Publisher's Synopsis
At the end of all of Jane Austen's novels, an innovative social and moral group emerges that closely resembles a fraternity or sibship. Dr Hudson's book examines Austen's presentation of sibling love and rivalry in the context of the dramtic social and historical changes in the late 18th and early 19th centuries doing so in such a way as to be of interest to both the general and the academic reader. The study also analyses the incest motif in numerous works of the period and argues how the handling of incestuous themes in "Mansfield Park", "Emma" and "Sense and Sensibility" represents a revolutionary stage in the development of the English novel.
