Just as Jane Austen herself has been misinterpreted, so have her novels. The perception that Austens stories are little more than simple romantic vignettes of English country life and social custom has generally been an accepted reading. This interpretation of her work is based more on our nostalgic reconstruction of the Regency period, influenced in part by Hollywoods understanding of Austens novels, as well as a failure to read beneath the authors satiric humour.While her novels do end with the heroines wedding, Austen is just as, if not more, interested in all the other women who populate her stories. These are the women who are not necessarily provided with the happy ending, either through their own fault or because of forces outside of their limited control. The tongueincheek irony behind Austens comment that Pride and Prejudice is "too light, bright, sparkling" is often overlooked. In fact, Pride and Prejudice is a protofeminist critique of contemporary education and marriage that aligns her less with sentimental novelists like Fanny Burney and Maria Edgeworth and more with feminist thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft. Austens humour is deceptive beneath the surface lays a deep dissatisfaction with the type of life the term "gentility" forces on women.

Binding: Paperback;294 pages; Publisher: Universitas Press; Classification: N/A; Weight: 464.28 g; Dimensions: N/A

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