Discussion - Week One - Lectures on Literature - Mansfield Park

[Jim]

This discussion covers Lecture One, Mansfield Park, p. 9 – 61


In the short essay that precedes the Lectures, Nabokov writes:

“There are three points of view from which a writer can be considered: he may be considered as a storyteller, as a teacher, and as an enchanter. A major writer combines these three – storyteller, teacher, enchanter – but it is the enchanter in him that predominates and makes him a major writer.”


In this first lecture, Nabokov unwraps Mansfield Park to show how and why Jane Austen is a major writer. Are you in agreement with his arguments?