Jane Austen's portrayals of Regency England's provincial life provide fascinating commentary on social and economic issues as well as the characters' psychology and emotional lives. Throughout this class we will attend to the ironic presentation, where the narrative's implicit meaning often differs from what is literally expressed.  Such approaches will bring into focus the education of the main characters through the trials of their experiences. While the novels conform to the comedic mode, in which the principals ultimately realize their destinies as well-married men and women, their education displays the hazards, if not the flaws, of society and humanity. These are some of the ways in which Austen reworks the Bildungsroman formula to create narratives of poise, wit, and artistic seriousness. It is little wonder that Austen has long been regarded as the originator of the “great tradition” of the English novel.