I myself, being an over-the-fence admirer, will always be caught between unconditional infatuation and cautious realism.
    I am not an expert in Jane's life experience and have by no means done an extensive research on this subject. However, inferring from her novel, she must have found some kind of support, understanding and encouragement from her siblings and must share a special bonding with her sister--just recall all those mutual confidancy and affection between the elder sisters in both "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility". Interestingly, the time that Jane herself had to say no to the offering of a man's hand came at the age of 27, when she had already rampaged this scene so throughly in her novels. "She initially accepted his offer, only to change her mind and refuse him the following day." I wonder what changed her mind. It must be hard to be satisfied with a normal life when you have such fascination of romance going on in your mind.
    There is no word to express my disappointment when I learned that "Becoming Jane" will not be available in Ithaca, and what's more, that it is not reviewed as a good movie--"If only Jane Austen had been the author of her own pseudo biopic". Piecing together a broken heart, I can relish my imagination for such an "if-only".

P.S.: Courtesy to the 2005 film "Pride and Prejudice" for the picture.