1. Introduction: Jane Austen and Modernization 2. Authority in Mansfield Park and Persuasion : Durkheim, Weber, and Parsons 3. Emma , Simmel, and Sociability 4. Pride and Prejudice , Goffman, and Strategic Interaction 5. Northanger Abbey , Sense and Sensibility , and Frame Analysis 6. Conclusion: History, Sociology, and Literature

Jane Austen wrote when sociology was being established as the new discipline to understand social issues such as urbanization and industrialization. Drawing on landmark sociologists such as Durkheim and Bourdieu, this study argues that the novels of Austen were heavily influenced by these early developments in sociology.

James Thompson is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hilll, USA.