Jonty Claypole

Jane Austen was deeply influenced by Charlotte Smith.

Charlotte Smith was shaping Jane Austen's view of literature, view of the world,

view of how politics works, view of how the economy works.

And Charlotte Smith was a very radical thinker.

And the reason why she has this whole subplot of Orlando in America is she's making a comment about the absolute injustice of British colonialism in America.

And she is very much on the side of Republicans in America as well, of the fight for independence.

And that is the view of the world Jane Austen is taking on.

And so she's not as many as Ramesses II, who we were talking about a few weeks ago.

It puts our two each in the shade, doesn't it?

Yeah.

That's such an important point.

All of the women we're talking about were people who had to earn their living, essentially, they had to earn their keep or earn their living.

And so the idea that I think people often have of femininity in the 18th century being sort of sitting with a bonnet on staring out the window waiting for somebody to arrive.

Waiting for a man to arrive in a carriage or on his horse couldn't be further from the truth.

These are all working women.

And I love your observation that actually being a fiction writer or being a writer is actually one of the few professions they could take hold of and do.

Oh, that first half of Belinda is extraordinary.

I've read it a couple of times.

It justifies every expectation.

It's so daring.