&#8220Just the omission of Jane Austen's books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it."

-Mark Twain

&#8220One half of the world does not understand the pleasures of the other."

--Jane Austen

Philosopher and humorist Mark Twain is one of my favorite writers of all times, and I am pretty confident he had a huge twinkle in his eye when he penned the words above. I appreciate and enjoy Twain's wit, but I couldn't agree with him less about Jane Austen's books!

I suspect it was actually Austen's plots or themes Twain disliked much more than the affable writing, itself.

Twain's problem was twofold: 1) he was a man who did not comprehend that the majority of women embrace romance and 2) he was a man who had no understanding of - and no empathy for - the serious plight of women in 18th and 19th century England.

It was actually a couple of Christmas gifts this year than reminded me of this. My daughter, who shares my love of Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, gave me DVD copies of the two movies. And, between the Christmas and New Year's holidays, I have watched each movie again, loving practically every moment of them. That may be because I am a woman who 1) loves romance and 2) does understand and have empathy for the plight of women during Austen's time.

(In the interest of fair reporting, I feel I must insert here that my husband did not exactly love the movies. In fact, he fell asleep on the family room sofa while they were playing and snoozed through each of them!)

You see, Jane Austen's novels are set in late 1700s / early 1800s England and are sometimes mistaken for simple romances in more Victorian times. But that is not their entire story.

Austen makes certain that her readers (and consequently those who watch movies based upon her books) understand how important it was for' genteel' women during this time to 'make a match' or find a husband. Their very welfare depended upon it.

Under English laws at the time, the first-born son of a family inherited most and sometimes all of the wealth. Women had no rights at all and received absolutely nothing from the family estate.

This included not only the daughters, but also the wives. Without a living, breathing husband, women were simply without any means of financial support.

Because the society was divided into non-working and servant classes, there was no job for the wealthier class woman to take if she did not find a husband. It simply was not acceptable for her to work, and there were no clerking, nursing or secretarial jobs to be had anyway. If she did not marry, a young woman was seen as 'draining the resources' of her parents until her father died. And when he did, she would be truly and utterly penniless.

Perhaps you can see now how dire the situation was for the young women about whom Austen wrote. She railed, in her way, against the social caste system in place at the time, against the lack of opportunities and equality for women and against the stern laws which kept all women from achieving their potential in life.

Austen's fictional characters find happiness, marrying for love rather than wedding for convenience - which so many did during those times. But, on the way to a happy ending, we are allowed to glimpse some of the constraining realities facing these women.

Although they are very different, I love both the romantic purity of Jane Austen's writing and also the wit and humor of Mark Twain's.

Mark Twain, who lived to the age of 75, was born in 1835, 18 years after the death of the 42-year old Jane Austen.

He was a rascal who dished out the criticism but apparently did not take too kindly to being on the receiving end of it. He quipped in his autobiography: &#8220I like criticism, but it must be my way."

Austen was no shrinking violet, herself, and - given the opportunity in time - would probably have met Twain's comments about her books with a humorous and stinging retort of her own.

Oh how we Jane Austen fans would have loved that!