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Lady Susan Review and Analysis | The Danger of Scandal

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Hello and welcome back to Lady Disdain Reads! My name is Beatrice, and today we'll discuss Jane Austen's novella Lady Susan. Enjoy!
Helpful reviews of Lady Susan:
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Blatantly Bookish: • Review of Lady Susan &...
Spinster’s Library: • Lady Susan by Jane Aus...
Epistolary Novel: genre which consists of a fictional exchange of letters between
characters.
Scandal: from the Greek ‘skandalon’, literally a ‘trap’, in the Summa Theologiae Thomas Aquinas agrees with Saint Jerome that ‘Scandal is…fittingly defined as "something less rightly done or said, that occasions another's spiritual downfall."’
Theological Virtues: complementing the cardinal or classical virtues of fortitude,
prudence, justice and temperance, in Christian theology the three virtues of charity, faith and hope are distinguished in that they are not achieved through practice and habit, but through God’s grace.
From Lady Susan:
- ‘command of language’, Letter XVI
- ‘fortitude’ and ‘duty’, Letter I
- ‘first earthly duty’, Letter XXIV
- ‘strongest conviction of duty’, Letter XXX
- ‘set herself violently’, Letter II
- ‘violence of her feelings’, Letter XXXIX
- ‘he gave way to the most violent indignation’, Letter XXII
- ‘artifice’ in Letter XVIII and ‘artful coquetry’, Letter XI
- ‘not detected the smallest impropriety’ in Lady Susan’s behaviour, ‘nothing of vanity, of pretension, of levity’, Letter XI
- ‘I blame myself severely for having so easily believed the scandalous tales
invented…to the prejudice of Lady Susan’, Letter XIV
- ‘dull and proud’, Letter IV

Опубликовано:

4 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 8

@michaelwalsh1035 2 года назад

Hello Beatrice, that's an interesting look at the epistolary novel form and it's limitations. As a Roman Catholic, I've been aware of the full implications of "giving scandal" in Church teaching, now especially applied to clergy behavior and grievous harm to the faithful. Today, in the secular world, scandal seems only to concern politicians or financiers and their chicanery or how scandal can impact public "image". I wonder how much influence Lord Chesterfield's famous Letters had on Austen in forming Lady Susan's approach to "avoiding the appearance of scandal" and generally as to making way "in society"? I know they had a huge impact in the 18th century English speaking world, being central even to George Washington's formation.

@beatrixscudeler 2 года назад

Hi Michael, thank you so much for your comment! I'm Roman Catholic myself and I've been interested in the trivialisation of scandal for a long time. I hadn't thought of Lord Chesterfield's letters, now you've given me something to look more into, thank you for your interesting point!

@naomisbookshelf Год назад

Great analysis! I love Lady Susan because it doesn’t have the typical Jane Austen style. I love the study into the scandal and how it effects the other characters

@beatrixscudeler Год назад

Thank you for commenting and glad you enjoyed it!

@JesusSavesSinners 2 года назад

I hope more people find your channel. This was a very intelligent review. I like how you explained how the definition of the word scandal had changed and how the original definition fit within this story. Since this story was never published within Jane Austin's life time do you think it is possible she never actually finished it. Meaning that may be the abrupt ending we see was written by someone else? So this work could be published? I feel like there was a lot more to say. She certainly left a lot of the story unfinished. I know that many well established authors have numerous unfinished books for various reasons. Like being told by their publisher the idea is not up to the standard of books they are willing to publish. Or they were personally never satisfied the quality of the book. Stephen King famously has books he has been working on for over 20 years that he has never finished. He has published some books under a different name. Books he felt were not up to par to be published under his own name. I like your insights on this book.

@beatrixscudeler 2 года назад

Thank you so much for your comment! I don't know if Lady Susan was unfinished - to my knowledge we don't have any evidence that someo else wrote the ending or that she had plans to revise it, but I may be mistaken! we also annoyingly have so little biographical evidence on Austen, some things will always remain a mystery! I've been taking a break from RU-vid for personal reasons but will be back soon with more video!

@JesusSavesSinners 2 года назад

@@beatrixscudeler Thank you for replying. Because this book was considered one of her earlier works and was never released in her lifetime and how it ended abruptly with a lot left unsaid that was developed it just seems to me she never finished it. Since she never had it published she could not have been satisfied with it as it was. Thank you again for replying.