Preparing for Portland

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We’re off to the airport in a few hours to travel to Portland, OR for the JASNA Annual General Meeting. This year’s theme is “Jane Austen and the Abbey: Mystery, Mayhem and Muslin in Portland,” so you know the Editrix is looking forward to it, like Lydia Bennet sighing over a whole weekend of Henry Tilney! We hope to see some AustenBlog readers–do say hi if you see us! And do stop by the Team Tilney Explains It All presentation on Friday at 10 a.m.–the Editrix and West Coast Bureau Correspondent Heather L., along with Tilneyfan Kelley B. and Lynn Marie Macy, the playwright of a delightful adaptation of Northanger Abbey, will be exploding the myths about Henry Tilney and explaining why he rules, and that cranky dude drools.

The Oregonian had a good-natured, mildly snarky article about the Janeites descending on an unwary Portland. We are pretty well-behaved for the most part, so there should be no regrets about this event. 😉

10 thoughts on “Preparing for Portland”

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  6. LynnS

    Henry Tilney is a “Beta Male” & “Austen’s Feminized Hero???” Hmm….sounds to me like Cranky Mc Jerkpants is sponsoring these topics!

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    • LeSpinster

      Poor Henry; he gets no respect. Actually, I remember a pretty entertaining debate on whether or not Da Man was gay on a board I used to frequent. (Conclusion: If he was, Austen didn’t know about it.)

      I hope everyone has enjoyed the meeting. But with a whole weekend of Northanger style revelry, how could you not? I would love to know how the Team Tilney panel went!

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    • Kelley B

      I actually attended this session and the talk was very positive in Henry’s favor. The speaker was clearly and fan and was essentially dispelling any myths about Henry’s character. Some of the highlights were that Henry (unlike other heroes) actually likes the company of women and knows how to interact with them socially. He also discussed how remarkable it was that Henry and Eleanor managed to become such decent people having been raised under the influence of the General (most likely because their mother was a good woman). He also addressed Henry’s humor and and reasoning. When it was all said and done, we learned that Henry is easy-going, doesn’t feel the need to impose his pressence or be difficult around others, is comfortable with the opposite sex and is well-rounded individual unlike any other male character introduced by Jane Austen. During the Q&A, someone asked the speaker if he thought Henry was gay and he said “absolutely not…did you read that learning to love scene?”

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      • LeSpinster

        “During the Q&A, someone asked the speaker if he thought Henry was gay and he said ‘absolutely not…did you read that learning to love scene?'”

        Oh, I love that reply. Thanks for the report.

        There’s a lot to be said for Henry as the hero most comfortable with people in general, and women in particular. He really is as eloquent as Wentworth, and even, if such a thing is possible, more self-assured than Darcy. He should be more rightly understood.

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