Lady Susan - Softcover

Austin, Jane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 153019508X ISBN 13: 9781530195084

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

Lady Susan is a short epistolary novel by Jane Austen, possibly written in 1794 but not published until 1871. This epistolary novel, an early complete work that the author never submitted for publication, describes the schemes of the main character—the widowed Lady Susan—as she seeks a new husband for herself and one for her daughter. Although the theme, together with the focus on character study and moral issues, is close to Austen's published work (Sense and Sensibility was also originally written in the epistolary form), its outlook is very different, and the heroine has few parallels in 19th-century literature. Lady Susan is a selfish, unscrupulous and scheming woman, highly attractive to men, who tries to trap the best possible husband while maintaining a relationship with a married man. She subverts all the standards of the romantic novel: she has an active role, she is not only beautiful but intelligent and witty, and her suitors are significantly younger than she is (in contrast with Sense and Sensibility and Emma, which feature marriages by their female protagonists to men who are 16 years older). Although the ending includes a traditional reward for morality, Lady Susan herself is treated more leniently than the adulteress in Mansfield Park, who is severely punished.

About this title

Review

Inspired by "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", and written in a similar epistolary form, Lady Susan is one of Jane Austen's earliest finished works. In it, she reveals all the caustic wit and brilliant social satire of her later novellas.

About the Author

Jane Austen (1775-1817) was a prominent British novelist who innovated the novel of his time with her vision on the everyday aspects, in detail treatment with large doses of realism and refined humor. On several occasions her novels have been translated to the big screen, continuing current and attracting the interest of a very varied audience around the world.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 153019508X
• ISBN 13: 9781530195084
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 62
• Editor: Duran Judith