Katherine White, of the Addison's Disease Self-Help Group, has published an article in the British Medical Journal's Medical Humanities magazine that questions the commonly held belief that Jane Austen died of Addison's, suggesting instead that the author died of "bovine tuberculosis"--a disease once common and probably contracted from drinking unpasteurised milk.The Times and the Guardian seem to have bought this story; AustenBlog begs leave to doubt.
Note: The Times article failed to impress me with the following lines:
"Ill health and hypochondria were already important themes in her novels, most famously in Pride and Prejudice, where Jane Bennet’s mother makes her daughter ride to Netherfield Hall in the rain for dinner with Mr Bingley. She is subsequently struck down with a life-endangering fever, thus prolonging her stay."Um. No. There is a fever, but it's far from "life-endangering". (Maybe they're thinking of Sense and Sensibility?) Either way, I wouldn't call Jane's illness "an important theme" in P&P--more a handy plot device.
Also, they spelled the title of the attached image as "Austin", which leads me to wonder WHO EDITS THIS CRAP.
Labels: Jane Austen
3 Comments:
I did find the snippet that you quoted puzzling, too, since it was just a plot device, not a major theme.
But not knowing facts hardly keeps people from talking as though they're experts.
12:15 PM
I know, but I'm always amazed when people get careless with Jane Austen stuff--it's not like she has an easy-going, super-forgiving fan base, you know?
12:54 PM
Also, it's Netherfield Park, not Netherfield Hall. God, Times people. Get it right.
1:00 PM
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