Based on a true(ish) story.
If you read this post, you’ll remember that Jane Austen’s memory was very much kept alive by the Victorians. Thanks to a biography written by her nephew, James Austen-Leigh, Jane was remembered as a pious, lovely country girl (though that might not have been the entire truth). Her image was prettified for public consumption, and that includes her actual image.
Below is one of the only surviving portraits of Jane Austen—an unfinished sketch done by her loving sister, Cassandra.
I don’t know if Jane was particularly grumpy about having her portrait drawn, or if she was just grumpy generally, but I love this look for Jane Austen. It’s so scowly and ruddy-cheeked—almost nothing like the “photoshopped” version that the Victorians published years later in the bookplates of her novels.
Here she looks coy instead of grumpy, rosy-cheeked instead of sweaty—even her boobs got a little lift in the Victorian version (I raise my eyebrows at those “prudish” Victorians). It’s Jane Austen for the masses—the Kardashianization of Jane.
I have no idea what Austen would have thought about this version of her likeness—it probably looks very little like the real Jane Austen. And who’s to say Cassandra’s unfinished sketch is the authentic Austen, either? Her surviving family members called it “not a very good likeness” of their aunt, and her nephew commissioned this portrait many years after her death, published alongside his 1870s biography of her:
This portrait is most likely the basis for the glammified etching that most people recognize as Austen today.
There have been a few more portraits of Austen in circulation, each one with varying claims of authenticity. I personally like this portrait very much, which has caused a hot debate among Austenites since its discovery in 2011:
The owner of the portrait is Paula Byrne, a notable Austen scholar. Her husband bought the portrait for her as a gift. On back of the portrait “Miss Jane Austin” is written in pencil, but beyond that, there is absolutely zero concrete evidence that the portrait is authentic.
But personally, I think it looks very much like the Jane Austen that always lived inside my head.
“It’s exactly the view of Jane Austen that I have,” said Byrne. Her Austen is a “feisty, professional woman writer who doesn’t write twee little novels, sort of frocks and smocks.”
Deborah Kaplan, another Austen scholar, wrote an entire essay on the portrait. (It’s good, albeit a bit dry and academic.) In the essay, she reminds us of literary critic Roland Barthe’s famous assessment that every reader sees the author as their own personal confidante. “Readers want their confidante to materialize,” says Kaplan. And not just that, but we want her to materialize exactly as we expect her.
All this reminds me of two of the cringiest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation ever, where Geordi La Forge (played by Levar Burton) falls in love with the computer-simulated holographic version of a real person. When Geordi meets her in real life, there’s almost no chemistry—and also, she’s married. (Later on, she discovers the holographic version of herself who is in love with Geordi and—very understandably—loses her shit).
So, even though I like the Byrne portrait of Jane Austen very much, that doesn’t mean it’s authentic, or that my concept of Jane Austen is even close to the real one. I have to remind myself that my image of any creator—novelist, singer, painter, comic artist, etc—is never the full picture, no matter how much I want it to be. My confidante was never the artist, but the experience of the art itself—which, in a way, is just me experiencing a part of myself.
So, any time you love a piece of art—really, truly love it—remember that you’re really just loving a part of yourself. It’s a part that’s captivated by your own humanity, a part of yourself that wants only to be known.
OK, one thing before I sign off: next week is Spring Break and I’ll be spending lots of time with my family, so I won’t be posting anything new.
Also, since tomorrow is April Fool’s Day, here’s an old 2021 comic for you to enjoy:
I, for one, will not be suffering fools tomorrow or any day. So, happy AF day to me. (And you, if you observe.)
All my love,
🖤Becca Lee, the Haunted Librarian🖤