Two Faces Have I

After sending my blog link to Springsteen and I (http://www.springsteenandi.com/) and being told that they loved the idea and wanted me to send a film of the main points, I put together this script:

“Two Faces Have I”

            By day I am an English teacher. For 39 years I’ve taught literature and composition. After hours I am a Bruce Fanatic. For the past 11 years my daughter Alexa and I have attended 24 shows together, all but 2 in the pit. Even though I’m a professional educator, it’s at a Springsteen concert that I feel the most like me.

            As a British Literature teacher, I am passionate about Jane Austen. I have participated in events wearing Regency dress. I have traveled to sites associated with her, like Bath or Chawton. I have written a curriculum on Pride and Prejudice, and I read her works often.

            I am also a passionate Springsteen fan. I have created a “Bruce book” with memorabilia from the concerts – photos, wristbands, set lists, and reviews. I even have my “funeral set list” in my Bruce book. I’ve listed on an Excel spreadsheet the concerts and songs I’ve heard live. I listen to Springsteen all the time. He’s the only Boss I listen to, to use a cliché!

            I have so many happy memories on the Bruce trail. My daughter and I danced in the rain in Shea Stadium in 2003; in the fall of 2012, Alexa and I again danced in the rain at Wrigley Field. I’ve made fast friends, my beloved Bruce Buddies, attending the Devils and Dust concert in Chicago and the Magic Tour at Gillette Stadium. I have a crew of Bruce buddies in St. Paul and Kansa City. My NJ Bruce buddy not only took us to Giants Stadium for the Working on the Dream tour, she also escorted us to the sites in Freehold, Belmar, Asbury Park, and Long Branch.  Three words that capture my perspective of Springsteen are “from the heart.” Bruce’s works are authentic and passionate. His songs create connections.

            Jane Austen’s works are also true, full of authentic human emotions, and create bonds. I have so many new friends because of our shared love of Jane – fellow Janeites! I’ve traveled for Jane Austen conventions, though not as widely as I have for Springsteen. Some words that might describe me are a “rock and roll nerd.” Maybe that describes Bruce, too.

            This fall, after thinking about what both of my passions mean to me, I decided to create a blog combining the Boss and Jane Austen. Here are some sections from my BossJane blog:

“And So It Begins”

            As I was at the Jane Austen convention last weekend, I found myself contemplating the richness of my life. Here I was, in Regency dress, promenading through the streets of Brooklyn, kicking up my well-shod heels in English Country dances, and enjoying my first JASNA AGM.

            A mere four weeks earlier, I had been at Wrigley Field, in the pit for a Springsteen Concert. The next night I'd been on the rooftops, watching the action from afar, but still participating with Bruce and the crowd with every fiber of my rain-drenched being.

            Whether rain-soaked and rocking on, or turban-topped and gently promenading, I was dancing to the music all around me and experiencing life in its fullest. How lucky am I to be able to indulge in both of my obsessions ! Am I one of the few who follows with full heart and all enthusiasm the two icons of their times: Jane Austen and Bruce Springsteen? Am I the sole connection between these two disparate but perhaps united artists?

Janey Don’t You Lose Heart:

            Both Bruce and Jane Austen know the comforting power of a friend when one is suffering a broken heart. As Bruce proclaims, "You got your book baby with all its fears/Let me honey and I'll catch your tears...." In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzy caught Jane's tears as her sister read the news of the Bingley party's departing from Netherfield. Enduring a broken heart without a shoulder to cry on is the height of loneliness in both the genteel world of Jane and the bitter landscapes of Bruce.

On Paracosms and Microcosms:

            …Austen constructs an imaginary, detailed world that is as authentic and vivid as Springsteen’s New Jersey. Austen’s microcosm is as true as Bruce’s paracosm. Because both artists did not try to be citizens of some “artificial globalized community” but reached deeply into his or her own traditions, they have generated a passion for their works that knows no bounds. Because both artists are committed to authenticity, they allow their audience to perceive a larger reality than the small worlds each created. Because both paint particular landscapes and do not pretend to represent a larger yet unfamiliar community, they reach the world. Springsteen fans in Madrid and Austen fans in Australia are at home. I, too, dwell comfortably in both worlds.

            …Both Jane Austen and Bruce know the restorative powers of dance: “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” is the main reason that the Bennet sisters clamor for Bingley to hold a ball at Netherfield. Because, "Dancing in the Dark" is the surest way to heal a broken heart. 

            My obsessions are my life. I have a Springsteen poster in my classroom, a Christmas gift from a student. My Christmas present to my husband was a portrait of me in a Regency ball gown. My enthusiasms define me. I am a better person, and I enjoy life so much more, because I’m a fan of Bruce and Jane.

Of Paracosms and Microcosms

This summer, I read a brilliant op ed. piece by David Brooks in the New York Times (“The Power of the Particular,” June 25, 2012). His thesis is that “when we are children, we invent these detailed imaginary worlds that the child psychologists call ‘paracosms.’ These landscapes, sometimes complete with imaginary beasts, heroes and laws, help us orient ourselves in reality.” Brooks asserts that we carry this need into adulthood, and that those authors and creative souls who reach a large global audience ironically create a very localized and small, yet vivid, detailed, imaginary world. Such artists include J.K. Rowling and Evelyn Waugh, but, most particularly, Bruce Springsteen.

A worldwide audience knows the landscape and characters of the paracosm that Springsteen has created over a forty-year plus career. Millions of fans can identify Greasy Lake, Highway 9, the boardwalk of Asbury Park (now truly a City of Ruins), or the back roads of Nebraska. The ghosts, tramps, and downtrodden citizens of Springsteen’s landscapes are familiar: Tom Joad, Johnny 99, and Outlaw Pete, to name a few. Springsteen’s success, Brooks suggests, is because he has the gift of the particular, which gives the Troubadour of the Road “depth and definition.” Because Springsteen stays true to the roots and traditions he knows best, he is able to reach hundreds of millions. One does not have to be “Born in the USA” to be a citizen of Springsteen’s paracosm.

Likewise, Jane Austen is noted for creating a miniature world in the countryside of England, peopled with familiar denizens. In fact, one of the most famous quotations about the small scale of Austen’s six completed novels is one she penned to her sister in a letter, where she spoke of her works as paintings “on a little bit of ivory two inches wide” (November 26, 1815). When I read and reread Pride and Prejudice, I can picture the country lanes leading into Meryton or the fields and forests through which Elizabeth Bennet roamed. I am quite familiar with the annoying personality of Mrs. Bennet, the shyness of Jane, the arrogance (at first only) of Darcy, and the pomposity of Collins. Jane Austen, too, has the gift of the particular.

Austen constructs in Hampshire an imaginary, detailed world that is as authentic and vivid as Springsteen’s New Jersey. Austen’s microcosm – a small world which mirrors the larger universe – is as true as Bruce’s paracosm. Because both artists did not try to be citizens of some “artificial globalized community” but reached deeply into his or her own traditions, they have generated a passion for their works that knows no bounds. Because both artists are committed to authenticity, they allow their audience to perceive a larger reality than the small worlds each created. Because both paint particular landscapes and do not pretend to represent a larger yet unfamiliar community, they reach the world. Springsteen fans in Madrid and Austen fans in Australia are at home. I, too, dwell comfortably in both worlds.

"Janey, Don't You Lose Heart"

A shout out to my Bruce Buddy, Sara, for the title and inspiration of my latest blog. Both Bruce and Jane Austen "sing" about broken hearts, disappointment in love, and relationships gone awry. As I get to know Jane better and better through JASNA, I'm convinced that she also knew personally the vagaries of a broken heart. If not, she certainly wrote with great insight about how disappointment in love can cause even sensible girls like Jane Bennet to weep themselves to sleep.

But, both Bruce and Jane Austen know the comforting power of a friend when one is suffering a broken heart. As Bruce proclaims, "You got your book baby with all its fears/Let me honey and I'll catch your tears...." Lizzie caught Jane's tears as her sister read the news of the Bingley party's departing from Netherfield - or rather comforted Jane as well as she could, for Jane Bennet showed little of her inner anguish. Enduring a broken heart without a shoulder to cry on is the height of loneliness in both the genteel world of Jane and the bitter landscapes of Bruce.

Even though Lizzie Bennet tartly tells her sister, Jane, that "a girl likes to be crossed in love now and then" for it is something to think about, both Bruce and Jane Austen know the devastation of the heart when one is crossed in love, when one has "no new dreams to touch" (Springsteen). The dreams of love of young girls on the marriage market facing either a sordid relationship or certain spinsterhood are tinged with a sadness that Bruce, the troubadour, also ascertains. The emptiness of Janey and the cynicism of Lizzie are not surprising. Both emotions are the remnants of disappointment in love.

But, on a lighter note - both Jane Austen and Bruce know the restorative powers of dance: “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” is the main reason that the Bennet sisters clamor for Bingley to hold a ball at Netherfield. Because, "Dancing in the Dark" is the surest way to heal a broken heart. 

Degrees of Separation

As I was at the AGM last weekend, I found myself contemplating the fulness and richness of my life. Here I was, in Regency dress, promenading through the streets of Brooklyn, kicking up my well-shod heels in country dances, and enjoying my first JASNA AGM.

A mere four weeks earlier, I had been at Wrigley Field, in the pit for a Springsteen Concert. The next night I'd been on the rooftops, watching the action from afar, but still participating with Bruce and the crowd with every fiber of my rain-drenched being.

Whether rain-soaked and rocking on, or turban-topped and gently promenading, I was dancing to the music all around me and experiencing life in its fullest. How lucky am I to be able to indulge in both of my obsessions to the fullest! Am I one of the few who follows with full heart and all enthusiasm the two icons of their times: Jane Austen and Bruce Springsteen? Am I the sole connection between these two disparate but perhaps united artists?

Then, I came to the realization, that this unique connection - my Jane-Bruce obsession - needed to be explored through blogging and sharing my enthusiasm. Since I'm also thoroughly immersed in my new writing classes, it is high time I follow my own advice: write about that which you know best. And so it begins....