Note 71 — “PERSUASION.”[70]
Reading edition
If Jane Austen’s high standing as an artist is granted, what becomes of the heathen saying that “Art has no moral?” Was she simply great in spite of her morals? Again, how shall we dispose of the scornful criticism, which treats the details of domestic life in a novel as twaddle? Jane Austen and twaddle are as far apart as Jane Austen and bombast.