The editor has spelled out ampersands and madesuperscript letters lowercase.<br /> <br /> The novel, which is fully annotated, is followed by the two canceledchapters that comprise Persuasion’s original ending.<br /> <br /> "Backgrounds and Contexts" collects contemporary assessments of JaneAusten as well as materials relating to social issues of the period.<br /> <br /> Included are an excerpt from William Hayley’s 1785 "Essay on OldMaids"; Austen’s letters to Fanny Knight, which reveal her skepticismabout marriage as the key to happiness; Henry Austen’s memorial tributeto his famous sister; assessments by nineteenth-century critics JuliaKavanagh and Goldwin Smith, who saw Austen as an unassuming, sheltered,"feminine," rural writer; and the perspective of Austen’s biographerGeraldine Edith Mitten.<br /> <br /> "Modern Critical Views" reflects a dramatic shift in the way thattwentieth-century scholars view both Austen and Persuasion.Increasingly, the focus is on Austen's moral purposefulness andpolitical acumen and on Persuasion's historical, social, and politicalimplications.<br /> <br /> A variety of perspectives are provided by A. Walton Litz, MarilynButler, Tony Tanner, Robert Hopkins, Ann W. Astell, Claudia L. Johnson,and Cheryl Ann Weissman.<br /> <br /> A Selected Bibliography is also included.