Jane Austen and Mozart

Book excerpt: Literary critics such as Virginia Woolf and Lionel Trilling had noted intuitive affinities between the art of Jane Austen and that of Mozart, but this 1983 book was the first to compare their artistic style and individual works in a comprehensive way. Extended comparisons are of course difficult because of the intrinsic differences between prose fiction and instrumental music. In Jane Austen and Mozart, Robert K. Wallace has succeeded in making illuminating comparisons of spirit and form in the work of these two artists. His book celebrates the achievements of Austen and Mozart by comparing their stylistic significance in the history of their separate arts and by offering comparisons of three Austen novels with three Mozart piano concertos. In exploring precise similarities between the two artists, Wallace shows how the art and criticism of one field can illuminate the art and criticism of another. Above all, Jane Austen and Mozart attempts to show the degree to which three masterpieces by each artist have comparable meaning and value.