Love and knowledge in Persuasion

My seventh paper, written on Persuasion by Jane Austen.

"An even greater knowledge of the lover develops in Persuasion, as the result of the maturation of love. The form that this knowledge takes seems to change over the eight years of separation, to become a deeper awareness not just of the lover as a person deserving of love, but of the lover almost as a part of oneself."

Persuasion

I love Persuasion. It's a surprising book, for me, to see at the end of Austen's writing career. It's not as long as Emma or Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park, and the plot certainly isn't as complex. In fact, less seems to actually happen than in any of her other books. But it's lovely and simple and elegant, and has some of the most wonderful moments of love from any of her books. I don't know why I found it difficult to get into last summer.

It's a short book, and thus a short summary.

Wealth and the masculinity of the heroine in Emma

My sixth paper, written on Emma by Jane Austen.

"Austen asks the question: what happens to a heroine typical of the earlier novels, when she is given wealth and security? The answer is that Emma becomes a foil to these other heroines in situation and character, something which manifests itself most surprisingly in a masculinity of character and the relationships that Emma shares with others."

Emma

Emma is a book I have mixed feelings about. It's an enjoyable read, it's well-written, it's elegant. However, I also really hate Emma Woodhouse. I've read it a couple of times-- I wrote about Emma for my extended essay, even-- and I just can't get over it. This time, before I started reading, I thought, "It's been a few years since I've read it. Maybe I just wasn't mature enough to appreciate her." But if that's the problem, I'm still not mature enough. I sat reading it in Shakespeare and Company in Paris-- an exotic location to read the book, indeed-- and I got so upset with and angry at Emma that I had to get up and walk around the city for a few hours before I could even start reading the book again.

Emma is, to my mind, about as repulsive as a character in one of Austen's books could be.

Hooray! A summary!

The Gothic in Mansfield Park

My fifth paper, written on Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.

"Her later novel, Mansfield Park, is an amalgamation of many genres and in the end, can be defined by none; one of these genres, however, is very definitely the Gothic. Mansfield Park is more profoundly a Gothic novel than Northanger Abbey ever is. Although the Gothic is never acknowledged directly, it seems that, contrary to her character’s declaration, Austen has decided that it is indeed a relevant style to depicting the lives of the gentry in England."

Mansfield Park

I have some doubt about my ability to finish Mansfield Park, were I not watching the pages go by and stopping after every fifty. It's long, for an Austen novel, and it's slower and less gripping than say, Pride and Prejudice. I liked it-- that's not the problem-- but it was a trial. But then, I've always found Austen difficult to get into for the first ten to thirty pages. At different times in the past, I've started reading Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion, and I just stopped within those first few pages and didn't pick the books up again for years.

So, Mansfield Park. It's moral, less witty, and apparently is known as being the most like a Victorian novel in Austen's group of works. A lot of people have trouble with the heroine, Fanny Price, because she is so retiring and modest and quiet and-- sometimes-- weak. I liked her well enough, though.

A summary can be found here.