Handsome,
clever, rich, snobbish, imperious, witty, proud, and prejudiced in favor of her
own class, her own ideas, and her own way of doing things, Emma continues to
fascinate readers, who see in her foibles aspects of the human condition. In
her program notes for the JASNA Annual General Meeting that was held in Colorado
Springs in October, 1999, Professor Joan Ray reminds us that “Emma has
been historically regarded by critics of the novel as one of the greatest
British novels ever written and Jane Austen’s best: Austen at her creative and
writing peak.” As the focus of
the AGM, Emma set off debates and controversies.
The three conference papers on Emma included here examine some of
the diverse issues raised by the novel: Dr.
Bader asserts that Mr. Woodhouse’s bad behavior is not “hypochondriacal”;
Professor Anderson explores the gender dynamics of the characters’
relationships and questions why Austen seems to “choose husbands who are more
like fathers than lovers for her heroines?”; and Professor Jackson opens a
broader topic when she considers Emma’s “dilemma” in terms of moral,
ethical, and spiritual values. If
you combine the ideas expressed here with the essays forthcoming in Persuasions:
The Jane Austen Journal, which is due to be out soon, and with the essays
published in the special film issue (available on this website), it is obvious
that no one will have the last word on Emma as a character or Emma as a
novel. The
papers included in this issue of the Persuasions On-Line Miscellany offer
insights into problems ranging from source studies to plot development in
Austen’s novels. Professor Salber
investigates the effect of meddling on the plot of Pride and Prejudice;
Dr. Caplan offers a new candidate for the source of Emma’s William
Larkins; Professor Yee looks at friendship and equality in Persuasion;
and Ms. Lerman, a high school senior in Los Angeles, distills her ideas about
how certain characters in Austen’s fiction serve as the writer’s alter ego.
In addition, we are pleased that the extended format of this online
journal has given us room to publish Dr. Hansen’s comprehensive examination of
the rhetorical dynamics of Austen’s marriage proposals.
Each of these papers broadens the cultural context of the novels, and we
become better readers of fiction when we consider what these authors tell us
about Jane Austen, her fiction, and her world. The
global audience of Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal On-Line grows
with every issue of the journal. Readers
as far away from Baltimore as Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, England,
Canada, and South Africa have contacted us over the past year.
It is gratifying that so many readers “hit” our site from their homes
and offices. Pamela LiCaizi
O’Connell’s article about Jane Austen fan fiction (“fanfic”) in the
“Circuits” section of the New York Times and in the New York Times
on the Web (13 January 2000) listed the JASNA website and generated a new
source of interested and committed readers of Jane Austen’s works.
High school and college students all over the world find that they can
access the essays in Persuasions On-Line from their homes and dorm rooms.
Our contacts with other readers of Austen’s works can only expand
through this medium. Laurie Kaplan Professor of English, Goucher College |
