Of all the English novelists, Jane Austen is perhaps the most securely and snugly great. She is a delight to read, she is constantly compared to Shakespeare, and seems equally above all criticism. At the same time, she has always attracted critics of the greatest ability and of all ideological persuasions.
In this volume are collected twelve essays representing the major critical approaches currently, prevalent, after the explosion of Theory. Nearly half the volume is concerned in one way or another with feminist issues relating to Austen, the post-colonial view of Austen is well represented, two of the essays look at Austen in the light of deconstruction , and there are fresh readings of Austen through literary history as well as socio-economic history. Aptly for a writer whose formal perfection is highly acclaimed, there are new studies here of her irony, the structure of her novels, and of her use of point-of-view of 'focalization'.
the volume opens with three general discussions of Jane Austen. Each of the six novels by her is then discussed individually, with two essays each on Pride and Prejudice and on Emma. In conclusion, a sample is offered of six Indian reader-responses, by students and a teacher, to 'Jane Austen in the Class room'.