Jane Austen enjoyed
the works of Charlotte Smith,
Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Matthew Lewis,
Fanny Burney, and Maria Edgeworth
(to whom she sent a copy of Emma,
before it was released to the public). Maria's father, Richard
Lovell Edgeworth, was a friend of Jane's aunt and uncle. Most,
if not all, of these authors are referred to in Austen's novels.
Austen's only gothic contribution is a satire, Northanger
Abbey. From this we may obtain a list of popular gothics
of the period, the so-called Northanger Canon, which is given to
the heroine as recommended horrid reading.
Although Charlotte
Brontë found her cold, writing the
Passions are perfectly unknown to her; she rejects even a speaking acquaintance
with that stormy Sisterhood.
Austen had many admirers, among them Sir Walter
Scott who believed she possessed that
exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters
interesting.
Also referred to in the novel are: Matthew Lewis' The Monk, Fielding's Tom Jones, Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison, Maria Edgeworth's Belinda, and Fanny Burney's Camilla and Cecilia.
