19th Century novelists such as Emily Bronte and Charles Dickens deal with profound themes of human love, suffering and social justice in a dramatic manner, while Jane Austen's novels are often regarded as a somewhat gentler form of literature. In this course we shall examine two of her novels - Persuasion and Mansfield Park - and consider whether Austen deals with the same major themes in ways that are different in style but just as effective in impact. For ease of page reference it would be helpful if as far as possible we used the same editions. For Persuasion I will be using the Penguin Classics edition 'reissued 2015' edited by Gillian Beer, and for Mansfield Park the Penguin English Library 2012 edition edited by Kathryn Sutherland with an essay by Tony Tanner. Both are available at Heffers with a 10% U3AC discount.