Jane Austen, the Secret Radical

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The “idealised picture” chosen by the bank looks “far less grumpy” than the “unfinished sketch it’s based on”. It is as if she imagines herself to be the only person who has ever contemplated Jane’s writing before, and the few critics she does acknowledge are swiftly swept aside, sometimes only in a footnote! I found this book to be frustrating for a couple of reasons, mostly for the way that Kelly constantly acts like she is the first person to ever imply that Austen's writing was subversive and radical. Books do not need to be written to point out that we don't always appreciate everything that there is to appreciate.

Pride and Prejudice was, I felt, the weakest, as much of the analysis focuses on displaying for modern readers quite how much of an affront to rank their relationship really is and hammering home things that are glossed over in the movie adaptations, i. But I definitely think most of what was in this book was extremely relevant, as it completely changes the way some things are viewed. Jane's younger family members grew up in the Victorian Age and tweaked Jane's image to fit the ideal of a pious, quiet, unassuming, Christian woman.These are issues percolating through the book and these are factors that must be considered, of course: class, gender, politics. These lead us into chapter-by-chapter treatment of each of the novels, revealing the importance of money in Sense and Sensibility, or the activities of the militia in Pride and Prejudice, or the possible effect of enclosures in Emma. Anyway, the way to read literary criticism like this isn't to ascribe wholly to whatever the author's interpretations are. It’s difficult to stand out from the crowd when writing about such an influential figure, but Helena Kelly has certainly achieved that with this smart, knowing, perceptive book. Kelly is powerfully struck by the political content of Austen’s novels, as if she were the very first to stumble on it.

There were quite a few moments where I felt the author was really reaching, but even those moments were interesting to think about, and when I disagreed with her, it was still entertaining. But many or most of her readers also need to be alive to the fact that she’s more than that, and Kelly’s book—even when you might disagree with it or laugh at the overreaches—will help you get there. Different chapters look at subjects such as the failure of men to provide for their female relatives, the corruption of both the clergy and the nobility, the slave trade, and poverty and the corn laws. However I am so frustrated by everything else in this one, including how it seems that Kelly thinks her interpretation is only point of view that matters.

Fortunately, Kelly does not try to undermine the characters of Darcy and Elizabeth, but rather draws attention to the underlying prejudices of the novel which are far more revolutionary than a modern audience appreciates. Kelly was persuasive in many of her arguments, and I admire her gift for finding the unexpected in the familiar (e.