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Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They LivedLong, William J. (William Joseph)

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Name: Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived
Author: Long, William J. (William Joseph)

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

JANE AUSTEN. The rare genius of Miss Austen (1775-1817) was as a forest
flower during her lifetime. While Fanny Burney, Jane Porter and Maria
Edgeworth were widely acclaimed, this little woman remained almost unknown,
following no school of fiction, writing for her own pleasure, and
destroying whatever did not satisfy her own sense of fitness. If she had
any theory of fiction, it was simply this: to use no incident but such as
had occurred before her eyes, to describe no scene that was not familiar,
and to portray only such characters as she knew intimately, their speech,
dress, manner, and the motives that governed their action. If unconsciously
she followed any rule of expression, it was that of Cowper, who said that
to touch and retouch is the secret of almost all good writing. To her
theory and rule she added personal charm, intelligence, wit, genius of a
high order. Neglected by her own generation, she has now an ever-widening
circle of readers, and is ranked by critics among the five or six greatest
writers of English fiction.

    [Sidenote: HER LIFE]

    Jane Austen's life was short and extremely placid. She was born
    (1775) in a little Hampshire village; she spent her entire life in
    one country parish or another, varying the scene by an occasional
    summer at the watering-place of Bath, which was not very exciting.
    Her father was an easy-going clergyman who read Pope, avoided
    politics, and left preaching to his curate. She was one of a large
    family of children, who were brought up to regard elegance of
    manner as a cardinal virtue, and vulgarity of any kind as the
    epitome of the seven deadly sins. Her two brothers entered the
    navy; hence the flutter in her books whenever a naval officer comes
    on a furlough to his native village. She spent her life in homely,
    pleasant duties, and did her writing while the chatter of family
    life went on around her. Her only characters were visitors who came
    to the rectory, or who gathered around the tea-table in a
    neighbor's house. They were absolutely unconscious of the keen
    scrutiny to which they were subjected; no one whispered to them, "A
    chiel's amang ye, takin' notes"; and so they had no suspicion that
    they were being transferred into books.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Long, William J. (William Joseph)

American literature -- History and criticism; English literature -- History and criticism

JANE AUSTEN. The rare genius of Miss Austen (1775-1817) was as a forest
flower during her lifetime. While Fanny Burney, Jane Porter and Maria
Edgeworth were widely acclaimed, this little woman remained almost unknown,
following no school of fiction, writing for her own pleasure, and
destroying whatever did not satisfy her own sense of fitness. If she had
any theory of fiction, it was simply this: to use no incident but such as
had occurred before her eyes, to describe no scene that was not familiar,
and to portray only such characters as she knew intimately, their speech,
dress, manner, and the motives that governed their action. If unconsciously
she followed any rule of expression, it was that of Cowper, who said that
to touch and retouch is the secret of almost all good writing. To her
theory and rule she added personal charm, intelligence, wit, genius of a
high order. Neglected by her own generation, she has now an ever-widening
circle of readers, and is ranked by critics among the five or six greatest
writers of English fiction.

    [Sidenote: HER LIFE]

    Jane Austen's life was short and extremely placid. She was born
    (1775) in a little Hampshire village; she spent her entire life in
    one country parish or another, varying the scene by an occasional
    summer at the watering-place of Bath, which was not very exciting.
    Her father was an easy-going clergyman who read Pope, avoided
    politics, and left preaching to his curate. She was one of a large
    family of children, who were brought up to regard elegance of
    manner as a cardinal virtue, and vulgarity of any kind as the
    epitome of the seven deadly sins. Her two brothers entered the
    navy; hence the flutter in her books whenever a naval officer comes
    on a furlough to his native village. She spent her life in homely,
    pleasant duties, and did her writing while the chatter of family
    life went on around her. Her only characters were visitors who came
    to the rectory, or who gathered around the tea-table in a
    neighbor's house. They were absolutely unconscious of the keen
    scrutiny to which they were subjected; no one whispered to them, "A
    chiel's amang ye, takin' notes"; and so they had no suspicion that
    they were being transferred into books.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

Outlines of English and American Literature: An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived

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