Synopses & Reviews
This book examines Austen's novels within their philosophical and religious contexts, and demonstrates that both classical and theological virtues are central to her work. In fresh readings of the six completed novels, plus
Lady Susan, Emsley shows how Austen's complex representations of the tensions among the virtues shape the morality of her characters and their societies.
Synopsis
This book examines Austen's novels in relation to her philosophical and religious context, demonstrating that the combination of the classical and theological traditions of the virtues is central to her work. Austen's heroines learn to confront the fundamental ethical question of how to live their lives. Instead of defining virtue only in the narrow sense of female sexual virtue, Austen opens up questions about a plurality of virtues. In fresh readings of the six completed novels, plus Lady Susan, Emsley shows how Austen's complex imaginative representations of the tensions among the virtues engage with and expand on classical and Christian ethical thought.
Synopsis
This book examines the ways in which Jane Austen's novels offer complex imaginative representations of both the tensions among, and the possibilities for, the practice of both the classical and the theological virtues.
About the Author
Sarah Emsley teaches in the Expository Writing Program at Harvard University. She received her Ph.D. from Dalhousie University and spent two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute, Oxford.
Table of Contents
How Should I Live My Life? * The Virtues According to Aristotle, Aquinas, and Austen * Propriety's Claims on Prudence in
Lady Susan and Northanger Abbey *
Sense and Sensibility: 'Know Your Own Happiness' *
Pride and Prejudice and the Beauty of Justice * Fanny Price and the Contemplative Life * Learning the Art of Charity in
Emma * Balancing the Virtues in
Persuasion * After Austen How Should I Live My Life? * The Virtues According to Aristotle, Aquinas, and Austen * Propriety's Claims on Prudence in
Lady Susan and Northanger Abbey *
Sense and Sensibility: 'Know Your Own Happiness' *
Pride and Prejudice and the Beauty of Justice * Fanny Price and the Contemplative Life * Learning the Art of Charity in
Emma * Balancing the Virtues in
Persuasion * After Austen