In 1995, the London Review of Books ran the cover line ‘Was Jane Austen gay?’ Many people were horrified, including Terry Castle, the literary critic whose essay about Austen’s letters to her sister, Cassandra, led to the uproar. Castle hadn’t actually claimed this, but had examined ‘the primitive adhesiveness – and underlying eros – of the sister-sister bond’.
To mark Austen’s 250th birthday, the LRB returns to Castle’s essay in the latest of the magazine’s series of ‘live essays’. Actors will read from Castle’s piece and the texts it interrogates – Austen’s letters, novels, her nephew’s family memoir, her lesbian contemporary Anne Lister’s diaries – and consider the backlash.
A live musical counterpoint accompanies the readings, arranged by Isobel Waller-Bridge, whose works include the score for the 2020 film version of Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy.
