Penny Gay describes for the first time the rich theatrical context of Austen's writing.

Penny Gay is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Sydney, where she also teaches performance studies. Her 1994 book As She Likes It: Shakespeare's Unruly Women was the first feminist study of the performances of Shakespeare's comic heroines, and she has since published separate studies of The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It.

1. Jane Austen and the theatre; 2. Sense and Sensibility: comic and tragic drama; 3. Northanger Abbey: Catherine's adventures in the Gothic theatre; 4. Pride and Prejudice: the comedienne and heroine; 5: Mansfield Park: Fanny's education in the theatre; 6. Emma: private theatricals in Highbury; 7. Persuasion and melodrama; Epilogue; Notes; Bibliography; Index.