Jane Austen: Her Novels, Life and Times

The course focuses on discussing Jane Austen's life and works. In addition to daily classes students will also have the chance to attend trips to locations such as Bath and the Jane Austen Centre, Chawton Cottage, the Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire and her burial place in Winchester Cathedral.

About the Course

Tutor Profile: Dr Helena Kelly I studied for my first degree in Classics and English at Oxford, and also completed my doctorate here, after an interval at law school in London. I've taught a wide range of subjects, from Classics all the way up to modern novels and gender studies, but mostly I teach eighteenth and nineteenth century English literature. I'm interested in the social history of the period, particularly in representations of the landscape, and in women writers. Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors and I'm delighted to be returning to ORA again to spend a fortnight talking about her!

Course Details

Three hours' tuition a day will adopt a thematic approach, rather than covering the novels one-by-one. Students are expected to have read "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", "Northanger Abbey", "Mansfield Park", "Emma" and "Persuasion" before they arrive. Further reading material will be provided.

Themes to be covered may include:

• Biography, family and context
• Language, style and structure
• How to read an Austen novel
• Pastiche and parody
• Irony
• The Gothic novel
• Families
• The role of women
• Love and marriage
• Fashion; dancing, pastimes and games
• Houses
• The clergy
• The army and navy
• The law

Day Trips

The students will also have the chance to attend trips to locations such as Bath and the Jane Austen Centre, Chawton Cottage, the Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire and her burial place in Winchester Cathedral.