This fascinating work illustrates how Jane Austen's novels treat questions raised by 18th and 19th century thinkers and writers concerning women's education. It points out that just as Jane Austen's novels are aesthetically superior to those of her didactic contemporaries, her thinking is far less doctrinaire than theirs. This study will increase every reader's enjoyment of the novels by illuminating their humor and it will also indicate why Austen must be considered a feminist. Those interested in British Romantics, Women's Studies, and the History of Education will find this book particularly valuable. «Solid scholarship and clear writing distinguish this study and its thesis that Austen reflects her contemporaries' views on the education of women at the same time as she signals a vision beyond her century. The author's careful assessments of Austen's novels produce insightful evidence into issues relevant to 18th-century norms and to modern cultural issues. For its succinctness of approach and the centrality of its presentation, Horwitz's book is likely to gain a significant place in Austen studies.» (Martin Tucker, Editor of 'The Critical Temper') The Author: Barbara Horwitz is Associate Professor of English at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. She edited the section on the British Romantics in The Critical Temper , and she contributed an essay on Lady Susan to Jane Austen's Beginnings: The Juvenilia and Lady Susan . In addition, she has published articles on Fanny Burney, Josiah Wedgwood, William F. Buckley, and contemporary popular fiction.