Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
EARNESTNESS She (Fanny Price) told him that she did not love him (Henry Crawford), could not love him, was sure she never should love him; that such a change was quite impossible; that the subject was most painful to her; that she must entreat him never to mention it again, to allow her to leave... Continue Reading →
PERPLEXITY To compose a letter which might at once do justice to her sentiments and her situation, convey gratitude without servile regret, be guarded without coldness, and honest without resentment - a letter which Eleanor might not be pained by the perusal of - and, above all, which she might not blush herself, if Henry... Continue Reading →
INSUFFERABLE "Insufferable woman!" was her immediate exclamation. "Worse than I had supposed. Absolutely insufferable! Knightley! I could not have believed it. Knightley! never seen him in her life before, and call him Knightley! and discover that he is a gentleman! A little upstart, vulgar being, with her Mr. E., and her caro sposo, and her... Continue Reading →
EMOLUMENT I am very much flattered by your commendation of my last letter, for I write only for fame, and without any view to pecuniary emolument. Letter to Cassandra Austen, 16 January 1796, The Letters of Jane Austen Sometimes I take Jane Austen for granted. She is just there, - - like Starbucks and under-wire bras. But... Continue Reading →
EXQUISITE His society became gradually her most exquisite enjoyment. They read, they talked, they sang together; his musical talents were considerable; and he read with all the sensibility and spirit which Edward had unfortunately wanted. The Narrator on Mr. Willoughby, Sense & Sensibility, Chapter 10 From first appearances, John Willoughby is a gentleman whose ardent attentions to... Continue Reading →
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Pride & Prejudice, Chapter 1 Here is the most universally acknowledged famous first line in literature which continues to inspire the admiration of the world and numerous stage, film, and TV adaptations.... Continue Reading →
