Jane Austen’s minor female characters expose the economic and social realties of British women in the long eighteenth century and reflect the conflict between intrinsic and expressed value within the evolving marketplace, where fluctuations and fictions inherent in the economic and moral value structures are exposed. Just as the newly-minted paper money was struggling to express its value, so do Austen’s minor female characters struggle to assert their intrinsic value within a marketplace that expresses their worth as bearers of dowries. Austen’s minor female characters expose the plight of women who settle for transactional marriages, become speculators and predators, or become superfluous women who have left the marriage market and battle for personal significance and existence. These characters illustrate the ambiguity of value within the marriage market economy, exposing women’s limited choices. This book employs a socio-historical framework, considering the rise of a competitive consumer economy juxtaposed with affective individualism.

A compelling exploration of the convergence of Jane Austen’sliterary themes and characters with David Hume’s views onmorality and human nature. Argues that the normative perspectives endorsed in JaneAusten's novels are best characterized in terms of a Humeanapproach, and that the merits of Hume's account of ethical,aesthetic and epistemic virtue are vividly illustrated by Austen'swriting. Illustrates how Hume and Austen complement one another, eachproviding a lens that allows us to expand and elaborate on theideas of the other Proposes that literature may serve as a thought experiment,articulating hypothetical cases which allow the reader to test hermoral intuitions Contributes to ongoing debates on the philosophy of literature,ethics, and emotion

Why does Jane Austen "mania" continue unabated in a postmodern world? How does the brilliant Regency novelist speak so personally to today's women that they view her as their best friend? Jane Austen's Women answers these questions by exploring Austen's affirming yet challenging vision of both who her dynamic female characters are, and who they become. This important new work analyzes the heroines' relationships to body, mind, spirit, environment, and society. It reveals how, despite a restrictive patriarchal culture, these women achieve greatness. In clear, lively prose, Kathleen Anderson shares original theoretical insights from twenty years of studying Austen, and illuminates the novels as guidebooks on how to become an Austenian heroine in one's everyday life. This engaging book will appeal to a broad readership: the serious student, the general lit-lover, and the Austen neophyte alike.

A study of Jane Austen's novels in the context of eighteenth-century feminist ideas.

A classic account of Jane Austen in the context of eighteenth century feminist ideas and contemporary thought.