In this episode Gabriella and Claudette review Whit Stillman’s enchanting “Love & Friendship” based on Jane Austen’s epistolary novel Lady Susan. Among other things, Gabriella and Claudette chat about Stillman’s career, Kate Beckinsale’s star turn as Lady Susan Vernon, the “Cult of the Janeite” and what exactly constitutes a perfect Jane Austen adaptation.

Notes:

• Apologies for the intense airplane noises throughout the episode!
• “Austen’s Women” by Rebecca Vaughan is a one-woman-show showcasing thirteen character’s from Jane Austen’s ouevre.
• “The Cult of Jane Austen” by Deidre Shauna Lynch
• “Jane Austen’s real Mr Darcy unmasked by historian”: Historian Dr Susan Law posits that the first Earl of Morley, John Parker was the real inspiration for Austen’s Mr Darcy. His second wife, Frances Talbot, was a friend of Jane Austen. Unlike Mr Darcy, Morley’s life was riddled with scandal.
• The intriguing NYT profile on Stillman: “Whit Stillman and the Song of the Preppy”

Length: 47 mins, Recorded July 2016

iTunes Link/Download HERE