Just read a fascinating article by Brian Brown at Humane Pursuits. Here’s the gist of his answer:
“I think we like Jane Austen because we like stories with men in them. Do not misunderstand me. We don’t watch a Jane Austen movie because Indiana Jones and Jason Bourne aren’t men. But we face—and have been facing for some time now—an identity crisis with which those heroes are no help.”
Take a look at “Why Men Like Jane Austen” and let me know what you think about it.
I concur with Mr. Brown. It is hard not to like the male heroes of Jane Austen. The man who has the utmost in manners and civility, all while shooting game on the family land…. and still wins the girl? That sort of heroism is noteworthy.
Thanks for sharing the article!
OK….my husband is not familiar with Jane ..so I went to my super film critic son (16) and asked him why he was interested in seeing Pride and Prejudice the other day…what did he think of what he had seem of Darcy (girls wanted time with mom so he didn’t get to stay ..lol ..but saw enough to comment)
as per Benji ….Darcy is a man becuase he IS a man, not becuase wields a sword and he is able to maintain being a man even as he falls in love..he doesn’t lose his manhood in order to be able to genuinely love and his manhood doesn’t come from sleeping with women, he is a man because that is what he is”
I (although not a man) would have to agree.
We are weary of men who yield their manhood in essence because they have no identity so they have to find worldly social media infused ways to show their manhood because they don’t know what it means to be a man and there are far to few examples of men…I am not against the sword weilding man, I think that is an element of manhood but far too many film characters wield a sword and are lame of character…El Cid is a great example being a man(of a man who wields a sword but has manly character)..
.I deplore the protracted adolesence of todays media contrived male…
those are my rambling comments my friend… the best I could manage with my brain pickling in pharmacy homework
Blessings dear sister
Clara in Miami
@Mom2Fab5
I completely agree. My ex never read “Pride and Prejudice” but he was the one who suggested sitting down to watch the Colin Firth version piece by piece borrowed from the library. He liked the simplicity of life and the fact that women were women and men were men. In Austen’s era, the code of conduct was very different. Moral absolutes of the church were still the moral absolutes of society. Real men behaved honorably, and if they didn’t everyone knew it. (The same goes for the behavior of women).
Good article, Mary Jo. Thanks for sharing.
Um, depends… do they wear their underwear backwards? 🙂
Maybe some men also like “Somewhere in Time” and “Pretty in Pink.”
Jay, I authorized your comments in the interest of public discourse, but I do not “approve” them. Important distinction! 🙂 If you can compare Jane Austen to “Pretty in Pink,” clearly you have not read or viewed Austen (or at least not enough).
As Lady Catherine said to Elizabeth (and as Michael Farris said to Israel Wayne on Facebook today): “I take no leave of you, Mr. Ryan. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.”
Sorry MJ, just funnin’ with you! Nope, never read Jane Austen, but stories aren’t really my bag, especially female-oriented stories. Didn’t mean to make trash your serious post.
No problem, Jay! I didn’t really take offense. Was just having some fun with the idea of authorizing vs. approving and giving you a hard time along the way. I figure if you can dish it out, you can take it too. 🙂