Jane Austen in the Context of Abolition: 'a Fling at the Slave Trade'

The book argues that amongst their other riches Jane Austen's last three novels presuppose Britain's outlawing of its transatlantic slave trade in 1807. The book takes as a keynote William Cowper's question: 'We have no slaves at home-Then why abroad?' Jane Austen's later fiction was written during the first decade of an interim period following the 1807 Abolition. It would be over sixteen years after her premature death in July 1817 before chattel slavery was abolished for British Colonies in the 1830s. This book concludes that there is subtlety in Jane Austen's references to topics associated with the great abolitionist campaigning of her time, and that she avoided being counter-productive. It argues that, contrary to some interpretations such as those of Edward Said, Jane Austen undermined the status quo of chattel slavery and that she celebrated the abolition of the slave trade in her Chawton novels.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Preface 'We Have No Slaves at Home- Then Why Abroad?' PART ONE: THE CHAWTON NOVELS Mansfield Park: Absenteeism, Autonomy and the Slave Trade Emma: Autonomy and Abolition Persuasion: Radical Change and the Royal Navy PART TWO: THE CONTEXT IN WHICH JANE AUSTEN WROTE THE CHAWTON NOVELS Some Philosophers on Race and Slavery: Opposing Viewpoints Abolitionist Influences on Jane Austen: Some Possibilities Conclusion Appendix 1: On Colonisation: Samuel Johnson The Idler, 1759 Appendix 2: Argument against Slavery: Samuel Johnson, 1777 Appendix 3: William Cowper's 1785 The Task: Extract quoted by Thomas Clarkson, 1807 Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
GABRIELLE D.V. WHITE taught philosophy for the University of Leeds, UK and the Open University, UK. She was previously an English Teacher in Secondary Schools and is a former researcher for the University of Leeds and the British Library, UK.

Review :
'Jane Austen in the Context of Abolition is a wide-ranging, nearly exhaustive study of attitudes toward slavery in Austen's late novels. Arguing against Edward Said and others who have seen Austen as upholding colonialism and slavery, Gabrielle White shows, through provocative, convincing readings of Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion, the subtle and direct ways that Austen's fiction instead supports abolition. White's fascinating study addresses one of today's most heated debates over this much beloved author. This book may permanently change the ways in which we read Austen.' - Devoney Looser, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA