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Ep39: The Thing About Mrs. Dashwood's Linens

5/22/2022

John and Fanny Dashwood are sadly waving goodbye to some valuable household objects, and we're here to explain why they really need to get over themselves. This episode we're looking at the linens in Sense and Sensibility, and the role of such objects in Austen's time.

Selected Sources:

Boase, Tessa. The Housekeeper’s Tale: The Women Who Really Ran the English Country House. London: Aurum Press, 2015.
Brodie, Antonia. “Marking and Memory: An Embroidered Sheet in the Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.” TEXTILE 14, no. 2: Emotional Textiles (May 3, 2016): 160–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759756.2016.1139381.
Buchan, William. Domestic Medicine: Or a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines. 14th ed. London, 1794.
Dolan, Alice. “The Fabric of Life: Time and Textiles in an Eighteenth-Century Plebeian Home.” Home Cultures 11, no. 3 (November 2014): 353–74. https://doi.org/10.2752/175174214X14035295691238.
———. “Touching Linen: Textiles, Emotion and Bodily Intimacy in England C. 1708-1818.” Cultural and Social History 16, no. 2 (March 15, 2019): 145–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780038.2019.1586810.
Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn. North and South. Edited by Angus Easson. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Postrel, Virginia. The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World. New York: Basic Books, 2020.
St Clair, Kassia. The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History. London: John Murray, 2018.
Victoria and Albert Museum. “Linen – The Original Sustainable Material,” April 2018. https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/linen-the-original-sustainable-material.

Ep38: The Thing About Louisa's Fall with guest Dr. Matthew Reznicek

5/12/2022

This week we're joined by guest Dr. Matthew Reznicek as we discuss one of the most pivotal scenes in Persuasion. In addition to Louisa's injury and the treatment she receives, we also examine the role of Anne as caregiver and the various ways that health and illness come up in the novel.

Episode content warning: Discussion of traumatic brain injury and depression.

Thank you so much to Matthew for joining us for this episode! You can find him on Twitter @drreznicek.

Selected Sources

Klass, Perri. “‘A Sick Child Is Always the Mother’s Property’: The Jane Austen Pediatric Trauma Management Protocol.” The Journal of Medical Humanities 42, no. 1 (March 2021): 121–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-020-09664-0.
Richardson, Alan. “Of Heartache and Head Injury: Reading Minds in Persuasion.” Poetics Today 23, no. 1 (2002): 141–60.

Ep37: The Thing About Petty-France

5/5/2022

If General Tilney's chaise leaves Bath at 10 am and Henry's curricle also leaves Bath at 10 am and there are x postilions and y outriders and Catherine really, really, really just wants to get to the abbey, how many capes are on Henry's greatcoat?

This episode we're all about schedules and mileage (and Henry's greatcoat), as we journey along with Catherine and stopover at Petty-France.

Selected Sources

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey. Edited by James Kinsley and John Davie. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.
Cantrell, Dean. “Yes, There Is a Petty France.” Persuasions 9 (1987): 36.
Jones, Hazel. Jane Austen’s Journeys. London: Hale, 2014.
Lane, Maggie. Jane Austen’s England. London: Hale, 1996.
Le Faye, Deirdre. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels. London: Frances Lincoln, 2003.
Mogg, Edward. Mogg’s Pocket Itinerary of the Direct and Cross Roads of England and Wales, with Part of the Roads of Scotland. London, 1828.
The Bodkin. “Stay.” Accessed April 30, 2022. https://thebodkin.co.uk/.

Episodes

Ep39: The Thing About Mrs. Dashwood's Linens

Ep38: The Thing About Louisa's Fall with guest Dr. Matthew Reznicek

Ep37: The Thing About Petty-France

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