A look into a Faculty-in-Residence-led discussion of Jane Austen’s novels, taking place at Professor Denise Cruz’s apartment and featuring Professor Jenny Davidson.

Ever wondered what it’s like to have a meal with your favorite professors? On Wednesday, October 14, I had the privilege of attending a faculty dinner at Professor Denise Cruz’s apartment in East Campus. 

The event featured Professor Jenny Davidson, a proficient Jane Austen scholar, and offered a space where students could chat with professors in a more informal setting. Though the event was wildly popular and had an impressive number of applicants, only 18 students were chosen to participate, creating a casual, intimate environment.

The evening began with students being brought up to Professor Cruz’s apartment in East Campus, where there was an assortment of drinks and treats. One highlight of the table was scones paired with clotted cream, a typical Regency-era snack that accompanied the tea wonderfully. After grabbing our meals and settling down, Professor Cruz led us into the conversation.

First, we all introduced ourselves, and Professor Davidson told us about her fascination with untold stories concerning relationships between people. Currently, she is writing a book about the “two Janes”: Jane Austen and Jane Goodall. Davidson is an accomplished author and Austen scholar, and her passions were clearly reflected in her proficiency in literary topics.

The discussion then turned into a Q&A-style talk, with students taking turns asking Professor Davidson for her thoughts on certain themes in Austen’s stories. The first question regarded the topic of economic class in Austen’s novels, as a common critique of her works is that she only depicts upper-class families, erasing the presence of people from other statuses. Davidson explained that the range was wider than we may think, such as in Pride and Prejudice. The main stake in the story was the fact that the Bennet sisters did not have a stable source of money, so there was immense pressure for them to find a rich spouse. Additionally, in Emma, the character of Ms. Bates served as an example of the consequences of falling from high status, a looming disturbance to Emma’s psyche. While it wasn’t perfect, Austen certainly captured some aspects of class struggle in the Regency era in an accessible way.

The next question regarded Austen’s treatment of female characters in her stories, specifically the character of Aunt Fanny Dashwood. Fanny Dashwood is portrayed as a stingy woman, convincing her husband to hog the money from his father’s inheritance, leaving the rest of the family with very little. While this may not be a flattering portrayal of women, it shows the diversity of personalities within Austen’s cast of characters. In general, humans are complex, and Austen managed to capture a vast array of people, all with different ways of surviving in situations of financial hardship and emotional distress.

Near the end, we moved into discussion of the new movie adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, and the topic of adaptations of Austen’s stories in general. Here, Professor Davidson remarked that she was quite picky about her TV and therefore didn’t watch much of it. But our conversation turned to what we believed to be the aspects of a good adaptation, a main point being that it is difficult to translate Austen’s writing style into film. The overarching story can be converted to a visual form, but there are many subtleties in her words which allow passage into characters’ minds, as well as a sense of humor that is difficult to preserve.

The evening ended with everyone being given a free copy of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and two lucky people winning AMC tickets to the new movie adaptation of the novel. I, unfortunately, was not one of them, but nonetheless the event was such a joy to attend, and a way to speak with professors in a different context. If you weren’t able to get into this event, or if this article has now piqued your interest in it, Professor Cruz mentioned that there are sure to be more in the future. In my humble opinion, the experience is absolutely worth the effort of applying and will remain a cherished memory of my time at this university!

Tea Party Table via Bwog Archives