Steiner uses a variety of contexts to appraise Austen's work against the backdrop of civil society and gender. How do humans navigate civil society? Steiner tackles Austen's exploration of this process as a deep subject, a constant preoccupation of Western civilization that involves questions of morality, agency and autonomy, sociability, rationality, and how these issues are inflected when gender is involved. Originally published in 2012, now avialable in paperback. Routledge. 2016. Paper. NEW. $50.00