Jane Austen

Jane Austen might be mildly surprised were she to read attempts to find an explanation for the current box-office successes her writing enjoys. A suggestion your Jan. 7 editorial offers is that there is a market for “well-written tales of manners, patience, decency, morals and intelligence.”

I believe, however, that it was frustration with the strict code of manners and class structure that provided a catalyst for much of Austen’s work. And though not expressed in vulgar terms, indecency was present in what she wrote about--the indecent vanity of the wealthy and the degradation of the poor .J.J. a powerful message in any age.

ELINOR BERNER

San Diego

* I fear that your readers may be left with the erroneous idea that Austen’s novels are too sweet or namby-pamby. Contrary to what was said in your editorial, there is vulgarity in the novels. Lydia Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” exhibits vulgarity--late 18th-century vulgarity to be sure but vulgarity all the same.

But the big reason for Austen’s continued popularity is her ability to write about terrible people and universally sad human experiences like bad marriages, cruel brothers and sisters, thoughtless and neglectful parents, single parents, broken hearts, hurt feelings and poor advice from trusted advisors.

True, there are no drive-by shootings in the Austen novels. No blood is let. But the kind of suffering we all experience is the stuff of her novels. In “Pride and Prejudice” Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who has money and power, is a controlling snob. She bullies everyone. Doesn’t it sound familiar? In the same novel Austen shows us the pain of what we’ve all had at some time or other--a broken heart--in the person of Jane Bennet.

So, we love Austen for her ability to write about these universal experiences so satisfactorily.

JOY NORSTRAND

Northridge