Jane Austen, the Secret Radical

February 13, 2017
Kelly, an Oxford lecturer, enters the busy Jane Austen industry on a path already hewn but not overly traveled: the argument that Austen encoded radical beliefs into her famously well-mannered novels. This route into Austen deserves more attention, but Kelly’s book, despite offering interesting tidbits, meanders in too many directions. Kelly shows a solid knowledge of Regency history, but her larger point is unclear. A fundamental flaw lies in the fuzziness around Kelly’s use of “radical” (she defines it as “questioning unexplored assumptions”). She brings up contemporary political issues, such as Britain’s slave trade, but also suggests that Pride and Prejudice is a “revolutionary novel” because it doesn’t convey “unthinking respect for the nobility”—which can be said of many English novels of the time. Kelly also makes the questionable decision to open each chapter with a fictionalized “sweet” vignette about Austen’s life. A reader might wonder whether Kelly considers Austen a serious radical or, as in one segment, a silly child-woman “giggling” as she “skips.” This book, written with airy nonchalance, seems to hope to cater to multiple Austen constituencies but is likely to end up pleasing few. Agent: George Lucas, InkWell.

March 1, 2017
Tracking the "shadowy, curiously colorless figure" of the revered novelist.In her debut book, a fine-grained literary study, Kelly (Classics and English Literature/Univ. of Oxford) amply shows her deep research into some of the lesser-known elements of Austen's life and work. The author's close attention to the period's history supports her assertion that her subject was a radical. Austen's readers must remember that during her lifetime, England was at war with France and was essentially a totalitarian state; habeas corpus was suspended, and treason was redefined in the strictest and most frightening terms. At the time, Austen was one of the only novelists to consider current events in her work. She never resorted to grand heroes or wicked villains, dealing instead with society's ills--not least of all women's rights, which were nearly nonexistent. In Sense and Sensibility, Austen alludes to Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and decries women's reliance on the kindness of relatives to provide for them. Slavery, especially as dealt with in Mansfield Park, receives the full Austen treatment with quotations from abolitionist writers, subtle character names, and mind manipulation. However, slavery was not Austen's only target. Also in Mansfield, the author attacks the Church of England for enclosures of common land, pluralism, and outright ownership of slaves. In both Emma and Pride and Prejudice, Austen challenges the then-strict societal norms, particularly regarding introductions. Elizabeth Bennett shows her radicalism, deciding things for herself and tolerating authority only as far as it suits her. In dissecting Austen's feelings on parents, especially fathers, sexuality, and 19th-century life, Kelly exposes a depth beyond what at first may seem to be silly characters. A fine-grained study that shows us how to read between the lines to discover the remarkable woman who helped transform the novel from trash to an absolute art form.

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April 15, 2017

Despite being one of the most written about English writers, Jane Austen (1775-1817) continues to attract researchers. Kelly (classics & English literature, Univ. of Oxford) asserts that we have been misunderstanding Austen's novels for the last 200 years and that close reading will expose her economic and political views, considered radical for the early 1800s. Devoting a chapter to each novel, Kelly focuses on the dangers of military camps in Pride and Prejudice, the importance of money in Sense and Sensibility, and the effects of the Enclosure Movement in Emma. While these observations are valid, they are not new. Scholars have before mentioned these connections, such as the changing social mores in Persuasion, and the association between Mansfield Park's Mrs. Norris and Robert Norris, a slavery supporter. At times Kelly stretches believability, such as describing Edward's episode with the scissors as having an explicit sexual meaning in Sense and Sensibility. Nonetheless, through meticulous research, she succeeds in capturing the historical and literary context of Austen's output, which should enhance the reading of her work. VERDICT Austen scholars and fans, even if they do not agree with all of the conclusions, will be interested in this book.--Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo

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