In Character and Conflict in Jane Austen's Novels,Bernard J. Paris offers an analysis of the protagonists in four of Jane Austen's most popular novels. His analysis reveals them to be brilliant mimetic creations who often break free of the formal and thematic limitations placed upon them by Austen. Paris traces the powerful tensions between form, theme, and mimesis in Mansfield Park, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion.Paris uses Northrop Frye's theory of comic forms to analyze and describe the formal structure of the novels, and Karen Horney's psychological theories to explore the...