Jane Austen and the Theatre

Jane Austen was fascinated by theatre from her childhood. As an adult she went to the theatre whenever opportunity arose. Scenes in her novels often resemble plays, and recent film and television versions have shown how naturally dramatic her stories are. Yet the myth remains that she was 'anti-theatrical', and readers continue to puzzle about the real significance of the theatricals in Mansfield Park. Penny Gay's book describes for the first time the rich theatrical context of Austen's writing, and the intersections between her novels and contemporary drama. Gay proposes a 'dialogue' in Austen's mature novels with the various genres of eighteenth-century drama - laughing comedy, sentimental comedy and tragedy, Gothic theatre, early melodrama. She re reads the novels in the light of this dialogue to demonstrate Austen's analysis of the pervasive theatricality of the society in which her heroines must perform.

ISBN 0521652138   DEWEY edition DC21 ISBN13 9780521652131 (What's this?)   Pages 214 Publisher Cambridge University Press   Volumes 1 Imprint Cambridge University Press   Weight (grammes) 470 Format Hardback   Published in Cambridge Publication date 06 Jun 2002   Height (mm) 228 Non-book description xi, 201 p. :   Width (mm) 152 Library of Congress PR4038.P4 G39 2002   Spine width (mm) 21 DEWEY 823.7   Academic level Professional / Scholarly, General

		List of illustrations
		Prologue
		A note on in-text references
1		Jane Austen's experience of theatre		1
2		Sense and Sensibility: comic and tragic drama		26
3		Northanger Abbey: Catherine's adventures in the Gothic theatre		52
4		Pride and Prejudice: the comedienne as heroine		73
5		Mansfield Park: Fanny's education in the theatre		98
6		Emma: private theatricals in Highbury		123
7		Persuasion and melodrama		147
		Epilogue		166
		Notes		168
		Bibliography		193
		Index		199

'A rich and enlightening book. Gay brings the eye of an expert in drama to Austen's work with meticulous good sense and some panache.' Independent on Sunday

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