Hi everyone,
Can someone please elaborate the meaning of Virginia Woolf's quote to Jane Austen as the "mistress of much deeper emotions than appears on the surface" . I read 'Pride and prejudice' and found it full of feelings and emotions. Obviously Woolf reads Austen in more depth and if someone can enlighten me the meaning of that quote. I'm writing as essay based on that quote. Academic English literature analysis can be mind twisting and I want to understand fully an essay question by asking the ideas of others. The quote seems very simple but as I start to explore it, I'm afraid that I will come up with a totally unrelated answer. For instance, I have thought that perhaps Woolf feels that Austen could have been more outward with the portrayal of the feelings and emotions in the novel but because of the limitations imposed on the position of women in the regency era, Austen was exceptionally careful though there are hints of radical thoughts in her writing as well. I'm not sure if the way my mind is going at this point is answering the quote. Thanks for your time. Marylou