British Literature from 1800, "The Mythmakers"

Choose ONE of the following: O1: Austen’s wrote dozens of clever, incomplete works throughout her teenage years, and not until Lady Susan , and later, Northanger Abbey , was she able to complete a bona fide novel. Yet Lady Susan and Northanger Abbey are seemingly worlds apart in their style and technique, and many Austen fans don’t even like Lady Susan , which they find too different and ‘strange.’ Discuss what you feel is the primary difference between her first two novels, and what Austen revised in her approach to fiction from one to the other. Do you feel that Northanger Abbey is an improvement over her earlier fiction, or is it a necessary simplification? O2: Austen is famous for recycling certain types of characters throughout her fiction, since she wanted her readers to learn the shorthand of good and bad characters, morals, and motives. Discuss a specific type of character you see popping up in a few of these works, and how Austen makes the similarities so obvious. Do their...

  First, watch this short video on the Gothic movement in English literature... Then answer these questions for Northanger Abbey (answer 3 as usual): Q1. A consistent theme in Austen’s novels is the entrance of a young woman into society.  However, such a rite of passage requires experienced chaperones to guide her on her way.  How does Austen satirize the idea of a young woman’s education—and in this case, into the social wilds of Bath ?  What dangers or missteps does she encounter that were all too real for women in Austen’s time?   Q2. Chapter 14 is a delightful discussion of books and taste, in which narrator readily admits that “It was no effort to Catherine to believe that Henry Tilney could never be wrong.  His manner might sometimes surprize, but his meaning must always be just.”  How are we supposed to read their budding romance in these chapters?  Is it truly a match of equals, or is Henry somewhat condescending towards her as a ‘...

  The new video is below. All you have to do it watch it, since it will give a little more context for the reading (these are things I would do in class, but simply can't when teaching like this). The questions for Lady Susan are below: * NOTE: Be sure to pay attention to who is writing the letter and who is receiving it. This would be important in real life, and is very important in figuring out how to read the letter (and the letter-writer’s intentions). CHARACTERS (all of whom write one or more letters): Lady Susan Vernon:  a widow, sister-in-law to Mrs. Vernon (she married her husband's brother). Has a daughter, Frederica, she is trying to get married to Sir James Martin. Miss Vernon: Frederica, Lady Susan’s daughter. Mrs. Johnson: Lady Susan’s intimate friend, with whom she shares her secret plans and love affairs. Her husband thinks Lady Susan a bad influence. Mrs. Vernon: Married to Lady Susan’s brother; lives at Churchill ...

Here's the first video to introduce Austen's world and some of the literary and artistic convention, such as "sensibility" you'll find in her stories. Nothing to respond to, just watch and think about these ideas as you read and answer the questions in the post below this one. Enjoy! 

Answer THREE of the SIX questions by this weekend, based on the two stories for this week: "Love and Freindship" and "Catherine." I'll post a blog video tomorrow for you to respond to as well, so be on the lookout!  Q1: Based on these two works, what kind of woman was the young Austen?  If we can glean character and values from a literary work, what do these stories say about the woman behind them?  Additionally, how might these works contradict the portrait of Austen we typically get as a genteel writer of love and marriage? Q2: In both works, Austen has great fun satirizing the way people in society act, whether in their fear of answering a door, of finding dead bodies from an overturned coach, or of toothaches and other sicknesses preventing them from attending balls. Though this is obviously still funny today, what do you think her Q3: Many of Austen’s early works were epistolary in form (letters) because that was a popular genre of the day. However, it ...

  English 5993: Jane Austen: Satire and Scandal Course website: grassobrit2.blogspot.com (this is my normal website for British Literature from 1800, so don’t worry about what’s already there; I’ll post new blogs each week once our class starts) Description : Jane Austen’s work has most often become conflated with Regency romances and romantic Hollywood adaptations. However, Austen herself avoided overtly romantic sentiment and never had her characters kiss or show any kind of unseemly PDA. Instead, Austen was at heart a satirist, who used wit and an almost theatrical sense of caricature to lampoon her society and point out its flaws. In this class, we’ll explore the ‘real’ Austen in some of her earliest works, where she emerges as an audacious literary hellion, to her later works, where the satire becomes more subdued, but no less potent. As we read these works, we’ll also ask the question why is the 21 st century so desperate to re-write Austen in its own image, rather tha...