ephemera

An embroidery of the Wikipedia page for embroidery.

J. R. R. Tolkien, undisputedly a most fluent speaker of this language, was criticized in his day for indulging his juvenile whim of writing fantasy, which was then considered—as it still is in many quarters— an inferior form of literature and disdained as mere “escapism.” “Of course it is escapist,” he cried. “That is its glory! When a soldier is a prisoner of war it is his duty to escape—and take as many with him as he can.” He went on to explain, “The moneylenders, the knownothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as possible.“

Stephen R. Lawhead

“I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which ‘Escape’ is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

“Hence the uneasiness which they arouse in those who, for whatever reason, wish to keep us wholly imprisoned in the immediate conflict. That perhaps is why people are so ready with the charge of “escape.” I never fully understood it till my friend Professor Tolkien asked me the very simple question, “What class of men would you expect to be most preoccupied with, and hostile to, the idea of escape?” and gave the obvious answer: jailers.“

-C.S. Lewis

“As for the charge of escapism, what does “escape” mean? Escape from real life, responsibility, order, duty, piety, is what the charge implies. But nobody, except the most criminally irresponsible or pitifully incompetent, escapes to jail. The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is “escapism” an accusation of?”

– Ursula K. Le Guin

I love all of these. I will add that in stories I see described as ‘escapism,’ the escape is never escape into a place of vacancy or idleness, but escape into adventure, into the possibility and power of change for yourself and the whole world. People yearn for the escape of expanded opportunity. When the very word escape implies freedom, those who sneer at escapism show their loyalty lies with locked doors.

the older I get the more I'm like wow Anne Shirley was right. I am so glad to live in a world with Octobers. Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. Dear old world you are very lovely and I am glad to be alive in you.

"Hanging out with Jane and Rochester would be so annoying because you'd never be able to forget how they got together" overdone. boring.

"Hanging out with Jane and Rochester would be so annoying because they have five separate layers of increasingly obscure inside jokes" real and true

A Mourning dove gets cozy, and settles in, to experience the sunset.

I've been trying to think of a less harsh way to put it, but every time I see an ostensible expert say that Mr Bennet and Darcy have the same social position and the only difference between them is that Darcy has more money, it's like ... um, either this person doesn't know what they're talking about or assumes their audience is so unsophisticated and ignorant that they can't handle the slightest degree of nuance.

Yes, it's obvious why this always comes up with P&P specifically, and explaining all the many differences and gradations in socioeconomic hierarchies between then and now is a steep task and not always necessary or useful. But Darcy and Mr Bennet are both untitled hereditary landowners. This means they have the same rank, yes—the technicality Elizabeth uses with Lady Catherine—but it also means that their status, incomes, reach of influence, and general consequence in their world are going to be primarily based on their inherited land, not that all these things except income would be functionally identical in their social world.

Awhile ago, I quoted a fairly concise description of England's class system at the time by the historian Dorothy Marshall, made decades ago, but—unusually—managing to convey some of the RL complexity around social position without belaboring the point too much. One of the most critical points she makes is this:

The difference between someone like Mr Bennet and someone like Darcy in terms of socioeconomic power and status (often termed "consequence" at the time) is inevitably going to be more about hereditary land ownership than any other factor, including incomes and connections. Their incomes provide important information about the scale and value of the land they own, but wealth alone only tells a portion of the story here.

It's really, really clear in the novel that Mr. Bennet and Mr. Darcy are on different levels. I cannot understand why someone would even try to smooth over that nuance.

This is excellent clarification! Also remember that Darcy’s aunt is a lady. She’s a lady by marriage but that connection to a title alone elevates him in the hierarchy of the time.

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

I’m going through yet another Robin McKinley phase. Beauty was the first of her books I ever read and remains one of my top ten books of all time (which I do not say lightly!)

me reading one of the most famous books ever written: do people know about this book. do they know.

Robin McKinley, Deerskin

Reading this right now and I love Ash’s relationship with her person

Evening dress (via The Met)

Evening dress

Design House:House of Worth (French, 1858–1956) Date:1898–1900 Culture:French Medium:silk Credit Line:Gift of Miss Eva Drexel Dahlgren, 1976 Accession Number:1976.258.1a, b

I love this 😍

Thank you so much! I’m definitely going to check all these sites out, as well as look into to my library! :)