Some Bicentennial Reflections by Angus Wilson
' The appreciation of Jane Austen 's wonderful novels has been bedevilled by deforming
I partisan attitudes,' Professor Wilson claims. For too long both her admirers and detrac
' tors have been preoccupied by ! that perfect unity that arises from the narrow social, moral ,and dramatic range of her ;work. He argues for a recognition of the exciting variety of solutions that she offers for her characters' dilemmas and he examines the ways in which the novels reflect their author's deeply divided nature.
