Thursday 18 July 2013

Leaving OUP (and which Jane Austen character are you?)

It feels as though it's only just started, but my time as blog editor of OxfordWords came to an end yesterday.  I was there on maternity cover, and the lovely woman who'd had her beautiful baby came back to the fore.  Although I was only there for just under six months, I've made some very dear friends, and was incredibly touched by the leaving gifts and cards I got.  As you'll see from my selection, I certainly didn't keep my love of the Queen (and kittens) quiet...


Notice also that my friend Fiona is feeding my Agatha Christie habit - and deliberately picked one with a dog on the cover, because of our long-running feud of cats v. dogs.  (This feud manifested itself almost entirely in sending each other cute pictures of our preferred animal.)

Luckily for me, they say I can still write for OxfordWords now and then, as an external writer, and I have one in the pipeline which isn't at all literary.  Today, though, to commemorate the anniversary of Jane Austen's death, my parting gift to OxfordWords was a 'Which Jane Austen character are you?' quiz - go and take it, and let me know who you ended up as!

(I'm Mr. Darcy, it turns out. Since I wrote the quiz, I could be accused of making sure of this... but I actually would have preferred to be Mr. Bingley...)

43 comments:

  1. I am Elizabeth Bennet, but I would have preferred to be Anne Elliot... Sic transit gloria mundi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, but Lizzie is easily the best heroine, surely?!

      Delete
  2. Mmm ... first I was Elizabeth Bennet, but I had accidently keyed in a choice because of an over-sensitive mouse. Then I changed my mind on one question and keyed in my real choice for the other(which may have been the same, but who knows?) and I became Anne Elliot. I think I wish I were Lizzie, but really I know I am Anne - she has always been closest to me when I have read Austen.
    So... next question - is OV Darcy or Captain Wentworth? Has to be Darcy, as he hates sailing! Oh dear!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am Emma Woodhouse. I am not to be trifled with. I am glad you had such an enjoyable experience in your last work. No doubt you'll make even more friends wherever else you may land.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But it is Lady Catherine who is not to be trifled with!

      Delete
  4. I am Lady Catherine - oh no! About the only worse result would be Aunt Norris! I'm off to take it again, and ponder my choices more carefully :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! And Aunt Norris wasn't an option. Well done with Lady C - she may be a horror, but we all have a soft spot for her, don't we?

      Delete
  5. I came out as Elizabeth Bennet and Charles Bingley...not the results I would have expected!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Marianne Dashwood? I'll take it but I don't know how many of my friends would agree

    ReplyDelete
  7. Some bloke called Fitzwilliam Darcy apparently. Now although I have watched a number of adaptions of the famous book this person appears in I have not read it, thus I am not really in a position to comment much upon the outcome!

    Beau Brummel's Fabulously Dark Puss

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently we have something in common, Peter!

      Delete
  8. "Dumb Witness" is a wonderful Poirot and that's an amazing cover!

    I'd like to think of myself as Anne Elliot but I'm probably not!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did very much enjoy Dumb Witness, and the doggy on the front is lovely :)

      Delete
  9. I am Anne Eliott, but Persuasion is on of the Jane Austen novels I haven't read yet, so I do not know how pleased I must be with this!
    And it is wonderful to see how your co-workers thought of you, very kind of them.

    Kind regards,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need to read Persuasion while I'm the same age as Anne, and that only gives me a few more months!

      Delete
  10. Elizabeth Bennett. So, is it my dark eyes, or the fact that I'm "not to be trifled with?" :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But it is Lady C who is not to be trifled with, so it must be those eyes!

      Delete
  11. Us chaps all seem to be ending up as Darcy. I didn't deliberately try to secure that outcome. I certainly have more in common with him than with easy-going Mr Bingley. I suspect, however, that Edward Ferrars is the male Austen character with whom I have most in common. Rachel (Book Snob) would not be impressed, judging by what she had to say about him in this blog post:
    http://bookssnob.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/sense-and-sensibility-whos-the-hero/
    It seems Rachel has a particular aversion to characters who might be described as weak or passive, of either gender, as you may have seen in another memorable recent post, this time inspired by a Monica Dickens novel:
    http://bookssnob.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/the-winds-of-heaven-by-monica-dickens/

    Are you rushing to get another job, or do you intend to complete the PhD first? Good luck with your forthcoming house move.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd much rather be Bingley, I have to admit. I did enjoy Rachel's post, and had my only little argue back in the comments ;)

      Delete
  12. What do you do after choosing Female or Male - reading the set of descriptions - choosing one - then what? Could find no hot link to continue with the quiz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It should work just by clicking on the answer you want, Nancy! Sorry not to get back to you sooner - hope it's worked out ok now.

      Delete
  13. Love the quiz - Elizabeth Bennett no less!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ah, Emma Woodhouse - great quiz, and a nice way to mark the end of your tenure. It must have been the most marvellous opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Vicki! It was such fun, the whole thing - and I was so pleased they let me make this quiz, and the Bible/Bard one, which was equally fun.

      Delete
  15. Well, I am Marianne Dashwood which was quite a surprise to me. But the quiz cannot lie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, there were a few growing pains, so you might have been Anne Elliot really ;)

      Delete
  16. Emma Woodhouse - I expected that though would have preferred to be Elizabeth Bennett. It could have been worse.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Funny, I took this quiz before: Which Austen Heroine are You? and I was Elinor Dashwood. This time, I am Marianne Dashwood: Young and impetuous, you let your heart rule your head, and can’t understand why anybody would do things the other way around. Just be careful you don’t end up getting hurt…

    However, my favourite character is Anne Elliot, the protagonist in my favourite Jane Austen novel, Persuasion. I think I am most like her. If we talk the Dashwood sisters, I am probably more like Elinor than like Marianne (even though that is my name).

    Marianne from Let's Read

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, Elinor wasn't an option in this quiz! I do love Elinor, and I'm definitely more like her than Marianne, if I had to pick.

      Delete
  18. The joy of pretending is that you don't get confined to one character, but can swap from one to another as the mood goes. What fun we will have in July 2017 - I'm planning my frock already!
    How about a game of 'Mix and Match'? Make pairs of lovers across the books - for example: Mr Wickham marries Isabella Thorpe or Willoughby pairs up with Miss Bingley. Oh, this is fun - try it yourself. I wonder how they would have got on together???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 2017 will indeed be fun! There is a fun combination of characters in Sybil Bedford's sequel Old Friends and New Fancies, from the early 20th century.

      Delete
  19. I am Marianne Dashwood apparently!
    I have to admit to not knowing this character very well & I would have said I'm more Elizabeth Bennett.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Marianne Dashwood too!

    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  21. Dear Simon,

    The quiz was brilliant and provided much need laughter during a library shelving move when tempers were frayed and there was no cake left. I was Anne Elliot so now I've invented a tragic past to mystify and delight my colleagues. Miss Elliot is good though I thought I would end up as Mary B so relief all round.

    Your Queen presents are wondeful but (I did search your blog but probably not too well) I couldn't see if you've been given or acquired yet The Audience by Peter Morgan. I bought Alice and Peter on the enthusiam of your review. So thank you!

    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, Sarah! I don't have The Audience, in fact I haven't actually heard of it - but I shall have a hunt around :)

      Delete

I've now moved to www.stuckinabook.com, and all my old posts are over there too - do come and say hello :)

I probably won't see your comment here, I'm afraid, but all my archive posts can also be found at www.stuckinabook.com.