Anacortes Senior College

This course is about the great Jane Austen not taught by literature professors but by two women who consider themselves "Jane-ites". The class is designed for Jane enthusiasts and those who wonder "what's the big deal about Jane Austen?"

Jane interprets, critiques and comments on the landed gentry in England in her six novels. This class will focus on her most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice.

We will explore the Regency period (1811-1820) in England. Topics covered will be a short biography of JA, the wars of the period, the city of London, social rankings (landowners, military and clergy), amusements such as reading, walking and balls, and, of course, marriage.  Marriage, the big question of the day.  Did women marry out of necessity, for security or love or did they remain spinsters?

Suggested reading: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Jane Austen for Dummies by Joan Klingel Ray.

Suggested viewing: the 2020 Pride and Prejudice with Kyra Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen. 

Instructor: Susan Guterbock

I was born in England shortly before the end of WWII. I am a dual national- English and American.  I grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and went to college at UC Berkeley in the 1960's, where my major was Comparative Literature. I began reading Jane Austen in middle school with encouragement from my English mother.

I am an avid reader and when I am bored with or discouraged by a book I am reading, I return to the great Jane.  I have read all of her novels at least twice and several of them 4 or 5 times.  Jane delights me with her wit, wisdom and astute observations of human beings.  She is very much like William Shakespeare in her powers of observation.

Walter and I have been married 51 years this year and we have two adult children and two grandchildren, all of whom live in Europe. We have lived in Anacortes (wonderful place) for 12 years.  Our love story is kind of romantic but not as good as Darcy's and Elizabeth's.

I was a labor and delivery nurse for years then became a nursing instructor at a community college and then went on to teach English as a Second Language at the community college level.

My hope for this class is that we can all become teachers and students as we explore the wonderful Jane Austen together.

Instructor: Kandy Dubuque

I have lived in Anacortes for thirty years. I am a member of the morning Rotary Club. I found Jane Austen at the age of 14 when I first read Pride and Prejudice and have been a Jane Austen devotee ever since.

I lived in London for three years in the 1970’s when I was young and started collecting books by and about her then. I have visited her home in Chawton twice and I have attended three JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America) conferences; the last was last November in Colorado where we discussed Pride and Prejudice.

I look forward to sharing my Jane Austen journey with you and am excited to hear about yours.