“For Jane Austen, morality is not only a matter of personal responsibility between an individual and his conscience or his Maker; it is more social than that, it is a matter of how the conduct impinges on the lives of other people.”
“As an aspect of Jane Austen's work ignored by the traditional critics (perhaps because they were mostly men and thought it too domestic, too mundane), the study of her treatment of food yields new insights into the skill with which she creates character and establishes her moral values. Equally, it can help us pose the feminist, political and ideological questions which, if not the sole purpose of literary criticism, certainly add something fresh and valuable to the discipline. For example, consideration of Fanny Price's 'niceness' as regards to eating makes some contribution to the political debate between whether the resolution to Mansfield Park most supports or subverts the dominant ideology within which it was created.”
“More than any other kind of relationship to food, hospitality reflects the underlying assumptions of society, assumptions which can and do shift with time. Social forms which once served society well by regulating and polishing behaviour for the better comfort of all can become ossified, empty and oppressive to the individual. Change may be necessary, but change must be motivated by good feeling and concern for others, not by desire to create an impression. Elegance and propriety are always desirable, because they smooth over any social disharmony, but they should be accompanied by real generosity of spirit; and where there is such generosity, want of elegance and propriety may be excused.”
“Jane Austen is quite clear that both sexes must be allowed the full play of their moral autonomy and that a healthy society values equally the contributions each can make. Danger arises when the sex which has the monopoly of money and mobility assumes that the pick of the world's pleasures must be therefore theirs to plunder. Marianne, Fanny and Jane are unfortunate in being desired and trifled with by men who have been used all their lives to having their own way. That these women, of no feeble character any of them, should be crushed to the point where their only resource seems to be self-destruction, must be a reflection on their society and on those in whom its power resides.”
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