Jane Austen

In Jane Austen, John Lauber illuminates for the general reader and the student new to her work each of the six peerless ... (more)

In Jane Austen, John Lauber illuminates for the general reader and the student new to her work each of the six peerless novels Austen completed - Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey - as well as her two unfinished novels and juvenilia. Lauber clearly lays out the parameters that at least define Austen territory: a desirous and desirable heroine and hero who are destined to marry (though not until they surmount many obstacles); an antihero who is charming but disingenuous and who serves as one of the obstacles to the union of heroine and hero; at least one fool, whose affectation, dullness, or vulgarity makes for comedy and sets off the intelligence and genuineness of the others; and an assortment of provincial ladies and gentlemen. The very presence of a stock of easily defined characters and situations has, since Austen began writing, been some cause for criticism. Lauber reviews the history of the response to Austen over the years: Sir Walter Scott's admiration for the "exquisite touch" that "renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting", the nineteenth-century Romantic's disdain for her emotional restraint, the twentieth-century critic's respect for her craftsmanship and fondness for her verve combined with dissatisfaction with her tacit acceptance of the subordinate position of women and of the oppressive moral and social conventions of her time. While thus acknowledging various views of Austen's shortcomings, Lauber is persistent in his appreciation of the reasons for her staying power. Each novel may be equally equipped with heroine, hero, antihero, and fool, but in every instance each such characteris a full-fledged individual; the many fans of Pride and Prejudice's Elizabeth Bennet will find the likes of her in no other novel. Austen's comic wit is irrepressible, her celebrated irony capable of bemused caricature and scornful exposure. Her dialogue is lively and her use of it - at a time when the English novel was barely 100 years old - inventive. Not to be discounted are her perception of human foible and vulnerability and her constancy in valuing genuine love and friendship. Such qualities have stood Austen and her heroines and heros well, making her six "miniatures" abiding companions to many, many readers for nearly two centuries. (less)

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist celebrates the life of Jane Austen, one of the most renowned and beloved female noveli... (more)

A Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist celebrates the life of Jane Austen, one of the most renowned and beloved female novelists of all time, revealing both the very private woman and the acclaimed author of such enduring classics as "Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice", and "Emma". (less)

In a time of formal dances, courtyard courtships, and strict ideas about a woman's role in the world, Jane Austen looked... (more)

In a time of formal dances, courtyard courtships, and strict ideas about a woman's role in the world, Jane Austen looked at the England around her and created unforgettable art. Before she was the beloved author of Pride and Prejudice and other classic novels, Jane Austen was a young woman wrestling with society's expectations and challenges of the heart. Her own story involves choices that changed literary historyb7sand perhaps even the choice to walk away from love. This graphic imagining of Jane Austen's youth includes her creative awakening and her much-speculated-upon encounters with Tom Lefroy, a brash law student. Jane Austen: Her Heart Did Whisper is a vision of the thrills and pains of young romance, the bonds of sisterhood, and the decisions that make a person who she is. (less)

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of Jane Austen. (more)

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of Jane Austen. (less)