“But now suppose as much as you chuse; give a loose to your fancy, indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford …”  (Pride and Prejudice, chapter 60)

I’ve taken Lizzy’s advice and indulged my imagination by entering another Austen-related writing contest … of a slightly different sort.  This time it’s “Bad Austen” (http://badausten.com/) where entrants are invited to parody her style in whatever outrageous way they like, taking Austen places she’s never gone before.  Not that my submissions (“Miss Dashwood Gets Down and Dirty” and “Woman of Wonder”) are that outrageous.

Some may say it’s disrespectful to take such liberties with her canonical work.  But I think Jane would have approved.  Her own slightly irreverent sense of humor (which peeks out here and there in her novels and more so in her letters) is one reason we enjoy her writing so much.  I suspect that, if she’d thought she could get away with it, she might have been tempted to throw in the occasional zombie, super hero, or mud wrestling scene too.