Tag Archives: Emma

Jane Austen’s Thematic Use of Cards

In which I share a talk I will be giving on the thematic significance of card playing in Jane Austen’s novels.

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Austen’s Revolutionary Style

Austen may have innovated a way to blend satire with romance as a way to protect us from heartbreak.

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Austen on the Simple Country Life

In the strawberry picking scene in “Emma,” Austen wields her satiric pen to take apart social climber Mrs. Elton.

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Austen Has Some of Lit’s Best Mean Girls

I survey the meaning of some of my favorite literary mean girls.

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The USPS and Conspiracy Theories

As controversies swirl around the postal service, Pynchon’s “Crying of Lot 49” seems relevant. So does Welty’s “Why I Live at the P.O.”

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Sanditon’s Disappointing Ending

While filled with allusions to the previous novels, the televised “Sanditon” is in the end a let-down. I explore why.

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Card Playing in Jane Austen

Card playing shows up in all of Jane Austen’s major novels but means different things at different times.

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Reading Aloud Enhances Relationships

Couples reading aloud to each other can create a special intimacy, as George Eliot and George Henry Lewes realized in the 19th century. The radio and then television brought an end to that activity.

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Hillary Clinton as Emma Woodhouse

Hillary Clinton shares certain characteristics with Emma Woodhouse. (And far fewer with Lady Macbeth.)

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