Why read Jane Austen's Names?

Book cover of Jane Austen's Names: Riddles, Persons, Places

Book description

In Jane Austen's works, a name is never just a name. In fact, the names Austen gives her characters and places are as rich in subtle meaning as her prose itself. Wiltshire, for example, the home county of Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey, is a clue that this heroine is…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Jane Austen's Names as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Kathleen E. Akers

Author

Doody offers a comprehensive study of the names of people and places – real and imaginary – in Austen’s fiction.

Illustrating how Austen’s creative choices reveal her virtuosic talent for riddles and puns, Doody also picks up deep stories from English history.

Showing how Austen names signal class tensions and regional, ethnic, and religious differences, readers gain understandings of Austen’s literary techniques and cultural commentary.

From Kathleen's list on love, law, and money.