Hmm, it use to be fun to do the Jane Austen character tests, which some on this blog did in 2012. However, some of the newer tests have proved to be so inadequate and just plain "off", that these simple pleasures have fallen from grace.
I have a theory on this. Too many newer interpretations of Jane Austen heroines seem to be created by those who either have not read the books, or do not understand the world of Austen.
One cannot read literature from a 21st century point of view. Women and men had different roles in 1811 and later, and although the society was in a state of flux because of the wars, including the War of 1812, creating new wealth and changing the nature of leadership in the countryside, with the new rich, such roles remained relatively settled.
The newer tests have too many responses which demand a knowledge of popular culture which includes sleazy references. Not good for died-in-the-wool literature buffs are references to singers or movies or other things such persons may not know.
Which brings me to the real purpose of this post. The lack of real understanding of days past and the hubris of the modern mind that somehow the present culture is superior to cultures in the past, reveals a crassness, and a lack of empathy for those people who lived generations ago.
Hubris in a culture may be exhibited by barbarians, who think that their lifestyles somehow, even though non-reflective and violent, lie in a false strength based on power and might.
The barbarians at the gate of Rome hated the culture which they met. Many reasons may have led to their hatred of that civilization besides the desire for riches from plunder.
Think about the barbarians at the gate today. Their god is money. Barbarians only understand one thing-pleasure, and those who love Jane Austen realize that her books continually made fun of those characters who only wanted status and money-the barbarians of 1811.
Our culture has become so debased, we cannot even share humor, as the cultural norms for deciding things has changed so drastically that main ideas of history and literary criticism can no longer be shared.
Sad days....
