Jane Austen, Sex, and Romance
Engaging with Desire in the Novels and Beyond
Contributions by Professor Rachel M. Brownstein, Professor Margaret Dunlap, Elaine McGirr, Professor Juliette Wells, Professor Deborah J. Knuth Klenck, Professor Mary Ann O'Farrell, Professor Nora Nachumi, Professor Marilyn Francus, Professor Laura Engel, Professor Jade Higa, Professor Christien Garcia, Dr Maria Clara Pivato Biajoli, Professor Judy Tyrer, Professor Edward Scheinman, Professor Stephanie Oppenheim, Professor Devoney Looser, Professor Diana Birchall Edited by Professor Nora Nachumi, Professor Stephanie Oppenheim
Publication date:
20 September 2022Length of book:
272 pagesPublisher
University of Rochester PressDimensions:
229x152mmISBN-13: 9781800106758
The first of its kind, this collection brings together writers from diverse academic and nonacademic worlds to explore how Austen's readers experience and process her novels' erotic power.
Are Jane Austen's novels sexy? For many Austen lovers, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" From the moment Colin Firth stripped down to his breeches and shirt in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice, screen adaptations inspired by Austen's novels have banked on their ability to depict sexual tension and romantic desire. Meanwhile, the success of spin-offs, sequels, and elaborations confirms that Austen's novels have become a potent aphrodisiac for everyday readers. Clearly, the fourteen million viewers who watched Firth's unveiling were onto something: Austen's novels turn people on.
Jane Austen, Sex, and Romance: Engaging with Desire in the Novels and Beyond brings together a range of voices-from literary scholars to video game designers-to explore how different types of readers experience the realm of desire and the erotic in all things Austen. In this timely collection, writers, critics, journalists, and authors of internet content weigh in on sex and romance in Austen's works and in the conversations and creations the novels inspire-from sequels to critical analyses to online role-playing games. Contributors examine what is at stake for each set of Austen enthusiasts when Eros is added to the equation, in so doing building on the long tradition of Austen criticism and enriching our appreciation of the novels.
Are Jane Austen's novels sexy? For many Austen lovers, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" From the moment Colin Firth stripped down to his breeches and shirt in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice, screen adaptations inspired by Austen's novels have banked on their ability to depict sexual tension and romantic desire. Meanwhile, the success of spin-offs, sequels, and elaborations confirms that Austen's novels have become a potent aphrodisiac for everyday readers. Clearly, the fourteen million viewers who watched Firth's unveiling were onto something: Austen's novels turn people on.
Jane Austen, Sex, and Romance: Engaging with Desire in the Novels and Beyond brings together a range of voices-from literary scholars to video game designers-to explore how different types of readers experience the realm of desire and the erotic in all things Austen. In this timely collection, writers, critics, journalists, and authors of internet content weigh in on sex and romance in Austen's works and in the conversations and creations the novels inspire-from sequels to critical analyses to online role-playing games. Contributors examine what is at stake for each set of Austen enthusiasts when Eros is added to the equation, in so doing building on the long tradition of Austen criticism and enriching our appreciation of the novels.
What makes this collection of essays unique, necessary, fun, and flat-out inspiring is how it brings together [...] an expansive range of perspectives and experiences. I've never read a collection quite like this one, and the editors' introductory essay on why scholars and fans need each other itself makes an important intervention.