Jane Austen's Home In Chawtoa

Home of Jane Austen

One of the courses that is offered in our study abroad program is Jane Austen in context. I am not in this class, but from the discussions that arise after each novel I feel very much so a part of it. When a novel is being studied we always watch one of the film makes on the bus, so that is also very informative. I am a fan of Jane Austen and love her work Pride and Prejudice. For one of our day trips we went to Chawtoa, the place of Jane Austen’s home.

Austen's Writing Desk

The Austen house was exactly like I had pictured it. In the front room there was an authentic piano that was played by all members of the family. All of my musically talented friends in the program got to play something from memory or read the old original sheet music that was on the piano. In the front room there was also a large writing desk that was originally her father’s and was later passed down to Jane. Many of her works were written on the family heirloom desk. She was not the only family member to write. Her mother enjoyed writing light verse, her brother James had literary pretensions, and her father did some free lance writing of his own to be kept unpublished. There was a small side table that was in Jane’s room where she would jot down notes that came to mind as well.

In the kitchen there was a hand-embroidered napkin made by Jane that had one of her very own quotes on it. At the moment I was walking through the house I thought it was a really clever quote that I could relate to. It said, “Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation.”  May Jane Austen live on through her literary works that connect with women all over the world.