Jane Austen’s philosophy

Pages:31-32
Vibha Dulla and Prem Prakash Khatri (Department of English, Singhania University Pacheri Beri, Jhunjunu, Rajasthan)

Jane Austen has been called the “prose Shakespeare,” and Sir Walter Scott; one of age’s greatest writers, once lamented that her “exquisite touch, which renders ordinary common place things and characters interesting, from the truth of the expression and the sentiment, is refused to me.” Sir Walter Scott believed that Miss Austen is one of the greatest novelists of all time. Some critics have even claimed that she is the first great novelist. Miss Austen’s importance on literature, through her novels is equivalent to Shakespeare. There are Austen societies and circles, and the Regency Period of her novels has become the preferred setting for several historical romances (Felder 46). They are mostly overheated and sentimental imitations of her work. She set precedence for romance. She gave every woman an idea of what true love means. Miss Austen did this in an unexaggerated but still compassionate way (Sherry 89). Jane Austen had an ironic humour to all of her works that made her an original.