This book lifts Austen studies to a level of debate which is exciting, happy and tough. That she is one of the greatest philosopher-novelists of the Romantic Age is Peter Scott's conviction. He reads Mansfield Park as a ripe complex argument about discipline, Sense and Sensibility is valued as one of the great tragic novels of Europe, and Emma is viewed as brilliant but specious.

The collection brings together experts in the field of twentieth-century writing to provide a volume that is both comprehensive and innovative in its discussion of a set of newly canonical texts. The book includes new applications of philosophical and critical thinking to established texts.

Due in part to the many film and video releases in the last decade of the twentieth century, there is a renewed interest in Jane Austen in high school and college classrooms. As an educational resource, Jane Austen in the Classroom helps teachers to guide readers who are being introduced to these novels - as well as readers who know and love Austen's works - through the process of «viewing the novel», reading Austen with an imaginative eye, and «reading the film», analyzing the adaptations as re-creations of Austen's cultural and fictional worlds. This book references the latest critical analyses of the novels and the videos. As a pedagogical tool, the text is a valuable resource for educators and students of the British novel and literature by women, offering innovative approaches to discussion, analysis, writing, and research.