tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post5603457902286927308..comments2024-03-12T04:39:29.868+00:00Comments on A Vindication of the Rights of Mary: Lost daughter: Jane Austen, part five (Gilbert)Roberta Wedgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13619847452197496153noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-54944999558450829092012-01-24T14:58:50.870+00:002012-01-24T14:58:50.870+00:00Lauren - so glad you are enjoying this series! I h...Lauren - so glad you are enjoying this series! I hope you stick around; your comments are appreciated. Of course you are correct that the terms "feminism" and "feminist" did not exist in this sense until the late nineteenth century. (The OED gives the earliest citation as 1895, and says it came from the French.) I re-dipped into <i>Northanger Abbey</i>, as you'll see in my next post, and it is rich with allusions. Henry Tilney is quite an advocate. I can see no secret about Jane Austen's feelings regarding the cramped education and role allocated to girls and women then.Roberta Wedgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13619847452197496153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4836032513708232334.post-83216069255891473312012-01-24T12:01:20.447+00:002012-01-24T12:01:20.447+00:00Thank you for this post, Roberta! While I am not ...Thank you for this post, Roberta! While I am not comfortable with the term "secret radical feminist," due to the term feminist's modern connotation, there can be no doubt that Jane's novels underscore the inequities between men and women in her time. I'm not even sure that "secret" is that accurate, as we see it, and I feel that at least some of her contemporary readers would have seen it, too. She also alludes to certain other societal ills as well, with the same delicate touch. This serves to establish that Jane Austen was not solely writing for light entertainment, and (in my mind) is one of the reasons for her continuing popularity.Lauren Gilberthttp://www.heyerwood.comnoreply@blogger.com