Jane Austen Materials

Life doesn't always end happily. Jane Austen knew that, but you wouldn't think so to listen to a lot of her fans. Janeites are happy to wax eloquent (or simply to wax) on the romance, the humor, the happy resolution for women like Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, and Elinor Dashwood. They often fail to note the Christian assumptions undergirding Austen's fiction, the way she portrays humans as less-than-perfect, shows the consequences of sin, and celebrates the quiet and contented life.

The humor is reason enough to enjoy reading Austen. Everyone has a favorite scene—Mr. Collins' ill-fated proposal, Catherine's realization that Northanger Abbey is a nice place and not dark and horrifying, Frank Churchill's speedy departure to obtain a haircut. But her genius wasn't simply in observing people and their idiosyncrasies, her mastery of dialogue, or her uncanny ability to identify what men and women want in a spouse and bringing the appropriate characters together by the end.

Jane Austen's genius was in her ability to show things as they are without moralizing. Any author can say "this is wrong" or "that is good," but how many can present the facts in such a way that readers know which is which? In Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy is not perfect. He may be the man of many girls' dreams, but he has serious character flaws that need mending. Fortunately for him he changes, but Austen never says, "Now this is what we learn from Mr. Darcy......"

It's all done so effortlessly. At first glance, these novels are little more than sustained glimpses into British Regency culture among the upper-middle classes. A little deeper, and they're reflections on marriage and love. Deeper still, and they become subtle satires on the mores and attitudes of a cross-section of her social milieu. Fortunately for most readers, her most incisive observations aren't buried that deep: what she shows any reader from any cultural context are the consistencies of human nature.

For Jane Austen characters, things go well if their decisions are wise and their tongues well-managed. In Pride and Prejudice Lydia ends up with the deplorable George Wickham because of her frivolity and rebellion, not because "bad things happen to good people." Elizabeth, on the other hand, ends up with the upright and responsible (if not always charming) Fitzwilliam Darcy only because she refused to make stupid decisions that offered quick solutions to difficult problems.

Some modern critics are quick to point out that Austen was attempting to show the injustice of a system in which women had to rely on matrimony to obtain a secure future. What they fail to note is that none of her heroines see this as a burden—it is only when a lady is impulsive or irresponsible that she need fear making a terrible mistake in her choice of spouse. If she has her wits about her and a generous heart, there's nothing to worry about.

Peter Leithart has made an excellent study of the Christian themes in Jane Austen in his book Miniatures and Morals (which also serves as a study guide for her novels). It's a perspective too often ignored in our hyper-intellectualized postmodern approach to literary criticism. Miss Austen lived long before postmodernism was around and would've rejected its principles due to her Christian presuppositions. It seems only fair to interpret (and enjoy) her brilliant novels on her own terms.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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39 Items found Print
Brit. Lit. Volume 5
by Jane Austen
from Logos School
for 10th-12th grade
in Logos Brit. Lit. (Location: LITCUR-LOG)
$18.99
Complete Novels of Jane Austen
by Jane Austen
from Canterbury Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Emma
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00
Emma
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$26.00
Emma
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$12.99
Jane Austen
Christian Encounters
by Peter Leithart
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
Biography for 8th-Adult
in Christian Encounters (Location: BIO-CE)
$12.00
Jane Austen Hardcover Collection
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$152.00
Jane Austen Softcover Collection
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Putnam
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$48.80
Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Realistic fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$11.00 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Mansfield Park
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00
Mansfield Park
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$28.00
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$12.95
Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Miniatures and Morals
by Peter Leithart
from Canon Press
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$16.00
Northanger Abbey
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00
Northanger Abbey
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$28.00
Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.95
Persuasion
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.00
Persuasion
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$26.00
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.95
Presenting Miss Jane Austen
by May Lamberton Becker
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Pride & Prejudice: A BabyLit Counting Primer
BabyLit
by Alison Oliver, Jennifer Adams
from Gibbs M. Smith
for Nursery-Preschool
in Board Books (Location: PIC-BOARD)
$9.99
Pride and Prejudice
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00
Pride and Prejudice
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$28.00
Pride and Prejudice
Dover Thrift Editions
by Jane Austen
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.00 $3.50 (2 in stock)
Pride and Prejudice
Macmillan Classics
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Bernarda Bryson
from Macmillan
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
from Oxford University
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Pride and Prejudice
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Jane Austen
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
from Franklin Library
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Pride and Prejudice
Rainbow Classics
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Edgard Cirlin
from World Publishing Company
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Sanditon
by Jane Austen & "Another Lady"
Reprint from Simon and Schuster
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$18.00
Sanditon & Other Stories
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$30.00
Sense and Sensibility
Penguin Classics
by Jane Austen
from Penguin Classics
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.00
Sense and Sensibility
Everyman's Library
by Jane Austen
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$24.00
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen
from Palazzo Editions Limited
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.45
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew
by Daniel Pool
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$18.00
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew
by Daniel Pool
from Robinson Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in British Literature Curriculum (Location: LITCUR-BRI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)