By now, every Janeite has heard about the sale at auction of Jane
Austen's turquoise ring for over $236,000 (U.S.).
In honor of that fresh testament to the relentless escalation of
Austenmania to even further dizzying heights, I am pulling out of my own
box of "most precious treasures" a rare sleuthing jewel that I've
recently salvaged from the deep, which (first hint!) has an indirect
connection to Jane Austen's turquoise ring!
But, to make it more fun, I will present a quiz about it first, and then
give the answer if no one gets it within a few days.
Here it is, it's very simple---not long ago, Anielka brought forward the
keen observation that a turquoise ring plays a small but salient role in
the action of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (TMOV), when Jessica
steals her father's turquoise ring and (by the report of Tubal) sells it
in exchange for a monkey, the news of which throws her father Shylock
into a rage.
And at the time, I responded as follows in Austen L (and, more recently
in my blog):
http://sharpelvessociety.blogspot.com/2012/07/turquoise-rings-of-jane-austen-shylock.html
In that blog post, I suggested a startling connection between Shylock's
deathly rage against Jessica and Mr. Collins's deathly condolences.
But..there is another short passage---and I really mean short---it
consists of less than thirty lines---in The Merchant of Venice, to which
Jane Austen has, I claim, covertly alluded via not one, not two, but
_three_ different characters from three _different_ Austen novels!
Can you find this short passage in The Merchant of Venice?
Before anyone says that you are not good at spotting hidden allusions,
take encouragement----my considered opinion is that, in this instance,
_any_ knowledgeable Janeite who reads through the text of Shakespeare's
play slowly and carefully has more than a fighting chance of spotting
these three Austenian allusions, because of their coming up bang, bang,
bang, in rapid fire sequence in Shakespeare's text, and because the
connection to the three Austen characters is salient, not obscure.
I.e., when you spot the passage, you will know exactly what I mean,
it's really hiding in plain sight, a truly bravura game of allusion
played by Jane Austen.
So, good luck, and I will await any answers.....
Cheers, ARNIE
@JaneAustenCode on Twitter
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