This revised Norton Critical Edition is based on
the first edition text (dated 1818, but likely issued in
late 1817). The editor has spelled out ampersands and
made superscript letters lowercased. The novel, which is
accompanied by revised and expanded explanatory
annotations, is followed by the two cancelled chapters
that comprise Persuasion's original ending. Backgrounds
and Contexts collects contemporary assessments of Jane
Austen as well as materials relating to the social
issues of the day. Included are an excerpt from William
Hayley's 1785 Essay on Old Maids; Austen's letters to
Fanny Knight, which reveal her skepticism about marriage
as the key to happiness; Henry Austen's memorial tribute
to his famous sister; assessments by nineteenth-century
critics Julia Kavanagh and Goldwin Smith, who viewed
Austen as an unassuming, sheltered and feminine rural
writer; and the perspective of Austen's biographer,
Geraldine Edith Mitten. The Second Edition emphasises
current critical scholarship, reflecting enormous shifts
in our comprehension of Austen's achievement and opening
the door to new ways of thinking about Persuasion and
its author. For the first time, we can think complexly
about Austen living through the Napoleonic Wars on the
Continent and experiencing their political repercussions
at home the same as everyone else in England at that
time. Four new essays by Linda Bree, Sidney Gottlieb,
John Wiltshire, and David Monaghan speak to these new
perspectives; those by Gottlieb and Monaghan expand the
conversation into film adaptations of the novel. A
Chronology of Austen's life and work, new to the Second
Edition, is included along with an updated Selected
Bibliography.
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