Jane Austen fires shot in Literary vs. Genre wars: Hits Target
My dear Sir:
You are very kind in your hints as to the sort of composition which might recommend me at present, and I am fully sensible that an Historical Romance, founded on the House of Saxe-Couborg, might be much more to the purpose of Profit or Popularity than such pictures of domestic Life in Country Villages as I deal in—but I could no more write a Romance than an Epic Poem.—I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other motive than to save my Life; & if it were indispensible for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first Chapter.—No— I must keep to my own style & go in my own Way; and though I may never succeed again in that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other.
I remain, my dear Sir,
Your very much obliged, and very sincere friend,
J. Austen
From the Norton Critical Edition of Emma
