In The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen leading scholars from around the world present Austen''s works in two broad contexts: that of her contemporary world, and that of present-day critical discourse. Beside discussions of Austen''s novels there are essays on religion, politics, class-consciousness, publishing practices, and domestic economy, which describe the world in which Austen lived and wrote. More traditional issues for literary analysis are then addressed: style in the novels, Austen''s letters as literary productions, and the stylistic significance of her juvenile works. The volume concludes with assessments of the history of Austen criticism and the development of Austen as a literary cult-figure; it provides a chronology, and highlights the most interesting studies of Austen in a vast field of contemporary critical diversity.