Jane Austen [ Art and Literature ]
… Jane Austen analysed the implications of late Georgian and Regency sociability with regard to gender and social rank. Critiquing earlier notions of polite sociability, her fictions recognise new sites of provincial recreation and … expression of real affection and desire required private communication. Covert affairs, like that of Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill in Emma , are seen to destabilise the community until they can be openly acknowledged. Ideally, the … in Pride and Prejudice (1813), were organised by subscription and offered opportunities for interaction between social ranks if the local landowner, or a visiting one like Mr Darcy, chose to attend (Russel 184). Despite being governed by …
Courtship | Fiction | Gender | Public sphere
Encyclopedia