Persuasion: A Norton Critical Edition

by Jane Austen, Rae Greiner (Editor)

Overview

"This edition firmly anchors the novel in its cultural moment, both highlighting the imperial history against which it was written and offering a robust sampling of its reception history. This new edition is rich, nuanced, and urgently needed."

--Patricia Matthew, Montclair State University

"On the surface, Persuasion is a simple story of love, loss, and reunion, but the realities of early nineteenth-century life become poignantly clear in Jane Austen's brilliant hands. Though never overtly political, as Norton's Third Critical Edition of Persuasion demonstrates, Austen is surprisingly adept at treating global concerns and understanding the triumphs and tragedies of the turbulent changes that marked her world."

--Rebecca Posusta, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324070740
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/13/2024
Series:	Norton Critical Editions Series
Edition description:	Third Edition
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, in Steventon, Hampshire, in England. Her father, an Anglican clergyman, encouraged her literary pursuits from a young age and by her mid-twenties, Austen had drafted three novels. Following the success of Sense and Sensibility in 1811, she went on to publish Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published posthumously in 1818. Despite her fondness for marriage plots–all six of her novels end in weddings–Austen never married, living with her mother and sister in the years leading up to her death. She died on July 18, 1817, in the city of Winchester. Over two centuries later, Austen’s novels remain beloved classics, and she is considered one of the foremost writers in English literary history.

Patricia Meyer Spacks, Ph.D. Berkeley, is Edgar F. Shannon Professor of English at the University of Virginia. Her publications include An Argument of Images: The Poetry of Alexander Pope; The Female Imagination; The Adolescent Idea: Myths of Youth and the Adult Imagination; Desire and Truth: Functions of Plot in Eighteenth-Century English Novels; and Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind.

Date of Birth:

December 16, 1775

Date of Death:

July 18, 1817

Place of Birth:

Village of Steventon in Hampshire, England

Place of Death:

Winchester, Hampshire, England

Education:

Taught at home by her father

What People are Saying About This

E. M. Foster

"How Jane Austen can write!"

Editorial Reviews

Austen is the hot property of the entertainment world with new feature film versions of Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility on the silver screen and Pride and Prejudice hitting the TV airwaves on PBS. Such high visibility will inevitably draw renewed interest in the original source materials. These new Modern Library editions offer quality hardcovers at affordable prices.

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