Jane Austen is 250 — and as relevant as ever |
Big anniversaries are coming up in 2026: 200 years since the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, 250 since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 250 since Adam Smith published “The Wealth of Nations.”
But an anniversary this month deserves special attention, too — Dec. 16 marked 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen, one of the greatest novelists who’s ever lived.
She’s still read today, and millions of people who’ve never so much as peeked into the covers of “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility” or “Emma” know Austen’s stories from their film and television adaptations.
The “Jane-Austen-on-film industry . . . reached critical mass in the ’90s, and since then it’s basically been James Bond for women,” First Things senior editor Julia Yost told a near-capacity audience at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, on the day of Austen’s 250th.
Silver-screen takes on Austen’s books have starred A-listers like Gwyneth Paltrow, Hugh Grant and Keira Knightley.
Some are costume dramas set in the 19th-century English countryside Austen wrote about — others, like the 1995 hit “Clueless,” are modernized.
But........