Abstract
The Introduction sets out the philosophical and cultural background to eighteenth-century understandings of selfhood. It identifies Austen’s engagement with these ideas through her exploration of the key components of selfhood recognised by Locke and Hume and the connection between selfhood and moral responsibility identified by Adam Smith. It considers the presentation of consciousness in the novel and suggests that the insistent critical focus on Austen’s use of free indirect discourse is too limiting. It argues that Austen’s narrative technique raises questions about the interaction between writer, reader and text which resonate with the contemporary discourse on both selfhood and reading practice and suggests that Austen’s focus on reflective selfhood offers new ways of reading her work.
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Charlton, L. (2022). Introduction: Selfhood and the Novel. In: Jane Austen and Reflective Selfhood. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12160-9_1
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