Lady Susan

Jane Austen demonstrated her mastery of the epistolary novel genre in Lady Susan, which she wrote in 1795 but never published. Although the primary focus of this short novel is the selfish behavior of Lady Susan as she engages in affairs and searches for suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter, the actual action shares its importance with Austen’s manipulation of her characters' behavior by means of their reactions to the letters that they receive. The heroine adds additional interest by altering the tone of her own letters based on the recipient of the letter. Thus, the character of Lady Susan is developed through many branches as Austen suggests complications of identity and the way in which that identity is based on interaction rather than on solitary constructions of personality.

By : Jane Austen (1775 - 1817)

01 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mr Vernon 02 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson 03 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 04 - Mr de Courcy to Lady Vernon 05 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson 06 - Mrs Vernon to Mr de Courcy 07 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson 08 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 09 - Mrs Johnson to Lady S. Vernon 10 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson 11 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 12 - Sir Reginald de Courcy to his son 13 - Lady de Courcy to Mrs Vernon 14 - Mr de Courcy to Sir Reginald 15 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 16 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 17 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 18 - From the Same to the Same 19 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 20 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 21 - Miss Vernon to Mr de Courcy 22 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 23 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 24 - From the Same to the Same 25 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 26 - Mrs Johnson to Lady Susan 27 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 28 - Mrs Johnson to Lady Susan 29 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mrs Johnson 30 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mr de Courcy 31 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 32 - Mrs Johnson to Lady Susan 33 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 34 - Mr de Courcy to Lady Susan 35 - Lady Susan Vernon to Mr de Courcy 36 - Mr de Courcy to Lady Susan 37 - Lady Susan to Mr de Courcy 38 - Mrs Johnson to Lady Susan Vernon 39 - Lady Susan to Mrs Johnson 40 - Lady de Courcy to Mrs Vernon 41 - Mrs Vernon to Lady de Courcy 42 - Conclusion

Lady Susan Vernon, a beautiful and charming recent widow, visits her brother- and sister-in-law, Charles and Catherine Vernon, with little advance notice at Churchill, their country residence. Catherine is far from pleased, as Lady Susan had tried to prevent her marriage to Charles and her unwanted guest has been described to her as "the most accomplished coquette in England". Among Lady Susan's conquests in London is the married Mr. Manwaring.

Catherine's brother Reginald arrives a week later, and despite Catherine's strong warnings about Lady Susan's character, soon falls under her spell. Lady Susan toys with the younger man's affections for her own amusement and later because she perceives it makes her sister-in-law uneasy. Her confidante, Mrs. Johnson, to whom she writes frequently, recommends she marry the very eligible Reginald, but Lady Susan considers him to be greatly inferior to Manwaring.

Frederica, Lady Susan's 16-year-old daughter, tries to run away from school when she learns of her mother's plan to marry her off to a wealthy but insipid young man she loathes. She also becomes a guest at Churchill. Catherine comes to like her—her character is totally unlike her mother's—and as time goes by, detects Frederica's growing attachment to the oblivious Reginald.

Later, Sir James Martin, Frederica's unwanted suitor, shows up uninvited, much to her distress and her mother's vexation. When Frederica begs Reginald for support out of desperation (having been forbidden by Lady Susan to turn to Charles and Catherine), this causes a temporary breach between Reginald and Lady Susan, but the latter soon repairs the rupture.

Lady Susan decides to return to London and marry her daughter off to Sir James. Reginald follows, still bewitched by her charms and intent on marrying her, but he encounters Mrs. Manwaring at the home of Mr. Johnson and finally learns Lady Susan's true character. Lady Susan ends up marrying Sir James herself, and allows Frederica to reside with Charles and Catherine at Churchill, where Reginald De Courcy could be talked, flattered, and finessed into an affection for her.