Glasgow-based Matchlight has put Jane Austen in the limelight on Friday evening as their highly acclaimed documentary film, The Many Lovers of Jane Austen, is screened on BBC2.
Prof. Amanda Vickery presents the film which was commissioned to
mark the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's
first novel Sense and Sensibility. When Jane Austen died her slight
reputation appeared to die with her. Her books soon went out of
print. Now, 200 years later, she sits at the summit of English
literature and thanks to television and film adaptations, as well
as the internet, she is an international cultural brand. What
interests Amanda is how different periods and generations have
looked for their own reflection in the characters and plots of the
novels. She wants to work out what that says about them, as well
the hold Jane Austen's fiction has on us now.
The Guardian comments, "Essential viewing here for fans of
the author. Professor Amanda Vickery, a leading chronicler of
matters Georgian, discusses why Austen has had such
pan-generational appeal, and how each has sought to find
reflections of themselves in her work. Academics, directors and
even becostumed devotees provide the answers. Attending the auction
of a rare, handwritten manuscript of an unfinished Austen novel
provides its own insight into the enduring mania surrounding
her."
The Many Lovers of Jane Austen can be seen on BBC2 at 9pm on Friday
23rd December.