Lady Susan
Jane Austen demonstrated her mastery of the
epistolary novel genre in Lady Susan, which she wrote in 1795 but
never published. Although the primary focus of this short novel is
the selfish behavior of Lady Susan as she engages in affairs and
searches for suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter,
the actual action shares its importance with Austen’s
manipulation of her characters’ behavior by means of their
reactions to the letters that they receive. The heroine adds
additional interest by altering the tone of her own letters based
on the recipient of the letter. Thus, the character of Lady Susan
is developed through many branches as Austen suggests
complications of identity and the way in which that identity is
based on interaction rather than on solitary constructions of
personality. Lady Susan’s character is also built by the
descriptions of the other letter-writers; but even though their
opinions of this heroine coincide with the image that develops
from her own letters, Austen demonstrates the subjectivity of the
opinions by presenting them – primarily – in the letters of
one woman to another, thereby suggesting the established literary
motifs of feminine gossip and jealousy. Readers recognize these
subjective motifs and examine all of the idiosyncrasies of the
characters in order to create their own opinion of Lady Susan –
as they would of any real acquaintance. (Summary from Wikipedia)
Love and Friendship
Love and Freindship [sic] is a
juvenile story by Jane Austen, dated 1790, when Austen was 14
years old. Love and Freindship (the misspelling is one of
many in the story) is clearly a parody of romantic novels Austen
read as a child. This is clear even from the subtitle, “Deceived
in Freindship and Betrayed in Love,” which neatly undercuts the
title.
Written in epistolary form, it resembles
a fairy tale as much as anything else, featuring wild coincidences
and turns of fortune, but Austen is determined to lampoon the
conventions of romantic stories, right down to the utter failure
of romantic fainting spells, which always turn out dreadfully for
the female characters.
In this story one can see the development
of Austen’s sharp wit and disdain for romantic sensibility, so
characteristic of her later novels.
Summary revised from Wikipedia by Cori
Samuel. Music from Schubert’s Fantasy in C Major, at musopen
Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park features Austen’s frailest
and perhaps most scrupulous heroine, Fannie Price. As the eldest
daughter in a poor family, Fannie is sent to rich relatives when
she’s just old enough to fully appreciate the shame of her
circumstances. Without pride or prejudice, Fanny sticks to
principles in all matters. And matters certainly put her to the
test. (Summary by Anita)
Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey is a hilarious parody of
18th century gothic novels. The heroine, 17-year old Catherine,
has been reading far too many “horrid” gothic novels and would
love to encounter some gothic-style terror — but the superficial
world of Bath proves hazardous enough. (Summary by Kara)
Persuasion
Anne Elliott, Jane Austen’s only aging
heroine, has devoted her life to caring for her financially
irresponsible family. Just when she is growing content with her
uneventful lifestyle, a long-lost flame re-enters the picture —
now as the beau of her significantly younger cousin. Anne is now
faced with a choice: will she watch Captain Wentworth settle into
life with another woman, or will she strive to win back his love
and escape her family? (Summary by Kirsten Ferreri)
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is the most
famous of Jane Austen’s novels, and its opening is one of the
most famous lines in English literature - “It is a truth
universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Its manuscript was
first written between 1796 and 1797, and was initially called First
Impressions, but was never published under that title.
Following revisions it was published on 28 January 1813 by the
same Mr. Egerton of the Military Library, Whitehall, who had
brought out Sense and Sensibility. Like both its
predecessor and Northanger Abbey, it was written at
Steventon Rectory.
(Summary from wikipedia)
Sense and Sensibility
This is a story of the English moneyed class
and its eternal struggle for creating “sense and sensibility”
in its world. A potential marriage prospect must make “sense”
by bringing with it enough assets and income to permit the couple
to continue to live in happy, idle leisure, complete with servants
and a prestigious address. Provided one can find such a match
among the eligible persons of the opposite sex, one then hopes for
“sensibility”, or capacity for emotion, so that if love is not
immediately to hand, it might come around later. And while these
gentlemen and ladies make their hopeful pirouettes in the social
eye, they must of course adhere to all the forms of civility.
Jane Austen writes of the family of a
gentleman named Dashwood who dies and leaves most of his fortune
to his son, with the understanding that he will “look out
for” his mother and three sisters. When that son marries a
grasping woman who convinces him that his sisters’ funds are
suitable to their needs and so require no contributions from his
inherited fortune, the sisters are left to play the game of
“Sense and Sensibility” in earnest.
But all’s not fair in love. Carefully
prepared “attachments” can and do go awry when gentlemen
find other young women of greater fortunes than the Dashwood
sisters. So, will they marry for love? Or money? Or perhaps, not
at all?
(Summary by Mark F. Smith)
