The improvement of the estate : a study of Jane Austen's novels
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The improvement of the estate : a study of Jane Austen's novels
London : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994
- pbk
Available at / 24 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
includes bibliographical references and index
John Hopkins paperbacks edition
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Alistair Duckworth argues that the controversial "Mansfield Park" is fundamental to an appreciation of Jane Austen's fiction. Viewing this novel as the basis for a thematic unity in her work - a unity residing in her concept of the "estate" and of its proper "improvement" - he provides a fresh and convincing account of the novelist's values and of her artistic response to the contemporary forces that threatened them. For Jane Austen, Duckworth explains, the estate is emblematic of an entire moral and social heritage, and improvement, or the manner in which an individual relates to his estate, has crucial bearing on the state and direction of society. By tracing the theme of the estate and its proper improvement through the major novels, Duckworth demonstrates how committed Jane Austen was to the traditional values of a Christian humanist culture, yet how aware she was of the fragility of a society uninformed by responsible individual behaviour.
Table of Contents
Mode of Citation
Preface to the Paperback Edition
Preface to the Hardcover Edition
Introduction: Some Critical and Literary Contexts
Chapter 1: Mansfield Park: Jane Austen's Grounds of Being
Chapter 2: Aspects of Northanger Abby and Sense and Sensibility
Chapter 3: Pride and Prejudice: The Reconstruction of Society
Chapter 4: Emma and the Dangers of Individualism
Chapter 5: Persuasion: The Estate Abandoned
Postscript: Sanditon
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
