Jane Austen and her Country-House Comedy

by William Henry HELM (1860 - 1936)

Chapter IV - Ethics and Optimism

Jane Austen and her Country-House Comedy

Written for the centenary of Jane Austen's death, W. H. Helm reflects poetically on the timelessness of her work: the must of age has not settled on her books. The lavender may lie between their pages, but it is still sweet. Helm briefly surveys Jane Austen's influences, literary contemporaries and themes. He is particularly interested in her ideas and characters, and his short book is fully of pithy quotes encapsulating "the best of Jane Austen". Summary by Beth Thomas


Listen next episodes of Jane Austen and her Country-House Comedy:
Chapter V - The Impartial Satirist , Chapter VI - Personal and Topographical , Chapter VII - Influence in Literature