The Ardor Order of Jane Austen

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Fellow blogger Rebecca Budd noted in a post last week (see below) that January 28 was the 1813 publication date of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. Rebecca’s piece made me think about how I would rank the six books Austen (1775-1817) is most known for. So here I go with a post that will not end with a wedding, but with the Austen novel that is my favorite.

Milestone: January 28, 1813 Pride and Prejudice published

6. Northanger Abbey: A satire of Gothic fiction with both great moments and so-so moments. Though published posthumously, it was the first novel Austen fully completed — so the authorial growing pains are not surprising. The protagonist is Catherine Morland, whose reading of Gothic fiction feeds her rather overactive imagination.

5. Emma: Many readers would undoubtedly rank this well-crafted novel higher in Austen’s canon, but Emma Woodhouse’s meddlesome nature is rather annoying; she really does need to mind her own business. (I’m surprised Harriet Smith didn’t “unfriend” Emma on Facebook. 🙂 ) But, to her credit, Emma eventually does some growing up by the latter part of the novel.

4. Mansfield Park: The “poor relation” protagonist Fanny Price is sympathetic, but probably the most boring and least charismatic of Austen heroines. Still, the story line and how Fanny fares makes for interesting reading. Bonus: J.K. Rowling named a cat in her Harry Potter series after the Mrs. Norris character in Mansfield Park.

3. Sense and Sensibility: An absorbing look at the Dashwood sisters as they and their widowed mother find themselves in reduced economic circumstances. The first Austen novel published, in 1811.

2. Pride and Prejudice: The favorite Austen work of many, and the novel is indeed quite a read. Its characters of course include Elizabeth Bennet (one of five sisters) and Fitzwilliam Darcy as they navigate an initially challenging relationship. The title of this iconic book comes from a phrase in Fanny Burney’s 1782 novel Cecilia.

1. Persuasion: A concise novel featuring what I think is Austen’s most mature heroine: Anne Elliot. Her relationship with Captain Frederick Wentworth is at first thwarted, but she keeps on keeping on with life during the years of separation.

Your Austen favorites?

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129 thoughts on “The Ardor Order of Jane Austen”

  2. Thank you, Dave, for another insightful post and for sharing Rebecca’s link! Like Shey, I hadn’t received notifications from her in a while, so it was great to revisit her site.

    I truly enjoyed your perspective on each of Austin’s books—it put into words feelings I’ve had but never quite could articulate. Ahhh, I feel so much better now. So grateful for your exceptional talent, and so impressed with Misty‘s courage. He’s quite a role model.

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    • Thank you very much, Carolyn! Sorry about the notifications issue. 😦 Always great to see posts by Rebecca, Shehanne, and others — including you!

      Pleased that you liked my modest Austen novel summaries. 🙂 And Misty’s adventures. 🙂

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  3. I read all her novels at university – so it was a very long time ago. But from what I remember, I think Persuasion being number one is an interesting choice. I remember it as one of her more difficult works.

    But I think it is hard to rank her novels, as they are all so different.

    I also wouldn’t put Northanger Abbey on the last spot. Though it is not a literary revelation, I think it is an interesting parody of the Gothic Novel that was still popular at the time.

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  4. HI Dave, Jane Austen will always bring a mixture of fans and non-fans. As I told Rebecca, as an emancipated woman of the 21st century whose had to fight for her rights in the boardroom for years and years, I never liked the females in Austen’s books and I couldn’t look up to them. Never mind, I shall have another go at them and see if maturity has brought more understanding to me.

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    • Thank you, Robbie! I hear you. Although a number of the women in Austen’s novels were kind of advanced for their two-centuries-ago time, they definitely were not as “emancipated” as fictional and real women would later be. But of course, as you note from your corporate experiences, things in the 21st century are still far from ideal.

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  5. Many thanks for feature my post, Dave Very much appreciated. Now that we are celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary of her birth in 2025, I have been reflecting on her influence in our time. I believe that Jane Austen’s writing remains timeless due to its insightful exploration of human relationships and societal norms. Her keen observations of social class, gender roles, and personal integrity resonate because we experience the same struggles and aspirations.

    I am not surprised that you chose “Northanger Abbey and “Emma” as your first and second. Jane Austen’s strong female characters in these books exemplify her progressive views on women’s roles in society. In “Northanger Abbey,” Catherine Morland, though initially naive, demonstrates growth and resilience as she navigates societal expectations and her own desires. Emma Woodhouse in “Emma” is portrayed as intelligent and independent (and yes, I found her quite annoying too), challenging the norms of her time through her assertive nature and refusal to conform to traditional expectations of marriage and propriety.

    I had to leave you one of my favourite quotes from Emma:

    “I cannot make speeches, Emma…If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.” Jane Austen, Emma

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  8. Well, of course I have read all of JA’s books. I have read NA twice and I have read P&P, at least four times. Perhaps it’s because I am very English… maybe? I have seen various films and miniseries – best was P&P when Darcy got his shirt wet in the lake in Pemberley (oh wow).

    Also a couple of spoofs – a book called Death comes to Pemberley by P.D. James (brilliant) and a film called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (hysterical).

    Okay, enough from me.

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  11. I’ve read them all, but the only ones I reread regularly are Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice, and P&P is my favorite, despite how appealing Anne Elliot is. Has anyone seen “Bride and Prejudice,” a tongue-in-cheek Bollywood-style movie directed by Gurinder Chadha that is a retelling of P&P that takes place in India? It’s silly, but I laughed all the way through it. The Indian version of Mr. Collins, Kohli Saab, is deliciously oily and perfectly unbearable.

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    • Thank you, Kim! Nice that you’ve reread “Pride and Prejudice” and “Persuasion” multiple times! For some reason, reading each of Austen’s six famous novels once was enough for me, though there are certainly other classics by other authors I’ve reread (“Jane Eyre,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Anne of Green Gables,” “The Lord of the Rings,” etc.). I haven’t seen “Bride and Prejudice,” but it sounds like a real hoot! 🙂

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  12. A great subject for a post, Dave, and very thought-demanding concerning the order of the books. I’d have to put ‘Mansfield Park’ at the bottom – Fanny Price really is too wet for my taste. ‘Northanger Abbey’ next, as Catherine#s a bit naive for my taste. I’d put ‘Emma’ next – for years she reminded me of my mother-in-law, with her know-all attitude and interferring ways, but she learns by her experiences and grows up, which the MIL never did – and if Mr Knightley loves her then who am I to argue? ‘Pride and Prejudice’ in 3rd place, it’s a great book but Mrs Bennett gets seriously on my nerves, resembling my own mother, who had more brains but an equally-irritating desire to get her daughters married. Funnily enough I watched a film version of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ again yesterday, and while Marianne’s tendency to display everything she’s feeling every moment she’s feeling it can grate, Elinor’s restraint while her heart is breaking has my own heart going out to her–much as it does to Anne Elliott’s suffering in having made a bad decision and knowing it. Fortunately both she and Elinor get the happy endings they deserve, although I have to put ‘Persuasion’ at the top of the list as Marianne drags ‘S&S’ down into second. All the books take first place in one thing though, that they’re wonderfully-written stories of the human condition. Thanks as always for a great topic, Dave. Have a good week. 🙂 🙂

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  16. A great post idea, Dave. I reposted it on BlueSky.

    I can’t pick a fave, because I’ve only read 1, Mansfield Park.

    I’m not counting having seen the film or TV mini Series of Pride and Prejudice, but will say fab story.

    Thanks to Rebecca’s post, it is now on my tbr pile, 3 down.

    Crazy, but our library has 76 copies, with 23 holds….. all these yeas later.

    Happy Publication Birthday, Jane Austen. Your art of writing has remembered you!

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  17. My fave is “Pride and Prejudice” for the humor in it. A bunch of us once performed the whole book in a community reading from start to finish. I don’t recall how long it took. I got to read the section where the bumbling minister is trying woo Elizabeth.

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  19. It’s like having a tray full of chocolates set out and being asked to choose your favorite. I’d have to choose chocolate, chocolate and chocolate. Sorry for the bizarre analogy, ha! Nice theme Dave. Susi

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  27. Jane mentioned in a letter (as she was writing Emma) that she had created a terrible character that no one would like. It’s not easy to create an unlikeable character and I think JA did a great job. I think Emma is the funniest book too. I often mention it as my favourite, although I agree with you on Persuasion. I do feel it is her best work. I’ve read P & P so many times I can quote it. I find it hard to list her books in order as I love them all for different reasons.

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  28. Thank you Dave for this and for the link to Rebecca’s post. Despite being subscribed to her blog I have not been geing any notifications… I actually thought she’d folded it. But WP is shambolic at the mo so I also hope you get this comment as it has chewed mos of my other ones this morning, telling me to log in when I am clearly logged in. I think my two top Austens are as you have here. And I toltally agree with you on Emma.

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