Last week Classic KING radio, in conjunction with Borders books, presented an advance screening of the movie "Becoming Jane." KING FM, a unique Northwest treasure presenting great classical music to our area, stays connected with its audience through Club 98, which offers members unique opportunities such as movie premières and advance screenings.
Club 98 members receive advanced notice of all these offerings through the KING FM newsletter, blasting into inboxes biweekly. You can sign up at king.org, and get in the know!
In 1995, former owners Harriet Bullitt and Patsy Collins established a mechanism that preserved KING FM's classical radio format and directs a percentage of station profits to three arts organizations - ArtsFund, the Seattle Opera and the Seattle Symphony. Since 1995, the station has earned more than $6 million for its beneficiary arts organizations. Classical KING FM is quick to engage new technology in broadcasting classical music. It was the first classical station in the country to stream its broadcast on the Internet.
The movie "Becoming Jane" stars Anne Hathaway, James MacAvoy and a host of fine, seasoned English actors. The year is 1795, and young Jane Austen is a feisty 20-year-old and emerging writer who already sees a world beyond class and commerce, beyond pride and prejudice, and dreams of doing what was then nearly unthinkable: marrying for love.
Naturally, her parents are searching for a wealthy, well-appointed husband to assure their daughter's future social standing. They are eyeing Mr. Wisley, nephew to the very formidable, not to mention very rich, local aristocrat Lady Gresham, as a prospective match. But when Jane meets the roughish and decidedly non-aristocratic Tom Lefroy, sparks soon fly along with the sharp repartee. His intellect and arrogance raise her ire - then knock her head over heels. Now, the couple, whose flirtation flies in the face of the sense and sensibility of the age, is faced with a terrible dilemma. If they attempt to marry, they will risk everything that matters - family, friends and fortune.
Produced in the United Kingdom, and filmed on location in Ireland, it is visually pleasing, with beautiful rolling countryside and woods, authentic coaching inns and the discomfort of coach travel, elegant stately homes and their interiors, and excellent costumes, all true to the period. "Becoming Jane" is an introduction of things to come, with the emerging of the future characters of "Pride and Prejudice," "Sense and Sensibility" and other Austen novels.
Members of the local Jane Austen Society attending the movie felt there was considerable poetic license taken in the name of romance between the very young Jane and Tom Lefroy. According to letters, there was indeed a very close friendship and attraction between the two, but no proof of an elopement. The consensus was, if the movie encouraged people to read Jane Austen's novels, it was certainly worthwhile.
The Jane Austen Society of North America was founded in 1979 and now has more than 2,800 members. It has chapters throughout North America and Canada. The society regards Austen as "possibly the greatest of English novelists" and a "prose Shakespeare." Her novels are appreciated by modern readers because she is considered an early feminist and an excellent social commentator. The local chapter founded in 1994 has more than 50 members, who meet regularly for interesting lectures, afternoon teas and costume events. In fact, there is a local meeting on Sunday, Aug. 12. For more information, visit www. austenps.com, or you can give me a call at 282-8161.
TTFN,
VJA (Viva Jane Austen)!
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