Book Description
For Jane Austen, Edmund was a name the represented
heroism and chivalry, Maria signified heartlessness and Richard was a joke.
She had a weakness for Emma and a passion for
Frederick which endured from her earliest years until she bestowed it on her
last, and most romantic, hero.
Unlike most novelists of her period, in naming
her characters Jane Austen confined herself to the names found in everyday
life, choosing them to fit not only their personalities but their place in
society.
While the classic English names are her staple,
she also drew on the Old Testament for her low-born characters and
eighteenth-century creations for the would-be fashionable.
In this study of a hitherto neglected area of
the novelist’s art, Maggie Lane looks at the history of English nomenclature up
to Jane Austen’s time and at the naming patterns and practices current in her
society, including who was entitled to use the Christian name of whom.
A section on Jane Austen’s own taste in names is
followed by an alphabetical listing of all the Christian names used in her
mature fiction, with their history, social status and associations.
'Jane Austen and Names' is a must-read for
anyone interested in the great novelist.
