Description
Book SynopsisExplains Austen's methods, motivations, and morals The fun and easy way(r) to understand and enjoy Jane Austen Want to know more about Jane Austen? This friendly guide gives the scoop on her life, works, and lasting impact on our culture.
Trade Review"If you begin this book as dummy, you won’t be one when you finish." (
Financial Times, Sat 7th July)
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You’re Not to Read 3
Foolish Assumptions 4
How This Book Is Organized 5
Part I: Getting to Know Jane Austen, Lady and Novelist 5
Part II: Austen Observes Ladies and Gentlemen 5
Part III: Living Life in Jane’s World 6
Part IV: Enjoying Austen and Her Influence Today 6
Part V: The Part of Tens 6
Appendix 6
Icons Used in This Book 7
Where to Go from Here 7
Part I: Getting to Know Jane Austen, Lady and Novelist 9
Chapter 1: Introducing Jane Austen 11
Identifying the Lady Writer 12
Keeping a Personal Record 13
Getting Reviewed 13
Checking out the comments from the critics of her day 13
Glancing at later reviews 15
Listening to Austen’s current readers 16
Getting Comfortable with “Jane” 16
Hearing the friendly, welcoming narrator 17
Hearing “Jane, the friend” become the witty, terse narrator 17
Delivering the Hollywood goods 18
Observing with Austen 20
Writing dialogue and conversation 20
Having an ear for a character’s voice 21
Having an eye for details 21
Tracing Austen’s Popularity 22
Starting the Saint Jane myth 22
Victorianizing Jane Austen 23
Taking Austen to the trenches 23
Taking Austen to school 24
Becoming Today’s Janeite 25
Chapter 2: Visiting Jane Austen’s Georgian World 27
Asserting Austen’s Georgian-ness 27
Examining Austen’s Georgian satire 29
Preferring candor over prudishness 30
Surveying the Political Landscape 31
Discerning Tories from Whigs 31
Anticipating trouble at home and across the channel 32
Sugaring tea from the slave trade 35
Understanding the Class System 37
Recognizing class 37
Defining “condescension” 42
Growing the Novel 43
Influencing the creation of the novel 44
Writing for middle-class readers and women 45
Chapter 3: Being Jane Austen (1775–1817) 47
Meeting the Austens 47
Introducing the Rev Mr and Mrs Austen 48
Getting to know Jane and her siblings 48
Growing Up Gentry: Jane’s Formative Years 52
Living and learning at the rectory 53
Surviving boarding school 54
Getting bitten by the writing bug: Austen’s “Juvenilia” 54
Becoming a Professional Writer 57
Beginning a life of letter writing 57
Experimenting with epistolary novels 58
Seeing the Personal Side of Jane 58
Having a sophisticated grown-up friend 59
Flirting with a new friend, Tom Lefroy 59
Remaining unmarried 60
Experiencing New Places, New Faces, New Feelings: Moving to Bath 63
Living and lulling in Bath 64
Accepting and rejecting a proposal 64
Losing a father and a friend 65
Relying on the kindness of sons and brothers 66
Exploring the Highs and Lows of Being a Writer 66
Getting published for the first time 67
Writing as a mature novelist 68
Succumbing to Illness 70
Seeking help in Winchester 71
Dying at age 41 71
Reacting to her death 72
Chapter 4: Inspiring the Aspiring Novelist 75
Growing Up in a Family of Novel Readers 75
Absorbing the style of The Book of Common Prayer 76
Jumping to Dr Johnson for instruction in morality and prose 76
Finding Shakespeare in Austen’s “constitution” 77
Mining Milton 78
Learning from Drama 78
Presenting characters dramatically 79
Creating effective entrances 80
Rising Sentimentalism and Sensibility in Society 82
Austen’s youthful reaction to sensibility 82
Austen’s mature reaction to sensibility 83
Sensing Sensibility in Samuel Richardson 83
Developing the epistolary novel 84
Austen’s inheritance from Richardson 85
Austen’s departure from Richardson 85
Maturing the Novel with Henry Fielding 86
Reading Fanny Burney 87
Being Influenced By Real People 87
Meeting an exotic “French” cousin 88
Running across other memorable personalities 88
Bringing It All Together: The Genius of Jane Austen 89
Creating living, breathing characters 89
Setting her characters in society 90
Part II: Austen Observes Ladies and Gentlemen 91
Chapter 5: Practicing the Politics of Dancing 93
Looking for Love on the Dance Floor 94
Rolling up the rugs to dance at home 94
Attending formal balls 95
Facing the challenges of dancing 102
Finding a Desirable Dance Partner (Possibly for Life!) 103
Getting help from the Master of Ceremonies 103
Taking a turn with family and friends 104
Putting Those Childhood Dance Lessons to Good Use 105
Dancing up the set 106
Knowing other popular dances 107
Observing dancing etiquette 107
Having fun under a watchful chaperone’s eye 109
Amusing the Non-Dancers: Finding the Card and Tea Rooms 110
Chapter 6: Playing the Dating Game: Courtship, Austen Style 113
Defining Eligibility 113
“Coming Out” as a Young Lady 114
Identifying the eligible gentlemen 118
Getting to Know Each Other 119
The courtship do’s of Austen’s day 120
The don’ts (unless done on the sly) 121
Mastering the Fine Art of Flirting 124
“Looking” the feelings of love 125
Reading and misreading body language 126
Speaking the language of love 126
Getting Engaged (Finally!) 127
Making the proposal 127
Securing father’s approval 128
Exchanging gifts 129
Breaking an engagement 129
Chapter 7: Marrying: A Serious Business for Jane Austen and Her Characters 131
Exploring the Main Motivations for Marrying 132
Landing a loving husband with a sizeable estate 132
Choosing a willing wife with a decent dowry 136
Understanding why some folks (including Austen) broke with tradition 138
Coming to Terms 140
Drawing up the marriage settlement or articles 141
Arranging for a jointure 142
Sealing the Deal 142
Choosing the wedding clothes and coach 142
Announcing the nuptials 143
Sharing the big day with family and friends 145
Eloping to Gretna Green and avoiding the whole thing 145
Taking the honeymoon 146
Breaching the Agreement: Facing the Shame of Divorce 147
Chapter 8: Wily Females and Seductive Males 149
Working with What You’ve Got to Get Your Man 150
Capturing a husband with “youth and beauty” 150
Using beauty and trickery when you don’t have youth 152
Flirting Your Way to a Husband — Hopefully 152
Flirting and failing 154
Witnessing unconscious flirting 155
Mistaken flirting 156
Dealing with Dangerous Men 156
Seducing for the thrill of it 156
Seducing for money 158
Winning a Spouse with Honesty 158
Part III: Living Life in Jane’s World 161
Chapter 9: Looking at Ladies’ Limited Rights and Roles 163
Living as a Lady in a Gentleman’s World 164
Limiting the lady’s life by law 164
Belonging to daddy 165
Relying on the kindness of brothers 166
Protecting the unmarried, brotherless gentlewoman 167
Becoming an “Accomplished” Lady 167
Defining the “accomplished woman” 168
Attending a seminary in the city 168
Going to boarding school 169
Having a governess 170
Learning ad hoc at home (or not) 171
Training a lady 171
Placing Austen in the Women’s Movement 172
Austen’s advocating the rational female 172
Aligning Jane Austen with Mary Wollstonecraft 173
Assessing the Single Gentlewoman’s Single Occupation 174
Chapter 10: Being a Man in a Man’s World 177
Being a Gentleman’s Son 177
Training to a be a gentleman in boyhood 178
Beginning a more formal education 179
Heading to Eton or another “public” school 179
Gaining an “OxBridge” degree 181
Taking the Grand Tour 182
Inheriting Property 183
Respecting primogeniture 183
Disentangling the entail 185
Being the Eldest Son 186
Enjoying an elder brother’s “rights” 186
Training to run the estate 188
Supporting Younger Sons of Gentlemen 189
Finding a genteel profession 189
Marrying into money 191
Pinch-hitting for older brother 192
Meeting the New Gentleman in a Rising Middle Class 192
Moving up as a businessman 193
Being a gentleman through manners and education 194
Chapter 11: Experiencing Life at Home in Austen’s Day 195
Living in a Country House 195
Touring country houses 196
Picking up Austen’s hints about a modern-built house 200
Keeping the country house running 201
Taking on the Responsibilities of the Lady of the House 203
Overseeing the country house 204
Raising the children 205
Being a Gentleman Farmer 206
Improving the estate, or not 206
Raising the children 207
Aiding the church 207
Hosting one’s guests 207
Entering Parliament 208
Participating in local government 209
Evening Entertainment 209
Dining with guests 210
Playing cards 210
Reading and writing 211
Chatting with family and friends 212
Listening to music 212
Dancing at home 213
Traveling Away from Home 213
Showing that you are what you drive 214
Austen’s showing that you are what you drive 219
Chapter 12: Minding Your Manners 221
Making a Gentleman 222
Training an English gentleman 222
Assessing Austen’s gentlemen heroes 223
Training a Lady in Her Duty: Pleasing Her Man 227
Ignoring the prescription of Dr Fordyce 227
Undermining Dr Gregory’s advice 228
Knowing Your Place and Rank 230
Honoring rank when entering a room 230
Ranking people in your speech 231
Remembering rank in introductions and greetings 232
Conversing pleasantly and politely 235
Exposing Bad Manners 236
Listening to the ungrammatical and the insecure 236
Discerning the liars through their charming manners 237
Chapter 13: Following Religion and Morality for Jane Austen and Her Times 239
Shaping Anglicanism 239
Forming the Church of England 240
Altering Anglicanism by Austen’s day 241
Assessing Austen’s Anglicanism 243
Reviewing Austen’s Clerical Characters 244
Serving Up the Seven Deadly Sins 246
Pride: Thinking you’re the cat’s meow 247
Greed: Wanting it all (and then some) 248
Lust: Failing parents of fallen daughters 249
Anger: Forgetting to hold your tongue 250
Gluttony: Tipping the scales 251
Envy: Casting a jealous eye 251
Sloth: Being a bad parent 252
Outweighing the Bad by Doing Good 253
Part IV: Enjoying Austen and Her Influence Today 255
Chapter 14: Reading Jane Austen 257
Reading Northanger Abbey 257
Knowing the background 258
Linking Northanger Abbey to Udolpho 258
Watching Catherine learn 258
Hearing the narrator’s irony in Northanger Abbey 259
Reading Sense and Sensibility 260
Erring with either sense or sensibility 260
Seeing other characters’ sense and/or sensibility 262
Reading Pride and Prejudice 263
Getting past the first line of the novel 263
Determining who’s proud and who’s prejudiced 263
Understanding Mr Collins 264
Reading Mansfield Park 265
Dealing with abusive behavior 265
Accepting a passive heroine 266
Hearing a very intrusive narrator 266
Reading Emma 266
Attending to the first line and first paragraph of the novel 267
Bringing in Mrs Elton 267
Reading Persuasion 268
Meeting “Only Anne” 269
Facing reader frustration 269
Discussing Austen’s Novels 270
General questions 271
Discussing Northanger Abbey 271
Discussing Sense and Sensibility 272
Discussing Pride and Prejudice 272
Discussing Mansfield Park 273
Discussing Emma 274
Discussing Persuasion 274
Chapter 15: Bringing Austen Novels to Stage, Screen, and Television 277
Assessing Austen’s Adaptability 277
Creating attractive and admirable heroines 278
Finding ready-made dialogue in the novel 279
Looking for courtesy in an increasingly impolite world 280
Watching costume drama to experience armchair travel 280
Dealing with difficulties in adapting Austen 281
Checking Out Austen Adaptations 283
Seeing villains in Northanger Abbey 283
Scoping Sense and Sensibility 284
Perpetuating Pride and Prejudice 286
Moving to Mansfield Park 287
Getting clues about Emma 288
Performing Persuasion 289
“Inventing” Austen’s Life On Screen 290
Chapter 16: Determining Austen’s Literary Descendents 291
Influencing Later Canonical Writers 292
Looking at some of Austen’s novelizing heirs 293
Sequelizing Austen’s Novels 296
Finishing Austen without Austen 297
Attributing “chick lit” to Austen 298
Appropriating Austen in Popular Culture 300
Part V: The Part of Tens 301
Chapter 17: Ten Most Memorable Austen Characters 303
Austen’s Most Memorable Child 303
Austen’s Most Memorable Leading Lady 304
Austen’s Most Memorable Leading Man 304
Austen’s Most Memorable Female Flirts 305
Austen’s Most Memorable Cad 305
Austen’s Most Memorable Dupe 306
Austen’s Most Memorable Talker 307
Austen’s Most Memorable Couple 307
Austen’s Most Memorable Abnormal Personality 308
Chapter 18: Ten Best Austen-Related Books (Besides This One!) 309
Checking Out the Relatives’ Writings 309
Opening Austen’s Letters 311
Following the Austen Family’s History 312
Sailing Away with Austen — or at Least Her Brothers! 312
Creating a Dinner Austen Would Be Proud of — and Probably Ate! 313
Kicking Back with Jane Austen 313
Chapter 19: Ten Best Austen Places to Visit 315
The British Library at St Pancras, London 315
No 10 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden 316
Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton 317
St Nicholas Church and the Chawton House Library 317
Steventon 318
Winchester Cathedral 319
No 8 College Street, Winchester 319
Bath 320
Portsmouth Harbor 321
Lyme Regis 321
Chapter 20: Ten Best Austenisms (and What They Mean) 323
Speaking for the Homebodies 323
Acknowledging Differences 324
Expressing Sympathetic Understanding 324
Embarrassing Moments 325
Revealing Wrongs with Subtle Ease 325
Ending on a Happy Note 326
Seeking Good Fortune — Big Bucks, That Is 326
Making Sure Money Isn’t Everything 327
Watching Your Step 327
Trusting the Right People 327
Appendix: Jane Austen Chronology 329
Index 341
