Mastering the novels of Jane Austen / Richard Gill and Susan Gregory.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gill, Richard, 1945-

Contributor:

Gregory, Susan, 1945 May 28-

Series:

Palgrave master series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817--Criticism and interpretation--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Austen, Jane.

Austen, Jane, 1775-1817.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Handbooks and manuals.

Physical Description:

xviii, 373 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Summary:

Mastering the Novels of Jane Austen is the ideal companion for anyone studying the works of this enduring literary figure. An engaging account of the six most-read Austen novels, this book captures the imagination with its fresh and lively approach. Provides a detailed critique of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion. inks the significance of the works from the past to the present day in the light of contemporary attitudes to women, tradition and innovation. Explores the influence of art, architecture, music, literature, theology, philosophy, history and politics in the novels. Discusses traditional and contemporary literary theory, and examines Austen's use of wit and irony, as well as the nuances of her vocabulary. If you are looking for a book that entertains challenges and illuminates your understanding of Jane Austen, this is it!... a must-have guide for anyone preparing for exams or looking to gain the maximum satisfaction from a reading of the novels of this much-loved author.

Contents:

Part I Northanger Abbey

1 A consciously designed novel 3

1.1 Works of art 3

1.2 Locations 4

1.3 Plotting, themes and characters 5

1.4 False friends 7

1.5 The true friend 10

1.6 Love and lovers 13

1.7 Meaning, manners and morals 15

2 Fiction 18

2.1 Just like a book 18

2.2 On being a heroine 20

2.3 Readers 21

2.4 Catherine's imaginary world 23

2.5 The Gothic novel 24

2.6 Gothic parody 26

2.7 Fiction and actuality 27

2.8 The double crisis 28

2.9 The interplay between fiction and actuality 29

2.10 Thinking about novels 30

2.11 The fiction-like nature of human life 31

3 Spaces and places 32

3.1 Settings 32

3.2 The reader and Bath 32

3.3 Landscape and seeing 34

3.4 The places of the plot 35

3.5 Power, spaces, hosts and guests 37

3.6 Ejection 38

3.7 Gothic space 40

3.8 Popular Gothic 41

3.9 Northanger's spaces 43

3.10 Perception and imagination 44

3.11 Gothic and neo-classical 44

4 The education of a heroine 47

4.1 Learning 47

4.2 The pains of learning 48

4.3 What Catherine gests right 49

4.4 Taste 50

4.5 Understanding Isabella and the General 51

4.6 Gothic danger 52

4.7 Catherine's doubts 54

4.8 Trusting her judgement 55

4.9 A Gloucestershire Montoni? 56

4.10 Catherine: the model of true judgment 57

Part II Sense and Sensibility

5 Sensibility 63

5.1 Sensibility and the plot 63

5.2 The sisters 64

5.3 Two men 64

5.4 The plot and the Colonel 65

5.5 Relatives 67

5.6 Design and theme 67

5.7 The status of feeling 68

5.8 Government 69

5.9 A criticism of feeling 70

5.10 Romanticism 72

5.11 Romanticism in Sense and Sensibility 73

5.12 The trajectory of the plot 77

6 Sense 79

6.1 Valuing sense 79

6.2 Poise 79

6.3 Elinor's sense of humour 80

6.4 Reasoning 81

6.5 Perception and evidence 82

6.6 Elinor's testing 84

6.7 The faculty of sense 88

6.8 Edward's feelings 89

6.9 Narrator, sense and reader 90

7 Engagement 93

7.1 Sensibility once more 93

7.2 Sense and sensibility together 94

7.3 The problem of presentation 96

7.4 Misery 97

7.5 The private and the public 99

7.6 Engagement and romantic individualism 100

7.7 The life of the self 102

7.8 Inwardness 103

8 Geography 106

8.1 Inner space 106

8.2 Space and feeling 106

8.3 London spaces 107

8.4 Country residences 108

8.5 Dream homes 109

8.6 Cleveland 110

8.7 Norland 111

8.8 The management of the estate 112

8.9 Allenham 113

8.10 Delaford 114

8.11 Responsibility 114

8.12 A hole in the canvas 116

8.13 A comedy 118

Part III Pride and Prejudice

9 Narrative and themes 123

9.1 Sisters 123

9.2 Hinderers 123

9.3 Dialogue 124

9.4 Variety of characters 125

9.5 Community and war 126

9.6 How the narrative works 127

9.7 The unfolding of the plot 128

9.8 The debate about marriage 131

9.9 Morality and narrative 134

10 Elizabeth and her men 137

10.1 A couple approved 137

10.2 Mr Collins 138

10.3 Mr Wickham 139

10.4 Mr Darcy 141

10.5 Colonel Fitzwilliam 146

10.6 Mr Bennet 147

11 Different kinds of pride and prejudice 150

11.1 Title words 150

11.2 Mistaken judgements 150

11.3 Pride in one's own discernment 151

11.4 Pride in self and social standing 152

11.5 Mr Darcy's pride 153

11.6 Pride in family 154

11.7 Prejudice in favour of one's offspring 154

11.8 Predudice in favour of class distinction 155

11.9 Prejudice in favour of Wickham 156

11.10 Prejudice against Darcy 158

11.11 Prejudice undone 159

12 From Longbourn to Pemberley 162

12.1 Marriage and the entail 162

12.2 Longbourn 162

12.3 Elizabeth and Longbourn 163

12.4 Houses and Societies 163

12.5 Talk of Pemberley 164

12.6 The road to Pemberley 166

12.7 Elizabeth's bourn 167

12.8 Proposal, letter and ball 168

12.9 Pemberley 169

12.10 The Gardiners 172

12.11 The renewing of society 173

Part IV Mansfield Park

13 Art 179

13.1 Mr Yates: a disappointed man 179

13.2 Art misunderstood 179

13.3 Lovers' vows 180

13.4 Art and life 181

13.5 Who plays whom 181

13.6 Acting? 183

13.7 Fanny and the theatricals 184

13.8 Art and morality 185

13.9 A community divided 187

13.10 Literature and painting 188

13.11 The heroine questioned 189

13.12 Christians and feminists 192

14 Politics 195

14.1 Political interpretations 195

14.2 Contemporary politics 195

14.3 Ideas 197

14.4 Improvement 197

14.5 The debate about Sotherton 198

14.6 Cowper 200

14.7 The politics of the estate 201

14.8 The meaning of 'estate' 202

14.9 Neglect 203

14.10 Slavery 205

14.11 Stability or mobility 207

14.12 London and the provinces 208

14.13 Stewardship 209

15 Morality 212

15.1 The seven deadly sins 212

15.2 Morality and language 212

15.3 The ha-ha 214

15.4 Morality and education 216

15.5 Morality and social context 217

15.6 A yen for change 219

15.7 The exacting nature of the moral life 220

45.8 Utilitarianism 221

15.9 The limits of morality 224

15.10 The mystery of evil 224

16 God 226

16.1 Welcoming the stranger 226

16.2 Seeking ordination 226

16.3 The priesthood 227

16.4 The life of the clergy 228

16.5 The life of the Church 229

16.6 Evangelicals? 230

16.7 A religious novel 230

16.8 Parables 231

16.9 Wonder and memory 232

16.10 Nature 233

16.11 Stars and the sublime 234

16.12 Providence 235

16.13 Protected 236

16.14 Return and the future 238

Part V Emma

17 One world 243

17.1 Imagining a world 243

17.2 Emma, the world and the reader 243

17.3 The weather 244

17.4 Highbury village 244

17.5 Highbury society 246

17.6 Getting about Highbury 247

17.7 Class 249

17.8 Sickness 251

17.9 Diet 252

17.10 The significance of sickness 253

17.11 News and letters 254

17.12 Pastimes 255

17.13 Music 257

17.14 Manners 258

18 Imagination 260

18.1 Narration 260

18.2 Reliability 261

18.3 Judgement 261

18.4 Misleading the reader 263

18.5 Insight and sympathy 264

18.6 The difficulties of interpretation 264

18.7 The language of knowledge 265

18.8 The language of error 266

18.9 On being deceived 267

18.10 The causes of error 267

18.11 Perception 268

18.12 Imagination and love 269

18.13 Prejudice and perception 270

18.14 A novel about knowledge 272

18.15 The substance of the novel 274

19 Female friendship 276

19.1 Cribbed and confined 276

19.2 Manipulation and persuasion 277

19.3 Control of conversation 280

19.4 Woman's language 281

19.5 'Slavery'? 283

19.6 Economic hardship 284

19.7 Precedence 284

19.8 The duty of woman by woman 285

20 Loves 291

20.1 Enthusiastic men 291

20.2 Marriage and independence 291

20.3 Love of mischief 292

20.4 Love and Mr Knightley 296

20.5 Love of nature 296

20.6 Mother love 297

20.7 Father love 297

20.8 Self-love 298

20.9 Love of ideas 299

20.10 Love of meaning 300

20.11 Love of place 301

20.12 Love of love 302

20.13 Love of laughs 302

20.14 Love of all 303

20.15 Love of forms 303

20.16 Love of God 305

Part VI Persuasion

21 Anne and the other characters 309

21.1 Anne as romantic heroine 309

21.2 Thoughts and feelings 309

21.3 Silence and conversation 311

21.4 Negotiation 313

21.5 Anne's significance in relation to the other characters 314

21.6 The persuaders 315

21.7 Compatible company 317

21.8 Contrasting lives 318

21.9 A determined man 320

22 On being persuaded 322

22.1 The exposition 322

22.2 The

ubiquity of persuasion 322

22.3 Self-deception or persuading oneself 324

22.4 Captain Wentworth 325

22.5 How Persuasion endeavours to persuade 330

23 Summer 1814 335

23.1 The case of Charles Hayter 335

23.2 The uncertainties of love 335

23.3 The debate about Charles Hayter 337

23.4 Changing traditions: the Elliots 338

23.5 Leaving home 339

23.6 The end of the war 341

23.7 The navy 343

23.8 The Crofts 345

23.9 The new people 347

24 Changes and chances 349

24.1 Autumn 349

24.2 The lessons of time and place 350

24.3 The fading of beauty 354

24.4 Suffering 356

24.5 Loss 357

24.6 Literature and love 359

24.7 The years between 360.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages xvii-xviii) and index.

ISBN:

033394898X

OCLC:

50253169