The Juvenilia of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë
By Jane Austen
1986
First Published
3.81
Average Rating
400
Number of Pages
Their most striking similarity was that both produced a considerable body of juvenilia. For both authors this was a period in which to experiment and to develop character and style. Their work moved in very different directions: in her first short burlesques, Jane Austen exhibits a merciless wit as she lampoons human vanities and vices, later sharpened in 'The Three Sisters' and 'Catherine' to reveal a maturer moral perspective. Charlotte Brontë's appetite was for romantic adventure and, with her brother Branwell, she created the fabulous kingdom of Angria. Yet the prevailing interests of her novels - a concern with the psychological intricacies of her characters' relationships and a desire to explore the forms of human passion - are already apparent. As Frances Beer comments in her Introduction, 'both sets of juvenilia provide us with an extraordinary opportunity to watch the growth and coalescence of the creative consciousness'.
Avg Rating
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