Abstract
This chapter focuses on the most significant recent addition to the original Leech and Short (Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose. Harlow: Longman, 1981) model: the writing presentation scale. A discussion of the complexity of the letter form in Austen’s early writing (especially the sharply satirical Lady Susan), is followed by a consideration of the ways in which letters are represented in her mature novels. Bray demonstrates that epistolary style is highly revealing of character in Austen’s fiction, and that the ways in which letters are read are often crucial. Focusing on examples from Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice, he argues that they are often the site of deep reflection Austen’s fiction, and that the responses they generate are in turn represented through a complicated mixture of stylistic techniques.
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Bray, J. (2018). The Representation of Writing. In: The Language of Jane Austen. Palgrave Studies in Language, Literature and Style. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72162-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72162-0_5
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