Miss Austen Regrets (TV Movie 2007)

Miss Austen Regrets (TV Movie 2007). 1h 30m | TV-G

“I SO wanted to absolutely love this movie. I did. Donu0026#39;t get me wrong — it got a lot right. It was on Masterpiece Theater, for heavenu0026#39;s sake, and the script generally tried to stay closer to the few facts we have about Austenu0026#39;s life. It had decent direction and adept, credible Brits portraying Jane and her family. And yet, there was one huge flaw that I just couldnu0026#39;t ignore. Miss Austen Regrets would have us believe that Jane had several offers of marriage during her lifetime but knowingly and deliberately chose to remain single and focus on her work. This is a 20th to 21st century conceit awkwardly imposed on a 19th century situation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe few facts we have show that Jane received only one marriage proposal during her life, and that was from someone with an irritating personality. Harris Bigg-Wither was described by Janeu0026#39;s niece Caroline Austen and by one of his own descendants, Reginald Bigg-Wither, as unattractive at best: he was plain, if not homely, stuttered, aggressive in conversation, and almost completely tactless. Those objectionable qualities, despite his comfortable financial position, would have put off many women, then *or* now. Had he had a more pleasing personality, Harris might have tried first for a fiancée from a more prosperous family instead of proposing to Jane.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMoreover, Jane had known Harris since childhood and probably knew full well what sheu0026#39;d be getting into if she decided to marry him. To endure Bigg-Wither every so often at social occasions was one thing, but to marry him and have to endure that personality day in and day out would have been quite another. The simplest explanation is that Austen initially agreed to his proposal in order to be less of a burden to and/or provide for her family, but she knew him too well not to immediately regret her decision the next morning — and thus she reneged on her acceptance in less than a day, and remained single. She probably considered that the lesser of two evils.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe truth, then, is *not* that Jane Austen turned down acceptable proposals and made a conscious decision to put her writing first and stay independent, particularly given that she *never was* financially independent, but rather that no handsome, sweet-tempered, intelligent man, with or without means, ever asked her. She may have had such men as friends or acquaintances, but none of them ever proposed. If one had, remaining single would have been a much harder decision — but thatu0026#39;s moot, because such a man never did ask. Period. And thatu0026#39;s a rude truth she had to suffer for all her adult life. Itu0026#39;s not a truth that Miss Austen Regrets chose to address, however, and that is the filmu0026#39;s greatest failing.”