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Named in many surveys as Britain's best-loved work of fiction, Pride and Prejudice is now a global brand, with film and television adaptations making Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy household names. With a combination of original readings and factual background information, this Companion investigates some of the sources of the novel's power. It explores key themes and topics in detail: money, land, characters and style. The history of the book's composition and first publication is set out, both in individual essays and in the section of chronology. Chapters on the critical reception, adaptations and cult of the novel reveal why it has become an enduing classic with a unique and timeless appeal.

Todd describes the entry of women into literature as a profession in the 18th century, and examines more than a century of women's writings, including those by Aphra Behn, Charlotte Lennox, Sara Field

After a life of reading and writing, what does it feel like to be deprived of both, to be thrown back only on what’s in your head? The literary snippets that emerge into Todd’s consciousness during a

They were known as the Ascendancy, the dashing aristocratic elite that controlled Irish politics and society at the end of the eighteenth century—and at their pinnacle stood Caroline and Robert King,

A delightful collection of facts and insights devoted to the inimitable Jane Austen! It’s a truth universally acknowledged: Jane Austen is one of the most popular and loved authors in English literatu

Aphra Behn was England's first professional woman writer, but her status as a major author has only recently become clear. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, Behn was denigrated for her 'unwomanly' subject matter and intellectual immodesty. In the twentieth century she has been increasingly viewed as an important dramatist and poet of the Restoration and a founder of the English novel. This book sets Behn firmly in an historical context of political factions, theatre developments and colonial encounters, and includes chapters on each of the genres in which she wrote: drama, fiction, poetry and translation, and on other aspects of her life, from her publishing struggles to her involvement in American slavery. It is an important resource for those studying seventeenth-century English literature and drama, and to those interested in the development of women's writing.

Jane Austen is unique among British novelists in maintaining her popular appeal while receiving more scholarly attention now than ever before. This introduction by Janet Todd, leading scholar and editor of Austen's work, explains what students need to know about her novels, life, context and reception. Each novel is discussed in detail, and the essential information is given about her life and literary influences, her novels and letters, and her impact on later literature. For this second edition, the book has been fully revised; a new chapter explores the ways in which Austen's work has prompted imitations, adaptations and creative spin-offs. Key areas of current critical focus are considered throughout, but the book's analysis remains thoroughly grounded in readings of the texts themselves. Janet Todd outlines what makes Austen's prose style so innovative and gives useful starting points for the study of the major works, with suggestions for further reading.

Jane Austen is unique among British novelists in maintaining her popular appeal while receiving more scholarly attention now than ever before. This introduction by Janet Todd, leading scholar and editor of Austen's work, explains what students need to know about her novels, life, context and reception. Each novel is discussed in detail, and the essential information is given about her life and literary influences, her novels and letters, and her impact on later literature. For this second edition, the book has been fully revised; a new chapter explores the ways in which Austen's work has prompted imitations, adaptations and creative spin-offs. Key areas of current critical focus are considered throughout, but the book's analysis remains thoroughly grounded in readings of the texts themselves. Janet Todd outlines what makes Austen's prose style so innovative and gives useful starting points for the study of the major works, with suggestions for further reading.

The life, work and history of Aphra Behn: seventeenth ­century dramatist, poet, novelist, political propagandist, bisexual writer, and spy.Praise for the first hardback edition:?Fascinating scholarshi

"Strange and haunting, a gothic novel with a modern consciousness." ?Philippa Gregory"A haunting, sophisticated story about a woman discovering the truth about herself and the elusive, possibly illusi

Praise for Janet Todd:"A juicy portrait, reconstructed . . . with insight and wit."Entertainment Weekly"Fascinating, a page-turner and a delight . . . astonishingly thorough

First published in 1976, this was the first comprehensive annotated bibliography of Mary Wollstonecraft’s works and most of the critical and biographical comments on her in English written between 178

A must-read for any devotee of Jane Austen, Janet Todd's 'naughty-Austen' reimagining of the epistolary novel Lady Susan will capture your literary imagination and get your heart racing.Austen's only

With Mary Wollstonecraft and her "A Vindication of the Rights of Women, " published in 1792, a modern female consciousness came clearly into being, one that tied the mind to the body. This beautifully

Mary Wollstonecraft was the first major feminist in England, author of the pioneering Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. This biography argues that her life and letters are her most lasting l