Jane Austen's Cults & Cultures @ 92YTribeca

There was a brigade of women & 1 brave man who attended Prof. Claudia Johnson's lecture on the enduring fascination with  Jane Austen's (JA) literary legacy.  Johnson is a Prof. of Lit. @ Princeton Univ., Chair of their English dept. and a published author on Austen's life and work.  The erudite Prof. spoke too long regarding arcane information.  I was not interested in learning about one nephew's biography on her life or of her great nephew, Lord Brabourne, who published her letters posthumously.  Johnson did speak to JA's "wit, clarity and artistic control."  Johnson even described JA as a magical, literary alchemist.  But let's discuss why Austen's novel's have been embedded in so many reader's hearts for 2 Centuries?  The Prof. addressed the magical dullness of gentry & small village lives back in the late 18th & early 19thC.  Therein lies the continuous fascination with Austen's legendary literature. This Badger with a B.S. degree feels that JA captured a time in history when life was mundane but given JA's artistry, we are able to romantize about this long gone era with wonder and admiration.  However, after enjoying JA's indelible depiction of her day, I'm thankful to be living in the 21st C because life back then must have been unbearably boring.