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Cambridge Introductions to Literature
[The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen] (By: Janet Todd) [published: October, 2006]
Jane Austen is unique among British novelists in maintaining her popular appeal while receiving more scholarly attention now than ever before. This innovative introduction by a leading scholar and editor of her work explains what students need to know about her novels, life, context and reception. Each novel is discussed in detail, and all the essential information about her life and literary influences, her novels and letters, and her impact on later literature and culture is covered. While the book considers the key areas of current critical focus its analysis remains thoroughly grounded in readings of the texts themselves. Janet Todd outlines what makes Austen's prose style so innovative and gives useful starting points for the study of the major works, with suggestions for further reading. This book is an essential purchase for all students of Austen, as well as for readers wanting to deepen their appreciation of the novels.
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First published January 1, 2006
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About the author
Janet Todd
114 books70 followersJanet Todd (Jan) is a novelist, biographer, literary critic and internationally renowned scholar, known for her work on
women’s writing and feminism. Her most recent books include
the novel: Don't You Know There's A War On?;
edition and essay: Jane Austen’s Sanditon;
memoir: Radiation Diaries: Cancer, Memory
and Fragments of a Life in Words;
biography: Aphra Behn: A Secret Life;
the novel: A Man of Genius 2016.
Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden: An Illustrated Novel, forthcoming 2021
A co-founder of the journal Women’s Writing, she has published biographies and critical work on many authors,including Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughters, Mary (Shelley) and Fanny (Death And The Maidens) , and the Irish-Republican sympathiser, traveller and medical student, Lady Mount Cashell (Daughters of Ireland).
Born in Wales, Janet Todd grew up in Britain, Bermuda and Ceylon/Sri Lanka and has worked at schools and universities in Ghana, Puerto Rico, India, the US (Douglass College,
Rutgers, Florida), Scotland (Glasgow, Aberdeen) and England (Cambridge, UEA). A former President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, she is now an Honorary Fellow of
Newnham College.
women’s writing and feminism. Her most recent books include
the novel: Don't You Know There's A War On?;
edition and essay: Jane Austen’s Sanditon;
memoir: Radiation Diaries: Cancer, Memory
and Fragments of a Life in Words;
biography: Aphra Behn: A Secret Life;
the novel: A Man of Genius 2016.
Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden: An Illustrated Novel, forthcoming 2021
A co-founder of the journal Women’s Writing, she has published biographies and critical work on many authors,including Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, her daughters, Mary (Shelley) and Fanny (Death And The Maidens) , and the Irish-Republican sympathiser, traveller and medical student, Lady Mount Cashell (Daughters of Ireland).
Born in Wales, Janet Todd grew up in Britain, Bermuda and Ceylon/Sri Lanka and has worked at schools and universities in Ghana, Puerto Rico, India, the US (Douglass College,
Rutgers, Florida), Scotland (Glasgow, Aberdeen) and England (Cambridge, UEA). A former President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, she is now an Honorary Fellow of
Newnham College.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 25, 2019
Part of my ongoing research in preparation for my graduate thesis.
A rather slim volume by the looks of it, I wondered what new information I could glean from such a short introduction to Jane Austen after having completed a month and a half of research, plus a trip to Bath and Chawton in England.
I must be completely honest here and ask the very straight forward question: what the heck was this supposed to be?
The book begins with a chapter on Jane Austen’s life. It feels thrown together; summarized from other sources that said the exact same thing in almost the exact same way. I am not accusing the author of plagiarism, but I felt the author lacked passion or even just a little enthusiasm in the subject matter.
After this lackluster chapter introducing the reader to one of the finest writers in the English language, the author begins her discussion of the Austen’s various texts.
This discussion quickly turns into unmistakeable critique of Austen’s inability to comment louder, more intently on political and social issues among others. I detected hints of intentional fallacy as well as a dislike of Austen by the author.
The text, in general, felt very rushed, not properly thought through or even edited. I wonder, if the author never really wanted to write this introduction in the first place.
Overall, and please forgive my forthright, maybe even sharp comments, I expected more from an author, who is also a respected professor of English Literature and has other published works. Frankly, don’t bother with this one.
ElliotScribbles
A rather slim volume by the looks of it, I wondered what new information I could glean from such a short introduction to Jane Austen after having completed a month and a half of research, plus a trip to Bath and Chawton in England.
I must be completely honest here and ask the very straight forward question: what the heck was this supposed to be?
The book begins with a chapter on Jane Austen’s life. It feels thrown together; summarized from other sources that said the exact same thing in almost the exact same way. I am not accusing the author of plagiarism, but I felt the author lacked passion or even just a little enthusiasm in the subject matter.
After this lackluster chapter introducing the reader to one of the finest writers in the English language, the author begins her discussion of the Austen’s various texts.
This discussion quickly turns into unmistakeable critique of Austen’s inability to comment louder, more intently on political and social issues among others. I detected hints of intentional fallacy as well as a dislike of Austen by the author.
The text, in general, felt very rushed, not properly thought through or even edited. I wonder, if the author never really wanted to write this introduction in the first place.
Overall, and please forgive my forthright, maybe even sharp comments, I expected more from an author, who is also a respected professor of English Literature and has other published works. Frankly, don’t bother with this one.
ElliotScribbles
December 12, 2023
A very short book, totally worth to read for fun, but not worth to read if you’re actually trying to study more about Jane Austen.
I LOVE Jane Austen, by far my favorite author and I really feel a connection to her.
“She wanted to be an author who was bought, read, and reread, whose books became both an experience and a challenge to experience, not simply once-consumed items.”
I’m so glad she achieved what she dreamed of, even if only postmortem. I hope that wherever she is she knows how big she got and how loved her works are.
My favorite lovely spinster, the Mother of enemies to lovers, you will always be famous.
I LOVE Jane Austen, by far my favorite author and I really feel a connection to her.
“She wanted to be an author who was bought, read, and reread, whose books became both an experience and a challenge to experience, not simply once-consumed items.”
I’m so glad she achieved what she dreamed of, even if only postmortem. I hope that wherever she is she knows how big she got and how loved her works are.
My favorite lovely spinster, the Mother of enemies to lovers, you will always be famous.
July 26, 2012
An excellent introduction to both Jane Austen and her work.
And if you already have read a lot of books on Austen's work don't get uninterested in this just because it says 'introduction' - it is much more than that and is quite interesting even if you know quite a lot beforehand.
And if you already have read a lot of books on Austen's work don't get uninterested in this just because it says 'introduction' - it is much more than that and is quite interesting even if you know quite a lot beforehand.
February 2, 2016
The background on Austen and her times answers many of my questions. There is a chapter on each book, and sometimes I feel that Todd over-analyzes. I almost always enjoy the books in the Cambridge series, and this one upholds that Cambridge tradition.
March 6, 2022
Todd, Janet. The Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen. Second Edition. Cambridge UP, 2015.
Janet Todd has written an insightful set of interpretive essays on the novels of Jane Austen, but it is a collection best read after one has read the novels. This Cambridge Introduction, then, is not so much a preparation to read the novels but perhaps a preparation to reread them. There is no new biographical research here, so the first chapter that deals with the life and times of the author seems thin. I did not find much new in the discussion of Northanger Abbey, and the last chapter that covers our current Jane Austen Industry seems thrown together. Perhaps it was a needed justification to publish a second edition. It would be interesting to compare the cinematic approaches to Austen’s novels, but there is no mention of Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility or Joe Wright’s treatment of Pride and Prejudice. Todd is on solider ground in discussing the novels themselves. She points out, for instance, that most of the characters in Sense and Sensibility display both the title qualities in different degrees and that in Pride and Prejudice, the two title terms become harder to distinguish as the novel progresses. In discussing Mansfield Park, Todd explains that Austen was aiming at a different audience than she was in Pride and Prejudice, which may account for its less comic tone. Turning to Emma, I was amused at Todd’s suggestion that Emma’s life as an adult would not have been much changed if she had not married Mr. Knightly, who unlike Darcy, is more cash-poor than his bride. Finally, in Persuasion, Todd finds Austen dramatizing the breakdown of the feudal order of the earlier novels. Wentworth, as a self-made man, is more like Bingley than Darcy but with no need to rent a house in the country. 4 stars.
Janet Todd has written an insightful set of interpretive essays on the novels of Jane Austen, but it is a collection best read after one has read the novels. This Cambridge Introduction, then, is not so much a preparation to read the novels but perhaps a preparation to reread them. There is no new biographical research here, so the first chapter that deals with the life and times of the author seems thin. I did not find much new in the discussion of Northanger Abbey, and the last chapter that covers our current Jane Austen Industry seems thrown together. Perhaps it was a needed justification to publish a second edition. It would be interesting to compare the cinematic approaches to Austen’s novels, but there is no mention of Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility or Joe Wright’s treatment of Pride and Prejudice. Todd is on solider ground in discussing the novels themselves. She points out, for instance, that most of the characters in Sense and Sensibility display both the title qualities in different degrees and that in Pride and Prejudice, the two title terms become harder to distinguish as the novel progresses. In discussing Mansfield Park, Todd explains that Austen was aiming at a different audience than she was in Pride and Prejudice, which may account for its less comic tone. Turning to Emma, I was amused at Todd’s suggestion that Emma’s life as an adult would not have been much changed if she had not married Mr. Knightly, who unlike Darcy, is more cash-poor than his bride. Finally, in Persuasion, Todd finds Austen dramatizing the breakdown of the feudal order of the earlier novels. Wentworth, as a self-made man, is more like Bingley than Darcy but with no need to rent a house in the country. 4 stars.
August 24, 2018
I’ve read all of Austen’s books and unpublished works at least once plus her letters, some biographies, etc. I did not learn much from this collection of essays (one one each book) although there were a handful of interesting moments. It also had a number of typos or incomplete sentences, surprising from an English professor author.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews