A turn in the shrubbery
Norma J. Shattuck writes in the San Francisco Chronicle about seeking out the gardens in Jane Austen’s work.
Her century saw storied names in British landscape designers putting their stamps on great estates, so it’s not surprising that scenic exteriors figure so significantly in Austen, the acute observer of her world and times. Her characters discuss their surroundings, make status-based comparisons and interact socially and often romantically within verdant settings. One doesn’t have to delve very deeply into Austen to realize how her skill in scenic description works with an acute people-sense to stamp her work.
This otherwise interesting article is marred, however, but an unfortunate understanding:
Even Austen’s stab at a gothic novel, “Northanger Abbey,”
*sigh* For the thousandth time, world: Northanger Abbey is not a Gothic novel. It is a parody of a Gothic novel. When will they learn?
