Jane Austen and her Country-house Comedy

DOMINANT QUALITIES Jane Austen's abiding freshness-Why she has not more readers-Characteristics of her work-Absence of passion-Balzac, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë-Jane in her home circle-Her tranquil nature-Her unselfishness-Compared with Dorothy Osborne-Prudent heroines-Thoughtless admiration EQUIPMENT AND METHOD Literary influences-Jane Austen's defence of novelists-The old essayists-Her favourite authors-Some novels of her time-Criticism of her niece's novel-Sense of her own limitations-Her method-Humour-Familiar names-Some characteristics of style-Suggested emendations-A new 'problem' of authorship-A 'forbidding' writer-'Commonplace' and 'superficial'-Thomas Love Peacock-Sapient suggestions CONTACT WITH LIFE Origins of characters-Matchmaking-Second marriages-Negative qualities of the novels-Close knowledge of one class-Dislike of 'lionizing'-Madame de Staël-The 'lower orders'-Tradesmen-Social position-Quality of Jane's letters-Balls and parties ETHICS AND OPTIMISM Dr. Whately on Jane Austen-'Moral lessons' of her novels-Charge of 'Indelicacy'-Marriage as a profession-A 'problem' novel-'The Nostalgia of the Infinite'-The 'whitewashing' of Willoughby-Lady Susan condemned by its author-The Watsons-Change in manners-No 'heroes'-Woman's love-The Prince Regent-The Quarterly Review THE IMPARTIAL SATIRIST What has woman done?-'Nature's Salic law'-Women deficient in satire-Some types in the novels-The female snob-The valetudinarian-The fop-The too agreeable man-'Personal size and mental sorrow'-Knightley's opinion of Emma-Ashamed of relations-Mrs. Bennet-The clergy and their opinions-Worldly life-Absence of dogma-Authors confused with their creations PERSONAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL The novelist and her characters-Her sense of their reality-Accessories rarely described-Her ideas on dress-Her own millinery and gowns-Thin clothes and consumption-Domestic economy-Jane as housekeeper-'A very clever essay'-Mr.