Sibling Love and Incest in Jane Austen's Fiction - Hardcover

Hudson, Glenda A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333538935 ISBN 13: 9780333538937

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 1992

Synopsis

At the end of all of Jane Austen's novels, an innovative social and moral group emerges that closely resembles a fraternity or sibship. Dr Hudson's book examines Austen's presentation of sibling love and rivalry in the context of the dramtic social and historical changes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries doing so in such a way as to be of interest to both the general and the academic reader. The study also analyses the incest motif in numerous works of the period and argues how the handling of incestuous themes in "Mansfield Park", "Emma" and "Sense and Sensibility" represents a revolutionary stage in the development of the English novel.

About this title

Review

'Making historical connections that were ahead of its time, Sibling Love and Incest in Jane Austen's Fiction offers original and fascinating readings in clear, graceful prose worthy of its subject. Moving beyond the facile labelling of Austen as 'conservative', Hudson makes a compelling argument for Austen's literary and social innovations.' - Devoney Looser, Indiana State University; editor of Jane Austen and Discourses of Feminism (1995)
'Glenda Hudson's chapters on symbolic incest in Austen's novels are stimulating and masterly. She places Austen's works in the contexts of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Romantic poetry and popular fiction in a way that will prove highly valuable to all scholars. This first-rate book will be the standard treatment of sibling relationships in Austen studies for years to come.' - John Halperin, Centennial Professor of English, Vanderbilt University

About the Author

GLENDA HUDSON is an Associate Professor at the California State University, she specializes in Victorian literature and the British novel. Born in Canterbury, England, she received her B.A. from the University of Leeds and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. She is the co-author of A Contemporary Guide to Literary Terms. Her articles and reviews of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century fiction have appeared in Jane Austen and Discourses of Feminism, Eighteenth-Century Fiction, Persuasions, Remate de Males, and Studies in the Novel. In addition to her work in literary studies, she has published work on professional writing in Studies in Technical Communication and The Writing Instructor.

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0333538935
• ISBN 13: 9780333538937
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160