The Austen Connection | Plain Jane | Substack

Jane Austen and the Manosphere

Men are searching for their place. Jane Austen can help with that.

May 30

The Guide: 2026 Great Jane Austen Read-Along

Here's an overview guide for the rotating discussion posts of the Great Jane Austen Read-Along - with updates along the way

Feb 11

Love is blind and attention is power

Love and objectification in the Attention Economy, and in Jane Austen

Apr 18

Reading Mansfield Park in the #MeToo era

Fanny Price is a heroine for our times

Mar 28

Jane Austen goes to the Oscars

‘Jane Austen’s Period Drama’ gives the Austen fandom something to root for.

Mar 14

Most Popular

‘She was only Anne’

Nov 9, 2025

Shhh. We're reading Northanger Abbey

Feb 9, 2025

'I hope I do not break your heart'

Jul 18, 2024

A Jane Austen heroine resists

Jul 27, 2025

Read-Along

Pride and Prejudice Week 7 - Jane Austen's most famous father

Happy Father's Day! We're making up our minds about Mr. Bennet

Jun 14

Pride and Prejudice Week 6 - next stop: Pemberley

We're in pursuit of novelty and amusement. We have expectations of pleasure. We're tired of great houses. We're at Volume 3 of 'Pride and Prejudice'

Jun 7

Pride and Prejudice Week 5 - Darcy and Lizzy face off

It's the iconic disastrous proposal! Plus, a special guest post from author Devoney Looser

May 31

Adieu to disappointment - Week 4 of 'Pride and Prejudice'

We're taking sides in Hertfordshire and speaking up at Rosings. We're dissatisfied with the world but what are men to rocks and mountains. We're reading…

May 24

Recent posts

Fire on ice: Heated Rivalry, Elizabeth and Darcy, and enemies-to-lovers romance

And what it all has to do with Jane Austen

Mar 7

The violent, Romantic logic of ‘Wuthering Heights’

And Emily Bronte’s Model Collapse

Feb 21

Reading Jane Austen for the first time

Let's talk about love and Big Books - with tips from Librarian Tabrizia Jones and Plain Jane

Feb 14

My Top 10 Jane Austen Lectures on YouTube

We're hanging out with Jane Austen videos. Netflix and chill, without Netflix. Plus, an extravaganza of Jane Austen links!

Feb 7

We're coming for you, 2026

We're talking about and reading Jane Austen, together, all year long.

Jan 18

Joy, senseless joy!

We've spent a year reading Jane Austen, together - let's celebrate!

Dec 14, 2025

How to be a Leading Man

'Persuasion' and a picture of perfection

Dec 7, 2025

Jane Austen is a Desi Muslim Auntie

Six questions for author Noreen Mughees about 'Persuasion', Muslim romance, and second-chance love

Nov 30, 2025