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A fascinating look into the myths that continue to shape our understanding and appreciation of Jane Austen.
Was Jane Austen the best-selling novelist of her time? Are all her novels romances? Did they depict the traditional world of the aristocracy? Is Austen's writing easy to understand? Well into the 21st century, Jane Austen continues to be one of the most compelling novelists in all English literature. Many of her ideas about class, family, history, intimacy, manners, love, desire, and society, have inspired "myths" that are often contradictory — she was a Tory who was also a liberal feminist, or, her novels are at once sharply satirical and unapologetically romantic. Myths, like Austen's works, are dynamic, changing over time and impacting how we read and interpret literature.
30 Great Myths about Jane Austen examines the accepted beliefs — both true and untrue —that have most influenced our readings of Austen. Rather than simply de-bunking, or validating, commonly-held views about Austen, authors Claudia L. Johnson and Clara Tuite explore how these myths can be used to engage with the life, work, and reception of Jane Austen. Applying the most up-to-date scholarship to better understand how myths shape our appreciation of Jane Austen, this fascinating volume:
Introduces readers to the history of Austen reception, both in academic scholarship and in the general public
Examines Jane Austen's life and letters, her historical contexts, her texts, and their afterlives
Discusses Austen's influence on the development of literary criticism as a discipline Explores each of Austen's main novels, as well as relatively obscure texts such as Sanditon and The Watsons
Offering engaging narrative and original insights, 30 Great Myths about Jane Austen is a must-read for scholars, instructors, and students of English and Romantic literature, as well as general readers with interest in the life and works of Jane Austen.
Contents
Abbreviations and Note on the Text vii
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction xi
Myth 1 Jane Austen had no interest in fame 1
Myth 2 There is no sex in Jane Austen's novels 7
Myth 3 Jane Austen wrote on little bits of ivory 14
Myth 4 Jane Austen's juvenilia are scraps which she outgrew 19
Myth 5 Jane Austen's novels are naturalistic 27
Myth 6 Jane Austen was unconscious of her art 34
Myth 7 Northanger Abbey is a spoof on Gothic fiction 43
Myth 8 The Bath Jane Austen knew and loathed 49
Myth 9 Jane Austen's writing is easy to understand 56
Myth 10 Sense and Sensibility is a satire on sensibility 61
Myth 11 Jane Austen was the best-selling novelist of her time 66
Myth 12 Regency Austen 72
Myth 13 Only women read Jane Austen 80
Myth 14 As Pride and Prejudice shows, all Austen's novels are love stories 85
Myth 15 Jane Austen never mentions the war 93
Myth 16 Something happened to Jane Austen when she wrote Mansfield Park 101
Myth 17 Jane Austen disapproved of the theater 107
Myth 18 Jane Austen was a Christian moralist 114
Myth 19 In Emma, Jane Austen created a heroine no one but an author would love 120
Myth 20 Jane Austen and the amorous effects of brass 128
Myth 21 Persuasion is an autumnal novel 134
Myth 22 Jane Austen was a feminist/Jane Austen was not a feminist 141
Myth 23 Jane Austen's letters are mean and trivial 147
Myth 24 Jane Austen was anonymous 155
Myth 25 Jane Austen's novels depict the traditional world of the aristocracy 160
Myth 26 Jane Austen was a comic novelist 168
Myth 27 Jane Austen's novels are about good manners 174
Myth 28 Jane Austen's muslins 179
Myth 29 Jane Austen writes escape fiction 187
Myth 30 Jane Austen was a star-crossed lover 193
Further Reading 200
Index 203
