Why Veeky Forums hates Austen?

The House of Mirth.

>Austen is on one big mission to skewer her readers for all their bullshit
No, she's on a mission to write an enjoyable story which incidentally deals with morality—the fact that actions have consequences.

The point of satire has been oft debated (to what advantage for us readers, I don't know) without being settled; but what I think none would say is that it intends (except in the most Juvenalian forms of satire) to "skewer" its readers. Nor would anyone accuse Austen of being Juvenalian.

Austen does not, in writing the character of Mr. Bennett, set out to demolish her reader, for the simple reason that she cannot know whether her reader is a Mr. Bennett. In writing that character she is concerned to satirize every Mr. Bennett she knows—including the reader if he happens to be one—and to entertain her readers who have met him, as we all have. This is satire yes, but it is satire that can laugh with and love a Mr. Bennett however much it acknowledges his follies. I have read (can't remember where) that some readers attested that they knew a Mr. Bennett and told him so—I can't imagine they would have been so rude as to insult him like that, if it was really an insult.

Though she seldom invites readers to feel superior to her characters, I'm afraid she sometimes does, and that this is a slight deficiency of her style resulting from her own not-perfectly-concealed snobbery. It is no use to pretend that Elizabeth and Mr. Collins are really conceived equally. We can sympathize with Elizabeth's follies, but we can only smile at Mr. Collins in a superior way. Compare it to Scott's more romantic treatment of ridiculous personages and you'll see what I mean.

Great post, thank you!

I've been meaning to start another Austen book since I read Pride and Prejudice a few years ago. Anyone have any recommendations? I'm familiar with most of her stories; I want to know where she really shows off her writing chops.

because she literally writes for plot, they are glorified chick literature which points out the deficiencies in her own life

Emma

Mansfield Park is wonderful, and in my opinion much better than Pride and Prejudice. Some people find the protagonist boring because she is more avowedly moral and is less sarcastic and proud than Elizabeth—she has a lot more in common with Jane. But for anybody who thinks humility is a real virtue, it's a wonderful story that is as romantic as P&P but deals more especially with the difficulties of discipline and gratitude. It is a more mature work and a more moralistic one—I think it's her best.

Thanks for the suggestions, anons

Harold Bloom worships Persuasion, if his opinion matters to you.

quality post