Adam Smith's influence on three Jane Austen Novels

The three articles linked below were all written by Shannon Chamberlain, a professor at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are from the website AdamSmithWorks.

All of these articles are excellent and my brief comments don't do them justice. They are there just to give you an idea of some issues that are discussed in each article. But each article explores how Austen's works reflect Smith's ideas very well.

Jane Austen's Theory of Moral Sentiments: Sense, Sensibility, and Adam Smith. 

It seems that the fundamental self-delusion that money and material things make us happy actually improves the world for humankind.

"It’s the source of agriculture and trade, the founding of cities and commonwealths, and the source of “all the sciences and arts, which ennoble and embellish human life.”"

The book is about two poor sisters, Elinor & Marianne, and their quests to find husbands. How will love and money affect their choices? Also, it does take some wealth to gain respect and position in society. 

Jane Austen's Theory of Moral Sentiments: Pride, Prejudice, and Prudence. 

Prudence is not only about taking proper care of ourselves but it is also about trying to look good in the eyes of the "impartial spectator." This article discusses prudence in the context of the main character, Elizabeth, and her friend Charlotte, and how they use it to each find a suitable husband. 

Jane Austen's Theory of Moral Sentiments: The Failed Speculator in Persuasion.

Again, the book involves the quest by the main characters to find suitable spouses. 

"it is an interrogation of rationality and the limits of our ability to predict the future, especially the economic future, and the necessity of living with our failed speculations."

And speculation is not just about the economy. It is also about predicting how other people will do in the future. Will they be successful even if they are not rich right now? These questions might have been especially hard to answer with the industrial revolution getting under way and the social structure changing.

"Good speculation and assumption of risk are a part of both moral and financial calculus"

Related posts:

A ChatGPT story: What if Jane Austen and Adam Smith met to discuss his book The Theory of Moral Sentiments? (2025) 

Pride and Profit: The Intersection of Jane Austen and Adam Smith (2024)

Here is an excerpt from that post which was from a review of the book Pride and Profit:

This fine book by the professors of economics Cecil E. Bohanon and Michelle Albert Vachris is a step forward because they present the full picture of the problem in the following sense: they go over all the novels by Austen and indicate what they call the “intersections” of her ideas and Smith’s in order to prove that she “embellishes, refines, and explains Adam Smith” (p. 4).