Jane Austen fans.

Did people know about fossils etc at the time the series was set?

The famous Mary Anning was collecting fossils in Lyme Regis at the beginning of the 19th century.

Actually probably a decade or two after Jane Austen's time. But I guess it was a common past time prior to Mary A getting involved.

escaped

The famous Mary Anning was collecting fossils in Lyme Regis at the beginning of the 19th century.

I think this drama is set in about 1830.

Mary Anning discovered the skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus in about 1811 or 1812 I think.
At the beginning of that century people couldn't travel to Europe because of the Napoleonic Wars so holidayed at home and fossil hunting became a fashionable hobby.

I enjoyed it, yes it did take a while to work out who everyone was, but it was very tastefully portrayed and such a change from all the detective, murder, police etc dramas that seem to fill our screens not to mention the celebrity and reality trash. I must say it was nice to have to concentrate on the plot re the characters. Most dramas nowadays I can read a book while watching and still fully follow the storyline.

Allira

escaped

The famous Mary Anning was collecting fossils in Lyme Regis at the beginning of the 19th century.

I think this drama is set in about 1830.

Mary Anning discovered the skeleton of an Ichthyosaurus in about 1811 or 1812 I think.
At the beginning of that century people couldn't travel to Europe because of the Napoleonic Wars so holidayed at home and fossil hunting became a fashionable hobby.

But Cassandra was born in 1773. And would they have known that the world was mostly covered by oceans at one time? I suppose she's older in tonights episode than I thought. Having said that I came upon tonights episode while I was channel hopping and it looked more interesting than last weeks so I'll watch it properly now I've binge watched Amandaland.

Apparently, this French guy, Georges Cuvier, 1769 - 1832, was the founding father of paleontology.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202502/medium-397382-520px-behaims-erdapfel.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202502/medium-539615-theatrum-orbis-terrarum-by-abraham-ortelius-world-1572.jpg

I confess I haven't watched it but thought it was set in about 1830.

I think humankind have known about the oceans for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Certainly Raleigh, Drake, Columbus, da Gama and others had explored the oceans.

A globe from 1492 and a map from 1570:

I have found this drama very engaging. One last episode r
To bb

Re fossil hunting: the novel Possesion by A.S Byatt which is a story within a story and revolves around a famous female fossil hunter in the later 19th century so part historic fact part comedic caper.

The idea that the surface of the earth was a succession of plates that move around, thus oceans moved round and spread less or more widely with the ice ages was only theorised and proven in the 20th century.

Louis Agassiz would have been developing the evidence of Ice Ages in the last decade of Cassandra Austen's life. As fas as I know she did not follow scientific matters deeply, so was unlikely to know about his reearch and results.

The Origin of Species was not published until 1859. Cassandra would have believed and accepted the teachings of the church that God made the world in 7 days and it had been more or less unchanged since then.

She would however be knowledgable of world geography and the distribution of oceans and continents. Her two youngest brothers went into the navy and variously served in the West Indies and East Indies.

I never got this when younger just too much to take in from the books but just watched all 4 episodes and I loved it.
Loved the actress who played Jane and of course Keeley Hawes can do no wrong.

So tried to read Sense and Sensibility and again too much info to remember so watched the film on Netflix and really enjoyed it. I can’t believe it’s 30 years old and I did adore Alan Rickman in it.

Have seen Emma and loved that too.

So now looking for all the films from her books.

Just shows what you can miss in life…..😀

Granmarderby10

I have found this drama very engaging. One last episode r
To bb

Re fossil hunting: the novel Possesion by A.S Byatt which is a story within a story and revolves around a famous female fossil hunter in the later 19th century so part historic fact part comedic caper.

I’ve read the (excellent) book based on Mary Anning’s discoveries by Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable Creatures. It follows her from childhood when she helped her father collect them on the beach to sell small fossils from his shop, before it became a popular pastime to collect fossils. When she found her first dinosaur skeleton which was displayed in the British museum, it was big news, it would have been in all the newspapers, so I’m sure the Austens would have known about it.

If you're ever in Lyme Regis, the museum has several Jane Austen artefacts lent to it by the family. ( I don't remember seeing any of her letters, but I might be wrong). I'm sure there was something about Jane meeting high society people at The Assembly Rooms and showing ammonites they had found on the beach.

Granmarderby10

I have found this drama very engaging. One last episode r
To bb

Re fossil hunting: the novel Possesion by A.S Byatt which is a story within a story and revolves around a famous female fossil hunter in the later 19th century so part historic fact part comedic caper.

WE must have read different versions. My copy accords with the synopsis given by Amazon
It is the tale of a pair of young scholars investigating the lives of two Victorian poets. Following a trail of letters, journals and poems they uncover a web of passion, deceit and tragedy, and their quest becomes a battle against time.

Nothing comedic about it.

In Possession, fictional poets Ash and LaMotte do go fossil hunting in Yorkshire posing as a married couple but I wonder if Granmarderby10 is mixing this story up with Tracey Chevalier’s novel Remarkable Creatures based on the life of the very famous Mary Anning. Anning’s father was a cabinet maker who did come into contact with Jane Austen.

merlotgran

Having to read Northanger Abbey for mock ‘O’ level put me off Jane Austen for many years but there’s nothing like a good old Regency costume drama to get things back on track and there have been plenty of those to enjoy over the years.

We read Northanger Abbey at school before O level, and I enjoyed it, especially the character of Isabella, since I knew girls similar in my year!

I did Northanger Abbey for A level. The first piece of written work we were given was to write a chapter from a fictitious Gothick novel using everything we learned about these novels by reading NA.

Apart from meaning we all had to read the book right from the start, we aso had great fun exercising our wildest fantasies producing our own Gothick novel and sourcing it from NA.

Well that was a quick engagement, though I do admire Jane for breaking it off and going with her true heart.
We would never have had her greatest works.

I watched the last 2 episodes tonight. Loved the series. I was very impressed by the casting. The young and older Cassandra looked so similar. And Jane looked so like the picture of her painted I think by Cassandra. The costumes were good and I don't care if there were some furnishings etc from the wrong period. I loved it all.

The final scenes in episode 4 I found very moving.

escaped

Well that was a quick engagement, though I do admire Jane for breaking it off and going with her true heart.
We would never have had her greatest works.

I thought Jane did an idiotic thing in accepting the young chap if she hadn’t thought about it first.And cruel to end it the next morning.Mind you this is fiction isn’t it?
I’m loving every episode and the actress playing Jane is very good.The young Cassandra is quite boring and has no character to speak of.I like the actress playing Mary, Jessica ……?
Wasn’t she in the comedy Spaced?

The actess playing Jane is good & character is very engaging.
Jane loved the place, loved the county, the family. The young man wasn't in any way repellent ( & I think a lot of Jane Austen's men are).
But the main factor, surely, was Cassandra rejecting such an eligible suitor (Henry) for overly sentimental reasons & also so as not to leave Jane alone. Jane's acceptance was a knee-jerk reaction to this & even in Georgian times I wouldn't have thought he could be that heartbroken on 24 hrs of such slight acquaintance.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, followed by the TV programme.

I thought maybe the 2 sisters had been instrumental in bringing about their brother's proposal of marriage? Jane just got a bit carried away.

I was disappointed by the first episode, like other posters I found the timescales and characters confusing. I rewatched it (when less tired!) and it all made sense, sufficiently for me to binge watch the rest of the episodes immediately. A second look was definitely worth it!

Remember this series was the dramatisation of a modern work of fiction, so does not necessarily reflect what the life of the 2 sisters was really like or the decisisons they made in relation to either other family members or, even, each other. It is merely the dramatisation of a fictionalised version of their lives.