Jane Austen

On Friday day the Jane Austen classes took a day trip about the life of Jane! First we all went to Winchester, to the places where Jane spent her last few months. We saw the Winchester Cathedral, where her tombstone is (above) and they also had a nice little exhibit with some of the letters she wrote to her brothers. It was actually nice to be able to see her handwriting and the stone that her family had installed for her. Our professor told us that just before she died the family had lost a considerable amount of money (because the brother who failed at everything, failed most at owning a bank), but that they still paid a considerable amount to give her her own stone. It humanized her to know how much her family cared about her. You all know by now how I feel about cathedrals, but apart from all of the sexism... it wasn't that bad.

After the cathedral we went into the town to supposedly find somewhere to buy lunch. We had all packed lunches, but we found a really adorable vegetable stand and bought some raspberries. Yum!

After that we got back on the bus and drove to Chawton, where Jane spent most of her time when she was writing. First we saw her brother Edward's estate. He's the one that got adopted by a really rich family, because they needed an heir and he needed the money and status (plus they were family friends). The house has been turned into a functioning library by an American donor. It was beautiful, especially the gardens/lawn where we all sat and had our picnic lunches while discussing Jane Auten. It all sounds very English and lovely, I know!

Then we went to the house where Jane Austen lived, with her mother and two sisters after her father died. The house was small, but pretty... in the way that a house turned into a museum is bound to be. The best part, again, was the garden/lawn. I brought my skidmore blanket on the trip (so I could sleep on the bus) but it actually turned out to be much more useful to sit on in the grass and enjoy the beautiful day!