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To relieve the pressure on her impoverished, overburdened family, shy young Fanny Price is sent to live with Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, wealthy relatives who reside at Mansfield Park. Of the Bertrams' own four children, only the younger son, Edmund, shows her any real kindness, and over time Fanny falls in love with her cousin. With Sir Thomas away on overseas business, Mansfield's social circle gains two superficially attractive new members: handsome,...
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Northanger Abbey is the earliest of Jane Austen's great comedies of female enlightenment and combines literary burlesque - making fun of the excesses of the Gothic novel - with larger moral, philosophical, and social issues: the folly of letting literature get in the way of life, the inexcusability of not thinking for oneself, and the painful difficulties (especially for women) involved in growing up. Lady Susan and The Watsons are early compositions...
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When Mr. Dashwood dies, he must leave the bulk of his estate to the son by his first marriage, which leaves his second wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret) in straitened circumstances. They are taken in by a kindly cousin, but their lack of fortune affects the marriageability of both practical Elinor and romantic Marianne. When Elinor forms an attachment for the wealthy Edward Ferrars, his family disapproves and separates them....
4) Persuasion
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"Persuasion by Jane Austen. What does persuasion mean - a firm belief, or the action of persuading someone to think something else? Anne Elliot is one of Austen's quietest heroines, but also one of the strongest and the most open to change. She lives at the time of the Napoleonic wars, a time of accident, adventure, the making of new fortunes and alliances. A woman of no importance, she maneuvers in her restricted circumstances as her long-time love...
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 1
Description
Begin your journey with a brief look at the aims of the seres, and get a quick overview of the historical, cultural, and literary context that shaped the life and work of Jane Austen. Grasp why it is so vital to understand Austen's place in history to better appreciate the impact of her novels on literature and the world.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 2
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Despite the treasure trove of information that we have about Jane Austen's historical time and place, we actually have very little direct knowledge about her life. Look at what we do know from her surviving letters, and take a closer look at the facts and fictions that have persisted over time about her life.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 13
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Regency England was a highly stratified world, with well-known cues to signal one's rank in the social hierarchy. Investigate the intricacies of early 19th-century social status and what it communicated about one's supposed worth. Learn the vocabulary of rank and status, as well as the many ways that Austen's fiction offers a pointed critique of the world in which she lived.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 21
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Jane Austen also had unpublished minor works that went unknown until several decades after her death. Here, dig into one of her most surprising pieces of fiction: Lady Susan, an epistolary novella that stars a charismatic and morally bankrupt widow. Lady Susan, may seem the opposite of the more famous Austen heroines, but you may find that she has a certain charm that is hard to resist.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 6
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Mansfield Park is perhaps the most controversial of Austen's finished novels. Meet Fanny Price, the unassuming heroine at the center of this more serious entry in Austen's oeuvre, and see why Austen's third novel is the most divisive among readers. Through Fanny's travails and quiet rebellion, Austen would create a complex story that examines the dynamics of family, power, work, and gender.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 23
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Jane Austen's literary career was a family affair. Broaden your view with a look at the impact of Austen's literary family, which offers a crucial lens through which to examine her writings, authorship, and legacy. You will see how Austen's family, from her parents and siblings to her nieces and nephews and beyond, nourished her talent and grew her eventual fame.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 8
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One of the two novels published after Austen's death, Northanger Abbey is Austen's love letter to the gothic novels of her youth. Look at the gothic tradition of the late 1700s and how Austen's gentle mocking of the melodramatic flourishes of the genre inform the experiences of her impressionable young heroine, Catherine Morland.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 11
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Austen's plots all end with marriages, but do her novels really endorse matrimony? As you look at various examples from her work, you will see how a deep thread of skepticism about the idealized nature of marriage makes its way into her stories. Look below the surface of Austen's bright, comedic work to uncover her perspective on the inner workings of the marriage bargain.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 14
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A generation and more ago, critics accused Austen of ignoring the larger political events of the day in her fiction. That myth hasn't stood up to scrutiny. The early 19th century was a time of revolutions and upheaval, as Austen well knew and as her fiction demonstrations. In this episode, you will learn how Austen viewed the events of her day and how they influenced her life and fiction.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 20
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How has Jane Austen been remembered? Consider both the myths and the realities of Jane Austen's fame over the years following her death in 1817, beginning with her brother Henry's caricaturing, if loving, biographical essay. Then, look at a few of the famous figures who loved her -- and some who didn't -- and close with an examination of her first full biography and her enduring legacy.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 7
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If any novel invites an enriching experience through multiple readings, it's Emma. See why many consider Austen's fourth published novel to be her masterpiece and how this story rewards those who revisit it over time. Consider the many dimensions that make Emma more than just a love story and discover why the personal development of a heroine like Emma Woodhouse is so deeply satisfying.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 10
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Turn now to the realities of Regency life with a look at romance and courtship, something that lies at the heart of every Austen plot. Examine the power dynamics between the genders and how they shaped courtship, the opportunities young people had to meet, and how various couples in Austen's novels exemplify or subvert the heavily controlled nature of Regency romance.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 9
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Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion, is slower in pace and more melancholy in tone than her earlier work. Look closely at two defining features of the story: its focus on age and aging and its more direct approach to real-life political events of the time. Better appreciate the many complex dimensions of Austen's final published work.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 17
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Take a tour of the finer points of Regency clothing and luxury items, and see how Austen uses descriptions of dress and accessories to make subtle (and not-so-subtle) observations on both the social status and the moral values of her characters. Better understand how "frivolous" distinctions about what one wears take on significant meanings in Austen's fiction.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 16
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What made for an "accomplished" woman in the Regency period? Look at the list of activities and talents expected of young women of means and how these accomplishments contrast with being well read or learned. Along the way, you'll see what Austen thought about these accomplishments and what she believed were the greater benefits of an education of knowledge and ideas for middle-class women.
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Life and Works of Jane Austen volume 5
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The most beloved of Austen's novels, Pride and Prejudice has a deeply devoted fanbase of both literary critics and everyday readers. Look at what makes this novel so popular and long-lived as you examine the humorous details of Austen's characters, the appeal of her heroine Elizabeth Bennet, the epigrammatic style of her prose, the book's emotionally resonant plot, and more.