Lady Susan

Jane Austen

Description

“Lady Susan” is a short novel by Jane Austen, written in 1794 and first published in 1871. Presented as a series of letters, it tells the story of the beautiful yet notorious Lady Susan and her schemes to find an advantageous second marriage for herself, while also forcing her daughter into a loveless match. “Lady Susan” is a masterful novel that explores the mores and manners of English society not to be missed by fans of Austen’s seminal work and lovers of English literature. Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) was an English author known primarily for her novels, which critique the 18th century English upper classes and contemporary novels of sensibility. Her use of irony coupled with biting social commentary and realism have led to her wide acclaim amongst scholars and critics, her work contributing to the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Other notable works by this author include: “Sense and Sensibility” (1811), “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), and “Mansfield Park” (1814). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

Sujets

• Classics
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 11 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528786065
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

LADY SUSAN
by
JANE AUSTEN
First published in 1871


This edition published by Read Books Ltd. Copyright © 2018 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be
reproduced or copied in any way without
the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library


CONTENTS
Jane Austen
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
XIII
XIV
XV
XVI
XVII
XVIII
XIX
XX
XXI
XXII
XXIII
XXIV
XXV
XXVI
XXVII
XXVIII
XXIX
XXX
XXXI
XXXII
XXXIII
XXXIV
XXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII
XXXVIII
XXXIX
XL
XLI
CONCLUSION


Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary have gained her historical importance among the reading public, scholars and cr itics alike.
Austen was born on 16th December 1775, and lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry. Biographical information on Jane Austen is incredibly scarce however, as only some personal and family letters remain. She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as through her own reading. Jane spent most of her early years being schooled at home, until leaving for boarding school at the age of ten, alongside her elder sister Cassandra. They left one year later though (1786) as the family could not afford to send both of their daughters to school. According to Park Honan, a biographer of Austen, life in the Austen home was lived in ‘an open, amused, easy intellectual atmosphere’ where the ideas of those with whom the Austens might disagree politically or socially were ‘considered and discussed.’ After returning from school in 1786, Austen ‘never again lived anywhere beyond the bounds of her immediate family e nvironment.’
Her artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years into her thirties. As Austen grew into adulthood, she continued to live at her parents’ home, carrying out those activities normal for women of her age and social standing: she practised the fortepiano, assisted her sister and mother with supervising servants, and attended female relatives during childbirth and older relatives on their deathbeds. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel (a novel written as a series of documents) which she then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. Lady Susan, written between 1793 and 1795 was an experiment of this kind; taking the form of a series of letters, it is described as Austen’s most ambitious and sophisticated early work. Austen biographer Claire Tomalin describes the heroine of the novella as a ‘sexual predator who uses her intelligence and charm to manipulate, betray, and abuse her victims, whether lovers, friends or family.’
In 1800, George Austen (Jane’s father), announced his decision to retire from his post in the ministry and move the family to Bath. Jane Austen was incredibly unsettled and unhappy in Bath, and sadly her father passed away during this period. This left the family in a precarious financial position and in 1805 Jane, her sisters and her mother lived in rented quarters. They moved to ‘Chawton Cottage’ in Hampshire in 1809. A gift from Austen’s brother Edward, this cottage allowed the family a more settled life and in a quieter, more tranquil setting. Austen was thus able to concentrate on her writing. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a publis hed writer.
Through her brother Henry, the publisher Thomas Egerton agreed to issue Sense and Sensibility, and the earnings from the novel provided Austen with some much needed financial and psychological independence. Egerton then published Pride and Prejudice , a revision of First Impressions , in January 1813. He advertised the book widely and it was an immediate success, garnering three favourable reviews and selling well. Mansfield Park followed, but was not popular, and the failure of this title offset most of the profits Austen earned on Emma. These were the last of Austen’s novels to be published during her lifetime. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion , both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before co mpleting it.
Early in 1816, Jane Austen began to feel unwell. She ignored her illness at first and continued to work and to participate in the usual round of family activities. By the middle of that year, her decline was unmistakable to Austen and to her family, and Austen’s physical condition began a long, slow deterioration, culminating in her death the following year. Some biographers assign her symptoms to Addison’s disease, and others to Hodgkin’s lymphoma or even bovine tuberculosis from drinking unpasteurised milk; she was weak and couldn’t walk from stiff joints. Austen died in Winchester, whilst seeking medical treatment, on 18th July 1817, at the age of forty-one. She is buried in the north aisle of the nave of Winchester Cathedral.
Austen’s works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the eighteenth century and are part of the transition to nineteenth century realism. Her plots, though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social standing and economic security. Her works though usually popular, were first published anonymously and brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her lifetime. It was the publication in 1869 of her nephew’s A Memoir of Jane Austen that introduced her to a wider public, and by the 1940s she had become widely accepted in academia as a great English writer. The second half of the twentieth century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship and the emergence of a Janeite fan culture. Her novels are still well-read, studied and loved right up to the present day.


I
LADY SUSAN VERNON T O MR. VERNON
La ngford, Dec.
MY DEAR BROTHER,—I can no longer refuse myself the pleasure of profiting by your kind invitation when we last parted of spending some weeks with you at Churchhill, and, therefore, if quite convenient to you and Mrs. Vernon to receive me at present, I shall hope within a few days to be introduced to a sister whom I have so long desired to be acquainted with. My kind friends here are most affectionately urgent with me to prolong my stay, but their hospitable and cheerful dispositions lead them too much into society for my present situation and state of mind; and I impatiently look forward to the hour when I shall be admitted into your delightful retirement.
I long to be made known to your dear little children, in whose hearts I shall be very eager to secure an interest I shall soon have need for all my fortitude, as I am on the point of separation from my own daughter. The long illness of her dear father prevented my paying her that attention which duty and affection equally dictated, and I have too much reason to fear that the governess to whose care I consigned her was unequal to the charge. I have therefore resolved on placing her at one of the best private schools in town, where I shall have an opportunity of leaving her myself in my way to you. I am determined, you see, not to be denied admittance at Churchhill. It would indeed give me most painful sensations to know that it were not in your power to receive me.
Your most obliged and affectio nate sister,
S. VERNON.


II
LADY SUSAN VERNON TO MRS. JOHNSON
Langford.
You were mistaken, my dear Alicia, in supposing me fixed at this place for the rest of the winter: it grieves me to say how greatly you were mistaken, for I have seldom spent three months more agreeably than those which have just flown away. At present, nothing goes smoothly; the females of the family are united against me. You foretold how it would be when I first came to Langford, and Mainwaring is so uncommonly pleasing that I was not without apprehensions for myself. I remember saying to myself, as I drove to the house, "I like this man, pray Heaven no harm come of it!" But I was determined to be discreet, to bear in mind my being only four months a widow, and to be as quiet as possible: and I have been so, my dear creature; I have admitted no one's attentions but Mainwaring's. I have avoided all general flirtation whatever; I have distinguished no creature besides, of all the numbers resorting hither, except Sir James Martin, on whom I bestowed a little notice, in order to detach him from Miss Mainwaring; but, if the world could know my motive THERE they would honour me. I have been called an unkind mother, but it was the sacred impulse of maternal affection, it was the advantage of my daughter that led me on; and if that daughter were not the greatest simpleton on earth, I might have been rewarded for my exertions as I ought.
Sir James did make proposals to me for Frederica; but Frederica, who was born to be the torment of my life, chose to set herself so violently against the match that I thought it better to lay aside the scheme for the present. I have more than once repented that I did not marry him myself; and were he but one degree less contemptibly weak I certainly should: but I must own myself rather romantic in that respect, and that riches only will not satisfy me. The event of all this is very provoking: Sir