Some Themes
of the Work
of Jane Austen

Jane Austen 1775-1817

Main works...

Sense and Sensibility 1811
Pride and Prejudice Misjudgments ended as individuals learn more about each other 1813
Mansfield Park Differences between appearances and reality 1814
Emma a young woman becoming an adult and its difficulties 1816
Northanger Abbey 1818
Persuasion 1818

Moderation and Social Conservatism...

A critic of romanticism...

No central tragedy...

The aim of it all...

Life is limited and preset...

Approved people and daft people...

Characters by literary style...

Complexity and ambiguity...

Bibliography

Summary points from a dialogue between David Daiches and Barbara Hardy, in Watts, C. (intro.) (1976), The English Novel, Questions in Literature series, London: Sussex Books, 15-30.