The following notes, suggestions and questions will help you to study Jane Austen's work more effectively and enjoyably.

Characterisation and Plot
Jane Austen has described her work as 'a little bit of ivory, two inches wide, on which I work with so fine a brush as to produce little effect after much labour.' What does she mean by this? The following questions will help you find out.

Background
Where does Jane Austen set her novels? ls there any common pattern, i.e. a region. What is the historical period?

Plot
What devices does Jane Austen use to provide suspense and background action. Look, for instance, at Emma. How does Jane Austen tell the reader what happened to Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax?

Themes
Look for the following themes in the novels:
* marriage - how many characters marry in Emma?
* how important are money and property. Do we know how rich Emma Woodhouse is? How soon .in the novel are we told this? Does Mr Woodhouse own as much land as Mr Knightley? What is the significance of owning land?
* social position and class. How important do you think these are in the novels? Think about the main characters in each novel? Are they rich people? Are any of the characters poor people? Why is this? Concentrate your thinking, perhaps, on Emma Woodhouse, Jane Fairfax and Harriet Smith in Emma. Why is Mrs Elton in Emma such a figure of fun? Can you find any other examples in the novel?
* What do we mean by morality? First find a definition in a dictionary, then see if Jane Austen is concerned with morals in her novels. Do the main characters have to make choices and do they have responsibilities and obligations? If so, who to? What part does religion play in her novels?
* Do you think Jane Austen, when she wrote her novels ignored the wider world? If so, why is this. Do you know what happened in the world during her lifetime? Find out the dates of Jane Austen's birth and death and see from a dictionary of dates what events took place in the world.
* What does Jane Austen tell us about her women characters' education and accomplishments? Can you find out those for Emma Woodhouse and JaneFairfax.
* What do her women characters do? Think of, for instance, Mrs Weston and Jane Fairfax in Emma.
* Location\setting. List the places mentioned in the novel you are studying. Are they villages or cities? Does Jane Austen like cities? What does Jane Austen think about nature and the countryside?
* Travelling. How did people travel in the period in which the novels are set? For example, think of the means of travel favoured by Mrs Elton in Emma.
* What are the main amusements for the characters in the novel.

Characterisation
Does Jane Austen provide full descriptions of characters or does she sketch in some details and use dialogue to enable to characters to 'come to light 'on the page?
* Eccentric characters~ - what eccentric or comic characters can you find in Jane Austen's novels. For instance, what purpose does the character of Miss Bates serve.
* Does Jane Austen make fun of the conventions of the day or of people's follies and foibles - or both?
* Are the heroines and heros - main characters - in Jane Austen's novels perfect? In other words, are they idealised or real?

Literary Styles
Jane Austen's novels are regarded as some of the finest witty and humorous writing in the English language. Look for examples of humorous writing -
* comic characters - who are the main comic characters in Emma?
* humorous situations and events - what are the funniest events in Emma.
Do you know what irony means? Find a definition of it in a book on English literature? How does Jane Austen use irony? Find examples in Emma. How are loose endings in the plot 'tied up'?

What do you think is more important in Jane Austen's novels - plot or characterisation?

How is dialogue used?