Reviews

Jane Austen and the Romantic Poets by William Deresiewicz

sashas_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

A very interesting and enjoyable (despite being slightly too academic) discussion of the influence of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott and Byron on Jane Austen. Taking a closer look at "Mansfield Park", "Emma", and "Persuasion" - the hidden layers, themes, and historical context will enrich my future re-readings...

P.S. Literary criticism is a wonderful genre and often a great intellectual exercise. But I sometimes wonder whether there are any authors out there who consciously think: "If I use this particular word in this particular way in this particular chapter, then my future readers and critics will know that this is a symbol of..."??? But even if critics sometimes go too far in their digging for hidden meanings, watching them dig is always entertaining ;-)
More...