Jane Austen Quote on UK Note Makes Fans Say ‘Go Back to Lit Class’

The quote – “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” – is meant to resonate with fans.

People in period costume display the new £10 note featuring Jane Austen.  

(Photo: AP)

The United Kingdom unveiled a new 10-pound note to honour author Jane Austen on her 200th death anniversary. The note has an illustration of the the hugely loved author, along with a quote from her classic ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

The quote – "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!" – is perhaps meant to resonate with fans of the author, but is incidentally a line uttered by one of Austen’s most despised characters – Caroline Bingley.

Bingley, who had little inclination to read herself, only says these lines to impress William Darcy, the male protagonist of the book, and the heartthrob of several generations.

The faux pas has not gone unnoticed by Britons, many of who swear by the author’s literature. Several took to social media to express their amusement.

At the unveiling of the new "tenner" at Winchester Cathedral in southern England, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the new note celebrates the "universal appeal" of Austen's work.

Apart from Queen Elizabeth II, whose portrait is on all UK currency, Austen is only the third woman to feature on a modern-day British banknote, after medical innovator Florence Nightingale and social reformer Elizabeth Fry. She was chosen after a campaign for more female representation.

(With inputs from AP.)

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