Was jane austen (1775-1817) black?

[dafydd manton]

Yes. Quite.


One small detail your rather interesting conspiracy theory omits is the social mores of the English middle classes in the 1800s. Blacks were, regrettably, considered to be little better than slaves. The attitude to non-English people would presumably have been a little more obvious in the books.

Might I just enquire as to what your personal axe to grind is, in propounding your theory?

[Egmond Codfried]

Might I just enquire as to what your personal axe to grind is, in propounding your theory?

No axe to grind, mate. Lets just stick to the sources, shall we?



Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood, a person described by Jane Austen as 'very brown' with eyes, 'very dark.' The lovely Miss Winslet is white, blond and blue eyed. Does this not go against the intentions of the writer?

Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen
Chapter 10

Miss Dashwood had a delicate complexion, regular features, and a remarkably pretty figure. Marianne was still handsomer. Her form, though not so correct as her sister's, in having the advantage of height, was more striking; and her face was so lovely, that when, in the common cant of praise, she was called a beautiful girl, truth was less violently outraged than usually happens. Her skin was very brown, but, from its transparency, her complexion was uncommonly brilliant; her features were all good; her smile was sweet and attractive; and in her eyes, which were very dark, there was a life, a spirit, an eagerness, which could hardily be seen without delight. From Willoughby their expression was at first held back, by the embarrassment which the remembrance of his assistance created. But when this passed away, when her spirits became collected, when she saw that to the perfect good breeding of the gentleman, he united frankness and vivacity, and above all, when she heard him declare, that of music and dancing he was passionately fond, she gave him such a look of approbation, as secured the largest share of his discourse to herself for the rest of his stay.

http://classiclit.about.com/library/...ten-sen-10.htm

[dafydd manton]

Sources. Portrait of Jane by her sister Cassandra. White.

Father - Anglican rector - first black Anglican priest not ordanined until 20th century

Mother - of the Baronetcy of Leigh, Stoneleigh, Warwicks. Family still extant, family records held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Black aristocrats were UNKNOWN in the 18th and 19th Century.

[kiki1982]

http://classiclit.about.com/library/...ten-sen-10.htm

Uhm, 'from its transparency, her complexion was uncommonly brilliant'.

May we remark that proper people, so not the working class, were supposed not to come in the sun (as they did not have to work) and were supposed to be as white as possible so as to show that they did not needed to work? To the extent of sea-captains like Admiral Croft in Persuasion being talked of as sad cases because their faces are worn and brown (of work, of course). Hence the 'transparancy' of Marianne's complexion. So yes, let's stick to the source. Ever seen a 'transparent' complexion in a black person? Certainly in albino's they exist, but, hey, they are white, right?

Hence also the 1940s fashion of colouring one's eyelids with blue eye-shadow, because, the eyelids are very thin in terms of skin and the blue veins easily shine through if one is very white-skinned. To help this effect a bit, they put colouring on their eyelids.

May we also remark that black eyes do not necessarily mean black skin? Italian people have black eyes in some cases, yet they are still classed as white caucasian.

[Egmond Codfried]

Mother - of the Baronetcy of Leigh, Stoneleigh, Warwicks. Family still extant, family records held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Black aristocrats were UNKNOWN in the 18th and 19th Century.

And you know all of this, how?

Charles II Stuart (1630-1685), named The Black Boy. Described by Parliament in a wanted poster as : ‘a tall black man. James Boswell wrote: ‘The swarthy Stuart.

[kelby_lake]

But in the 19th century, 'dark' often just meant dark hair, eyes, and not pasty white skin. I think if this were true, someone would have discovered it well before now.

[Egmond Codfried]

Uhm, 'from its transparency, her complexion was uncommonly brilliant'.

May we remark that proper people, so not the working class, were supposed not to come in the sun (as they did not have to work) and were supposed to be as white as possible so as to show that they did not needed to work? To the extent of sea-captains like Admiral Croft in Persuasion being talked of as sad cases because their faces are worn and brown (of work, of course). Hence the 'transparancy' of Marianne's complexion. So yes, let's stick to the source. Ever seen a 'transparent' complexion in a black person? Certainly in albino's they exist, but, hey, they are white, right?

Hence also the 1940s fashion of colouring one's eyelids with blue eye-shadow, because, the eyelids are very thin in terms of skin and the blue veins easily shine through if one is very white-skinned. To help this effect a bit, they put colouring on their eyelids.

May we also remark that black eyes do not necessarily mean black skin? Italian people have black eyes in some cases, yet they are still classed as white caucasian.

Then please enlighten us further on:

'Mr Elton, spruce, black and smiling.'

and

Mr. Henry Crawford: absolutely plain, black and plain.'

His sister, by the way was: 'brown.'

But in the 19th century, 'dark' often just meant dark hair, eyes, and not pasty white skin. I think if this were true, someone would have discovered it well before now.

The information is just sitting there, but consciously ignored.

My research provides the motivation, the historical reason to portray Austen and her work as 'white.'

Uhm, 'from its transparency, her complexion was uncommonly brilliant'.

May we remark that proper people, so not the working class, were supposed not to come in the sun (as they did not have to work) and were supposed to be as white as possible so as to show that they did not needed to work? .

Queen Alexandra, her daughter and mother, Queen of Denmark, both named Louise.: looking mighty brown and frizzled haired, but no other African features, just these two!

Please read this source on the practice of Enamelling and Queen Alexandra

Enamelling
The process is a form of face painting. Its main aim was to achieve the look of younger, whiter skin. This was accomplished by applying a white base, followed by rouge for ‘rosy’ cheeks. Thin blue lines were sometimes added to mimick superficial blood vessels thereby giving the skin the appearance of translucency. It is probable that there were variations in how the process was done. Alexandra was reputed to have preferred an overall pink look.

http://cosmeticsandskin.com/aba/quee...enamelling.php

[MarkBastable]

Egmond writes in exactly the same tone of voice as Musicology, and his modus operandi is strikingly similar. Have the two of them ever been seen in one place at the same time?

[dafydd manton]

Have you tried looking at the following COLOUR portraits of Charles II?
Dobson 1642
Wright 1661
Riley
Beale 1670

White. Every single one. White

How do I know a bit about the Leigh family? Studied it at school, since we lived but 4 miles from Stoneleigh, just outsided Leamington Spa.

Frankly it doesn't matter one tiny little bit what colour Austen was anyway, but, like many people, ridiculous theories irritate me.

Amyway, Gentlemen, you will have to excuse me, but I have some close observation work to do in researching Genus Poaceae (sub-family Pooideae), and the point at which it should be encouraged to release cis-3-Hexenal. Could be very interesting.

[Egmond Codfried]

Egmond writes in exactly the same tone of voice as Musicology, and his modus operandi is strikingly similar. Have the two of them ever been seen in one place at the same time?

Please, lets not have all that nonsense. Just read the damme article, please. I'm new at this site and the only person in the whole world who talks about my own blue blood is black blood theory. I'm sure this other person cannot top that! I'm from Surinam, live in Holland, which I hope to quit before they pull another Holocaust on blacks, coloureds and muslims.

[dafydd manton]

Ah, the afore-mentioned Axe comes to light!

[Egmond Codfried]

Have you tried looking at the following COLOUR portraits of Charles II?
Dobson 1642
Wright 1661
Riley
Beale 1670

White. Every single one. White

.

NEWS FLASH1
OBAMA IS WHITE, BECAUSE THIS PORTRAIT SHOWS HIM AS WHITE!

[dafydd manton]

Oh stroll on, that's a PHOTOGRAPH!!!! EVEN I, WITH LIMITED SKILLS, CAN MAKE A PERSON GREEN, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE THEM THE INCREDIBLE HULK. We're talking about 400 hundred year old OIL PAINTINGS......or are we to assume that the paint faded?!

[MarkBastable]

NEWS FLASH!
AUSTEN WAS BLACK, BECAUSE THIS PORTRAIT SHOWS HER AS...er...well, pretty white, really. But a bit black. Possibly.

[Egmond Codfried]

Oh stroll on, that's a PHOTOGRAPH!!!! EVEN I, WITH LIMITED SKILLS, CAN MAKE A PERSON GREEN, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE THEM THE INCREDIBLE HULK. We're talking about 400 hundred year old OIL PAINTINGS......or are we to assume that the paint faded?!

The highest nobility used white make up and skin bleaches. They used whitened portraits for propogandistic purposes.


Queen Mary of Scots, great-grandmother of Charles II Stuart “the Black Boy.’



black



white