Austen's wit and psychological acuity are part of an innovative aesthetic strategy: by making internal consciousness crucial to narrative form, her work changed the course of the novel. Placing her writings in the political and philosophical context of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, we will consider what constitutes virtue and virtuosity in Austen's notions of behavior and of literary style, and will explore how issues of shame, audacity, and obligation affect her portrayal of genteel English society in the decades following the French Revolution. Texts will include Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion, as well as some of Austen's early and unfinished writing, letters, and critical studies of her work. Format: discussion/seminar. Requirements: two eight-to-ten-page papers. Prerequisites: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 25). (1700-1900)