Jane Austen and the Creation of Modern Fiction

   Jane Austen’s creative process has been largely unexamined. This book explores her development as a writer: what she adapted from tradition for her needs; what she learned novel to novel; how she used that learning in future works; and how her ultimate mastery of fiction changed the course of English literature. Jane Austen overcame the limitations of early fiction by pivoting from superficial adventures to the psychological studies that have defined the novel since. Her creativity and technique grew as she wrestled with pragmatic writing issues. This evaluation of Austen’s creative process brings into focus the strengths and weaknesses of her six novels. Each is examined in its use of major fictional techniques—description, scene-building, point of view, and psychological development—to reveal unique literary attributes. The result is a revealing analysis of how world-class fiction is built from the ground up.

The author of eight books, Collins Hemingway is an authority on Jane Austen and the Regency period. He has written dozens of articles about the British author as well as literary fiction based on her life, and regularly speaks to Austen societies on everything from her development as a writer to the major events and issues of the era. He lives in Redmond, Oregon.

Collins Hemingway
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 258
Bibliographic Info: bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9427-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5370-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
Introduction 7
The Pivot Between Centuries: How Austen Carries the Novel into the Future
1. Writer as Thinker, Builder 12
2. Austen’s Knowledge, Motivation 20
3. Remarkable Coincidences, Unfunny Humors 33
4. Austen Develops Her Style and Voice 42
Barefaced Questions, Ingenious Suppositions, and Distant Surmises: How Description Measures Austen’s Growth as a Writer
5. Finding a Way into Austen 58
6. Amiable Economy, or Dearth of Experience: Description in Northanger Abbey 65
7. Stepping into the Bright Sunshine of Description 76
8. Now the Student Becomes the Master 89
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman: The Steventon Novels
9. A Bridge to Austen’s Mature Works—and More 96
10. Sense and Sensibility, Letter by Letter 111
11. How Austen Stages a Novel: Pride and Prejudice 123
An Exploration of the Mind: The Chawton Novels
12. The Marvelous Complexity of Mansfield Park 140
13. Penetrating the Mist Obscuring Mansfield Park 152
14. Emma’s Wonderful Velocity of Thought 161
15. Emma’s Reality Distortion Field 177
16. Persuasion’s Psychic Break (with the Past) 187
17. So Little Friendship: Mrs. Smith Reveals the Writer’s Struggle 196
18. Trying to Sustain a Large Creative Attack 208
19. A Side Excursion to a Seaside Resort 218
20. Her Own Style and Her Own Way 222
Works Cited 233
Index 241

“Recommended”—Choice