30 Great Myths about Jane Austen

30 GREAT MYTHS ABOUT JANE AUSTEN

We all know Jane Austen never mentions the war. It was only women who read her novels, after all. But what about all those men in uniform? Was there really no sex in Jane Austen's world? In a series of short essays, 30 Great Myths About Jane Austen examines myths like these that have shaped our reading of Jane Austen. For like Austen's novels themselves, myths about Austen can also claim greatness. Great myths about Austen have a powerful impact on how we read and re-read.

This volume takes 30 of the most powerful myths about Austen and explores their social, emotional, and imaginative lives—showing how they illuminate Austen's life, work and reception, and why they have the hold they do over our hearts and minds. Along the way, the authors apply the most up-to-date scholarship to questions that continue to shape our appreciation of Jane Austen and her writings and the changing historical contexts in which they continue to delight, intrigue and excite.

Offering engaging narrative and original insights, 30 Great Myths About Jane Austen is a must-read for scholars, instructors and students of English and Romantic literature, as well as general readers with interest in the life and works of Jane Austen.

A fascinating look into the myths that continue to shape our understanding and appreciation of Jane Austen.

Was Jane Austen the best-selling novelist of her time? Are all her novels romances? Did they depict the traditional world of the aristocracy? Is Austen's writing easy to understand? Well into the 21st century, Jane Austen continues to be one of the most compelling novelists in all English literature. Many of her ideas about class, family, history, intimacy, manners, love, desire, and society, have inspired "myths" that are often contradictory — she was a Tory who was also a liberal feminist, or, her novels are at once sharply satirical and unapologetically romantic. Myths, like Austen's works, are dynamic, changing over time and impacting how we read and interpret literature.

30 Great Myths about Jane Austen examines the accepted beliefs — both true and untrue —that have most influenced our readings of Austen. Rather than simply de-bunking, or validating, commonly-held views about Austen, authors Claudia L. Johnson and Clara Tuite explore how these myths can be used to engage with the life, work, and reception of Jane Austen. Applying the most up-to-date scholarship to better understand how myths shape our appreciation of Jane Austen, this fascinating volume:

• Introduces readers to the history of Austen reception, both in academic scholarship and in the general public
• Examines Jane Austen’s life and letters, her historical contexts, her texts, and their afterlives
• Discusses Austen’s influence on the development of literary criticism as a discipline Explores each of Austen’s main novels, as well as relatively obscure texts such as Sanditon and The Watsons

Offering engaging narrative and original insights, 30 Great Myths about Jane Austen is a must-read for scholars, instructors, and students of English and Romantic literature, as well as general readers with interest in the life and works of Jane Austen.