Edgar und Emma

by Jane Austen

Jane Austen (* 16. Dezember 1775 in Steventon, Basingstoke and Deane; † 18. Juli 1817 in Winchester) war eine britische Schriftstellerin aus der Zeit des Regency, deren Hauptwerke wie “Stolz und Vorurteil” und “Emma” zu den Klassikern der englischen Literatur gehören. “Die schöne Cassandra” zählt zu Janes Jugendwerken und wurde erst im 20. Jahrhundert zugänglich. Es sind Texte von überbordender Phantasie, einem frechen Humor, einer unbändigen Lust zu provozieren und andere zu schockieren. (Auszug aus Wikipedia)

Genres: Classics

7 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2015

About the author

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.

The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.

Reviews

[Carolina Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is what I call a very fun read!

[Heather Lubeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was particularly amusing, with such passages as follows: Emma had continued in the parlour some time before she could summon up sufficient courage to ask Mrs. Willmot after the rest of her family; and when she did, it was in so low, so faltering a voice that no one knew she spoke. Dejected by the ill success of her first attempt, she made no other till, on Mrs. Willmot's desiring one of the little girls to ring the bell for their carriage, she stepped across the room and seizing the string said in a resolute manner, 'Mrs. Willmot, you do not stir from this house till you let me know how all the rest of your family do, particularly your eldest son.'


Comedy gold.

[Sara G.]

See my notes from Prof. Zhang’s Fall 2023 class.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. This is a very short little juvenilia story, but pretty funny, and deeply parodical. I was particularly amused by all the children's names and how Mrs. Wilmot casually goes through all her children's wildly varying locations—it reminds me of my own early writing!