Jane Austen Society of North America

Join us for our first meeting of 2018!

Celebrating the 200^th Anniversary

of Persuasion with Dr. JoAnne Podis

Location: Solon Library Meeting Room (Portz Parkway, off Rt 91)

Free and Open to the Public

“But I hate to hear you talking so like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days.”—Persuasion, Ch. 8. Happy New Year! 2018 marks the 200^th anniversary of Jane Austen’s last completed novel Persuasion.. Considered by critics to be Austen’s most “mature” novel, the story of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth still resonates deeply with many of Austen’s readers. Indeed, the letter Wentworth slips to his beloved Anne near the end of the novel remains one of the most often quoted passages of all Austen’s novels.
To kick off the bicentennial celebrations of this wonderful novel, Ohio North Coast region member Dr. JoAnne Podis, Professor Emerita at Ursuline College, will give a talk about class differences, money, and high society in the Regency era. In her talk Persuading the Reader: Society and Self in Persuasion, Professor Podis will discuss Austen’s exploration of themes related to identity formation and the ways in which social contexts, including family relationships, shape and constrain it. She will also consider her use of satire to expose the casual cruelty of which human beings are perfectly capable.
Charla, one our Program Committee members, has also informed me that although Sir Walter Elliot knows that as the expert on all of these topics he
really should be the one to address us, he is unfortunately unable to join us as he will be leaving for a grand tour in March. We will just have to muddle along without him!

Looking for some new reading material?

 Jane Austen Books will be bringing a selection of discounted books to the March meeting. Proceeds from the sale of these books will go towards our region’s Treasury to help fund future region events.
If you would like to bring a light snack to share, please contact myself or Mary Daubenspeck (fisherbodyjohne@aol.com) to coordinate. I look forward to seeing you there!

Proposal for a Region Reading Group

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!”—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Thank you to those who voiced their interest in beginning a reading group. We will continue to discuss this idea at the March meeting. If you have ideas or suggestions for a reading group, please bring those to share.