Jane Austen's Magic: Ink, Pen, and Words

• Featuring Evelyne Ender, Senior Lecturer, Department of Comparative Thought and Literature • 
• Presented by Hopkins at Home • 

In advance of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth in 2025, join Dr. Evelyne Ender, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Comparative Thought and Literature, for a presentation of the author's fiction in terms of its brilliant and touching humanity. The lecture will illuminate Austen’s portrait of human relations, a world shaped by live dialogue, but also staged and modulated by the circulation of letters. 

Dr. Ender's many articles and book chapters, published in English and in French, are indeed driven by one conviction, namely that an ever-renewed attentiveness to what words and language(s) can tell us is key to our humanity. Holding a pen or pencil to generate script may seem quaint, but in a world enthralled by electronic communications and devices, it may be salutary at times not only to slow down but to be reminded of the weight that words carry -- for good and for evil. 

The preparatory materials for this presentation will direct you to scenes from her novels that highlight the significance of letters and literacy in Austen's world. These moments enable us to reflect on the historical and cultural significance of that old fashioned gesture that consists in putting pen to paper. This is purely optional, of course, but certain to delight those in search of additional insights!

• The 2020 film Emma directed by Autumn de Wilde (described by a New York Times critic as "An Emma for an Era of Bad Behavior" -  my discussion of the novel Emma will focus on selections from chapters 31, 34 and 41).
• Mansfield Park vol. 2, from chapters 9 to 13.
• Persuasion chapters 22 and 23.
• Ann Patchett, "The Decision I Made 30 Years Ago That I Still Regret". New York Times, Sunday October 20, 2024. 

Enter our drawing to win a beautiful set of two Hopkins at Home Blue Jay tea cups, inspired by Jane Austen and celebrating your love for lifelong learning!