Jane Austen, Lady Susan

Ana-Karina Schneider (Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1793 - 1794

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Juvenilia

Resources

Written at the early age of eighteen in the form of a set of letters to and from a large gallery of characters, the book still displays the whimsicality of the Juvenilia, while at the same time experimenting with voices and characterisation through language and dialogue. The protagonist and dispatcher of many of the letters, Lady Susan Vernon is an impoverished yet merry young widow whose sole occupation is to flirt with every man in sight, in hopes of landing a second rich husband. Her unscrupulous seduction of men who are either married or young enough to be eligible as sons-in-law provides the ostensible object of the entire epistolary exchange. Yet while the narrative focus is on her immoral behaviour and on ways of …

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1219 words

Citation: Schneider, Ana-Karina. "Lady Susan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 March 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4171, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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