Sibling Love and Incest in Jane Austen's Fiction

by Glenda A. Hudson

At the end of all of Jane Austen's novels, an innovative social and moral group emerges that closely resembles a fraternity or sibship. Glenda Hudson's book examines Austen's presentation of sibling love and rivalry in the context of the dramatic social and historical changes in the late eighteenth centuries; and it does so in a way that proves to be of interest to both the general and the academic reader. The study also analyzes the incest motif in numerous works of the period and argues how the handling of incestuous themes in Mansfield Park , Emma , and Sense and Sensibility represents a revolutionary stage in the development of the English novel.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[DC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent analysis of sibling relationships, but the Cinderella chapter was not convincing. Nor have I seen speculation about Jane Austen resenting her own mother for favoring Cassandra elsewhere. And I've read a lot of Austen analyses.

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you have to keep insisting that your incredibly tenuous definition totally counts as incest, it's not incest. An interesting idea with a fair bit of potential, badly executed.