First published in 1983 and now reprinted no longer as a pioneering work of feminist criticism but as one of many feminist perspectives. Discusses feminism and fiction from the late 17th to the late 18th centuries, the publication and reception of Austen's novels 1797-1818, allusion and irony in the novels, and feminist criticism of society and literature in the later novels. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.