Document Type
Article
Abstract
Jane Austen’s “Evelyn” is a remarkably precocious tale that repays philosophical scrutiny. The protagonist’s absurd adventures reveal paradoxes about giving that Jacques Derrida would formulate much later. Austen’s project of imagining a true gift justifies the tale’s lack of closure and realism. Yet the gift is not just one theme among others: since giving is intrinsic to literary language and its production, the tale’s concern with giving reflects the challenges faced by Austen as a writer. “Evelyn” provides an oblique commentary on the political, economic, and even ecological interests of the late eighteenth century.
Recommended Citation
Normandin, Shawn
(2018)
"Jane Austen's "Evelyn" and the "Impossibility of the Gift","
Criticism: Vol. 60:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/criticism/vol60/iss1/3
CriticismJrnl