Jane Austen, "Emma" (Norton Critical Editions), 3rd Edition

The Third Edition of Jane Austen's popular comedic novel is based on the 1816 first edition text, which has been carefully collated by the editor.

"Backgrounds" includes an abundance of source material that sheds light on Austen's life and reveals some of her private attitudes toward her writing. Readers will enjoy comparing real events in Austen's life with her fictionalized accounts in Emma. Included is a selection of Austen's letters to her sister, Cassandra; an excerpt from The Watsons (a novel fragment) describing that most Austenian of social events, a country ball; Virginia Woolf s commentary on The Watsons; and two biographical sketches by family members. The editor has also included Austen's "Plan of a Novel" and relevant correspondence between Austen and J. S. Clark (chaplain to the Prince Regent).

"Reviews and Criticism" includes sixteen wide-ranging assessments of the novel, three of them new to the Third Edition. Sir Walter Scott, George Henry Lewes, Henry James, A. C. Bradley, Reginald Farrer, E. M. Forster, A. Walton Litz, Robert Alan Donovan, Marilyn Butler, Mary Poovey, Claudia L. Johnson, Ian Watt, Maggie Lane, Suzanne Juhasz, and John Wiltshire provide critical overviews. The section culminates with Suzanne Ferriss's account of the popular film versions of Emma, recently released.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are included.

Contents

Preface to the Third Edition
The Text of Emma

Backgrounds
 Jane Austen's Life and Her Fiction
  Henry Thomas Austen • Biographical Notice
  James E. Austen-Leigh • Memoir of Jane Austen
  Jane Austen
   Letters to Her Sister, Cassandra
    [An Account of a Ball, 1800]
    [The Events of a Day, 1805]
    [The Events of Two Days, 1813]
   From The Watsons [An Account of a Ball, 1803 or Later]
  Virginia Woolf • [The Watsons]
  Maggie Lane • Daily Life in Jane Austen's England
   Meals and Manners
    Breakfast
    The Midday Meal
    Dinner
    Tea
    Supper
   Rich and Poor
    The Aristocracy
    The Gentry
    The New Middle Classes
    Labourers, Servants, and the Poor
 Jane Austen On Her Own Art
  Jane Austen's Correspondence with J. S. Clarke
   J. S. Clarke to Jane Austen [asking her to write a novel about a clergyman]
   Jane Austen to J. S. Clarke [explaining why she cannot]
   J. S. Clarke to Jane Austen [asking again]
   J. S. Clarke to Jane Austen [proposing a historical romance]
   Jane Austen to J. S. Clarke [decisively refusing]
  Jane Austen • Plan of a Novel, According to Hints from Various Quarters

Reviews and Criticism
 Sir Walter Scott • [Review of Emma]
 George Henry Lewes • The Lady Novelists
 Henry James • The Lesson of Balzac
 A. C. Bradley • Jane Austen: A Lecture
 Reginald Farrer • Jane Austen, ob. July 18, 1917
 E. M. Forster • Jane Austen
 A. Walton Litz • The Limits of Freedom: Emma
 Robert Alan Donovan • The Mind of Jane Austen
 Marilyn Butler • "Emma"
 Mary Poovey • The True English Style
 Claudia L. Johnson • Emma: "Woman, lovely woman reigns alone."
 Ian Watt • Jane Austen and the Traditions of Comic Aggression
 Suzanne Juhasz • Bonnets and Balls: Reading Jane Austen's Letters
 John Wiltshire • Emma
 Suzanne Ferriss • Emma Becomes Clueless

Jane Austen: A Chronology
Selected Bibliography

Tags: Literature, LiteraryCriticism, 19CEngland

John Sutherland, "Can Jan...zles in Classic Fiction" 2 puzzles on Austen novels

Josephine Ross, "Jane Austen: A Companion"

Janet Todd (ed), "Jane Au...he Works of Jane Austen)"

Sue Birtwistle & Susie Con...g of Pride and Prejudice"

Julia Prewitt Brown, "A R...th-Century English Novel"

Ian Gregor (ed), "Reading...Novel: Detail into Form"

Emma Thompson, "The Sense...e Austen's Novel to Film"

John Sutherland & Deirdre ...zbook (World's Classics)"

Daniel Pool, "What Jane A...neteenth-Century England"

John Sutherland, "Who Bet...ction (World's Classics)" 3 puzzles on Austen novels

Kristine Hughes, "The Wri...cy and Victorian England"