Jane Austen

by Tony Tanner, John Wiltshire (Noted by), Marilyn Gaull (Preface by)

Tony Tanner's classic text on Jane Austen addresses the issues that have always occupied the author's most perceptive critics, and offers an illuminating and refreshing analysis of Austen's novels. Tanner shows how Austen changed from a basically accepting view of 'society' to a more questioning one and considers the problems of authority, power and the position of women, as well as the relationship between ethics, language and behaviour.

This reissued edition features a new Preface by leading Romantic scholar Marilyn Gaull who examines Tanner's background and places the original work in context. Lively and informative, the Preface helps to reinforce and explain the continued importance of Tanner's work. Accompanied by an insightful Note on the Text by Austen scholar John Wiltshire, and an expanded Bibliography and Index, this is a timely republication of a study which is now regarded as one of the finest, and most accessible, introductions to a great novelist.

Genres: Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Literature, Teaching, Biography, 19th Century

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Sandhya · Rating 3 out of 5]

They say, 'one half of the world does not understand the pleasures of the other' Quite similarly, there are as many fanatics of Jane Austen, as there are skeptics. Her enduring popularity continues to bewilder a section of authors and literary critics who find her novels and concerns too remote and limited. Her growing fame confused even her contemporaries like Charlotte Bronte and Mark Twain who repeatedly wondering aloud what all the fuss around her was. Many derisively said that if you had one Austen novel, it was as good as reading all.

Tony Tanner tackles many of these criticisms through his nuanced and deep study of Austen's novels. His last chapter on Persuasion - the writer's last novel - in particular is very illuminating and helps you see both Austen and the book in a new light. Popularly it has been believed that Austen's novels were quite isolated from the happenings of her time. Though Austen never referenced too many political incidents in her books, Tanner points out how Austen was by no means unaware or unaffected by contemporary history. Many important political changes were coming about when Austen was writing her novels and the fall of Napoleon Bonapart and the Navy role in safeguarding England had a distinct echo in Persuasion, proves Tanner. Austen, he says, was starting to have serious doubts about her society and all that it had stood for. The waves of change were coming, and Austen was seeing this development with curiosity but with a distinct feeling that society was now entering into the realm of the unfamiliar and unknown. Austen was growing increasingly restless about her old society, its narrowness and complacency. The great wars heightened this feeling in Austen, and this aspect clearly comes through in Persuasion, where she frowns upon her own society, while looks very favourably (even admirably) at the Navy - which she felt was responsible for saving the country, while England's land-owning elite community did nothing.
The book often provokes by throwing up various ideas, but at all points is challenging and illuminating.

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[Megan Chrisler · Rating 3 out of 5]

You are forgiven for thinking this is a biography. It isn't. It's actually an analysis of most of her works (besides Lady Susan, The Watsons, and her juvenalia). While Tanner can be a bit bloviating and pontificating, he has some interesting insights; for instance, the connection between property and propriety in Austen's time, or how Marianne Dashwood's excessive sensibility exposes the falsehood of her society. It's worth checking out only if you're a huge Austen fan; there are worse books about her works out there.

[Amy Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of literary criticism, and this is absolutely one of the best. I used it extensively while studying for my English degree. Tanner really digs beneath the surface to bring us details about Austen's work that the reader wouldn't normally think of. Truly excellent.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Tanner writes with clarity and insight. He is scholarly without being pretentious or dry. His analysis of acting in Mansfield Park and of the Navy in Persuasion broaden the context for us. His discussion of Sanditon, Austen’s final unfinished novel is especially enlightening.

[Kenneth Hittel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthy of consideration as among the best of literary criticism, as estimable as that of F.R. Leavis and Lionel Trilling. Tanner gives us a Jane Austen worthy of being called the Aristotle of English fiction (although that's my comparison, not his). His Jane is fully immersed in the social, economic, political, and moral life of 17th & 18th century England: It ain't all love, pride, prejudice, and wit, although the wit is certainly appropriately honored.
My only criticism of the book, which opens with a stage-setting introduction and takes us through the canon from Northanger Abbey to Sandition, is that Tanner doesn't follow through with a summary of this voyage, this voyage of her life and thinking. It's all there, but it would have been wonderful if he had brought it together for us.

[Fred Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this slowly, one chapter at a time as I finished each novel. It's useful, but at times I got the idea he didn't write it but spoke it into a tape recorder.

[Valentina Dragoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brillantly written, full of references to history, econimics, lifestyle and linguistics.
It is a must read for everyone who's fond of Jane Austen, and for those who want to deepen the Regency period as well.

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the most lucid and perceptive analysis of Jane Austen's work I've read.