'Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.' It has long been the opinion of at least some authorities on the English novel …
Tag: Jane Austen
Jane, the Younger
I keep going back to Jane Austen! A couple of weeks ago, I bought a series of lectures from The Teaching Company's Great Courses. By Professor Devoney Looser of the Arizona State University, they explore Jane Austen's life and works, and examine the customs and morality of the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century in which she …
Elinor and Marianne
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen A Review In Austen's (probably) first full-length novel, the Dashwood family are happy in their home at Norland Park. However, the property is entailed to a son of Mr Dashwood's first marriage and when he dies, Mrs Dashwood and their daughters, Elinor and Marianne are obliged to leave. Elinor …
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen Having finished my review of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe with the words of Jane Austen, I can do no better here than allow Sir Walter to introduce this one: '[Jane Austen] had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful …
Jane's History
The History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles the 1st by Jane Austen [Henry the 8th] ' . . . [his] last wife contrived to survive him, but with difficulty effected it.' [James the 1st] '. . . had some faults, among which & as the most …
Jane's Juvenilia
I have been reading (re-reading actually) some of Jane Austen's early works. A few days ago, I blogged about her History of England, written when she was sixteen. That she meant the piece to be be humorous I have no doubt; the description of herself as a very partial, prejudiced and ignorant historian gives the …
200 Years of Pride and Prejudice
I think we underrate Austen’s wit and irony. However, it’s a good idea to read Pride and Prejudice twice (and perhaps her other novels too) to capture its full flavour, something PD James has done with great flair.
Bookheathen Scribblings 