Jane Austen: Literature and Legacy

A moderately successful author in her own lifetime, Jane Austen has since become a global phenomenon: her writings are now read the world over and successive generations of readers have been captivated by her innovative fusion of romance and reality. Why do Austen’s novels continue to resonate so deeply across the centuries? Join this course to explore the stylistic techniques she invented and to discover how Austen’s work continues to influence literature and popular culture today.

This course focuses on the novels of Jane Austen, four published in her lifetime (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma), two published posthumously (Persuasion, Northanger Abbey), and one unfinished fragment (Sanditon). You will examine key themes in Austen’s novels, such as the roles of family and femininity, of class, manners, status and authority, and you will learn about Austen’s pioneering and distinctive narrative techniques, including her use of free indirect discourse, epistolary narration, and natural dialogue. You will consider the various contexts of Austen’s writing (historical, literary, social, political); the reception of her work in numerous prequels and sequels; the critical reassessment of her works encouraged by feminist or postcolonial approaches; and the cultural phenomenon of Austen adaptations in theatre, film, and ‘fan-fiction’, from traditional interpretations to modern re-imaginings such as Bride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary.

This course provides a thorough introduction to the life, works, and influence of Jane Austen, and is perfect for students seeking to develop their knowledge of this popular author and their skills of literary analysis.

[The First Edition (in 3 volumes) of Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park' (1814), held in the LMH Library]

Louise Curran is Associate Professor in Eighteenth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham. She is the author of Samuel Richardson and the Art of Letter-Writing (2016); co-editor of Richardson’s Correspondence Primarily on Pamela and Clarissa 1732-1749 (2024); and currently writing a book on The Making of Letters as Literature from Pope to Austen. Louise teaches on a wide range of modules covering the period 1660-1830, including Restoration writing; eighteenth-century mock-epic and prose fiction; the history of the Gothic; book history; and a module on Jane Austen, which studies her lesser-known juvenilia and manuscript writings alongside the famous novels. She particularly enjoys introducing students to a period that they’ve often not studied before university and hopes to ignite their interest in a world that, despite its polite and civilised veneer, is rich in satirical and subversive energies.