Why Are We Still Obsessed With Brand Jane Austen?

Jane Austen's influence on the narrative of female literary history, and the novel as a piece of work, goes without saying. But why are we so obsessed with the kitsch surrounding Miss Austen? Soon, brand Austen will get full pop-culture gilding when Carrie Brownstein completes Nora Ephron's Lost in Austen. Why does Austen retain pop-icon clout that trumps her torch-carrying contemporaries? Below are a few suggestions for why so many women harbor a love for all things Austen.

1. For many, Jane Austen is also a sentiment that stirs a sense of nostalgia for when the stories were set and, equally, the stage we were at when we read them.

Flickr / Via Flickr: jackiew

"OMG boys are so confusing."

2. Beyond the stories, the novels suggest a super lush aesthetic and a lifestyle, as seen here, that still invokes a fantasy.

We all wished we lived in Longbourne.

3. Austen is a safe intellectual fall-back topic because her work is so accessible and its impact is indisputable, having clearly stood the test of time.

Stanford University / Via news.stanford.edu

Stanford even did a study about what your brain looks like specifically when you read Jane Austen.

4. Pride and Prejudice inspired equivalents of the spectral, Prince Charming figure: whether you're searching for your Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley or even a dashing, rogue soldier, there's a romance narrative for every girl.

Via i.dailymail.co.uk

THAT scene.

5. Her novels are perfect fodder for period romance flicks, but which came first? Love of period romance, or Jane Austen TV and film adaptations?

Via allthingsbonnyandbeautiful.blogspot.com

And everyone loves watching Keira Knightley in period romance dresses.

6. Not conclusive, but all those film adaptations might have had a hand in the return of the maxi dress trend...

Via etsy.com

I'm just saying it's possible...

7. Her stories usually have a lot of sisters and general feminine good-vibes, which of course bleeds into all the ephemera.

google.com / Via tumblr.com

8. Austen's own love story, though wildly romanticized in Becoming Jane, (I'm not complaining, I'll take a James McAvoy library seduction scene any rainy afternoon), is still pretty bad ass. She sacrificed a lot to fight the good fight for female writers.

Via ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com

9. Pop culture creates it's own continua.

IMDb / Via imdb.com

Think of all of the hundreds of adaptations, spin-offs and straight up rip offs. For instance, what we'll call Laurence Olivier's Pride and Prejudice, ALL THOSE BBC serial adaptations, Joe Wright channeling Pride and Prejudice through his indulgent lenses, and there was Austenland. Yeah I didn't bother with that one either. Obviosusly, we'll soon have the revived Lost in Austen. There are the books inspired by her books, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, (which will now also be made into a movie), The Jane Austen Book Club, (which has already been adapted as a movie), Longbourn, (how long until we get a movie?), to name a few--not forgetting Prom and Prejudice because yes that happened. Oh and Bridget Jones's Diary, the book, the movie and the other movie...and another movie. You would think this horse we're beating is dead, but apparently the Jane Austen horse is in fact Pegasus, immortal horse of the gods.