D.W Harding

Disagree: In D.W Harding's work, I strongly disagree with the idea he imposes that Austen wrote this piece for a certain group of people. In his work, he states that because this book was based on making fun a certain class of people that it was Austen's "way out." "And yet she was sensitive to their crudenesses and complacencies and knew that her real existence depended on resisting many of the values they implied. The novels gave her a way out of this dilemma" (Harding 297). I feel that Harding has taken his viewpoint too far in assuming that this was Austen's true intention and sole reason for writing the book. I feel that Austen wrote this story to tell about a way of life and a flawed society.

Agree: I agree with D.W Harding's thoughts on societies reaction to this novel. I love how he states that they are able to laugh at this story while being completely oblivious to the fact it could be about them. "She found, of course, that one of the most useful peculiarities of her society was its willingness to remain blind to the implications of a caricature" (Harding 297). He also says that these are characters that Austen is able to laugh at through her story but she meanwhile "fears and detests." I agree with this idea as Austen created a story in which she could portray her deepest fears and concerns for society while making the readers and herself laugh at the characters without knowing their true intentions.