Jane Austen s Families discusses the fictional families such as the Bennets and the Bertrams whose dynamics are crucial both to Austen s plots and to her explorations of ethical complexities. The study focuses upon the central characters interactions with their own families and (to a lesser extent) with other family groups in an exploration of how emotional and moral development is both hindered and fostered by these interactions. Significantly, Austen chooses not to write about the orphaned heroines so often preferred by novelists of the period; rather, for a writer who cares intensely...

Jane Austen s Families discusses the fictional families such as the Bennets and the Bertrams whose dynamics are crucial both to Austen s plots and to her explorations of ethical complexities. The study focuses upon the central characters interactions with their own families and (to a lesser extent) with other family groups in an exploration of how emotional and moral development is both hindered and fostered by these interactions. Significantly, Austen chooses not to write about the orphaned heroines so often preferred by novelists of the period; rather, for a writer who cares intensely...