Browse Exhibits (2 total)

Romance artifacts

This is a collection of items that derive from romance novels.

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The World of Jane Austen

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Join us for a tour of early 19th century English society, guided by novelist Jane Austen.

The exhibit highlights five objects from each of Austen's six novels. The artifacts selected are those most important to the plot, characterization, or themes.

Austen sets her novels among the English landed gentry and focuses her narrative on their social interplays. Physical objects are rarely mentioned and even less described. Of the objects she chooses to mention, many are gifts or romantic tokens, not surprising for novels that end in marriage or engagements. Her novels also focus on the roles of women in society, and she often mentions signs of feminine accomplishment, like musical instruments, drawings, paintings, and needlework. Some of her heroines are very accomplished, others only moderately so. Other objects that enter Austen’s radar are vehicles, clothing and accessories, decorations and furniture, and books, but rarely does Austen dwell on them in any detail.

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