What does Jane Austen mean when she writes approvingly of a character’s ‘gentility’ and ‘delicacy’, or critically of another’s ‘indolence’ and ‘impertinence’? What are her characters doing when they take the measure of a person’s ‘air’ and ‘address’? These questions and more are answered in this Janeite treasure trove, which examines the distinctive language woven through Austen’s signature stories. Much of the language used in Austen’s time has either fallen out of common use or changed valence in significant and surprising ways. Maria Frawley takes 50 of those words, words that are integral to the fabric of Austen’s fiction and explores them in short, accessible and lively entries.
