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In 1753, the earl of Chesterfield writes to his son that in his whole life, he was never able to meet a woman possessing reason or consideration, or behaving consequently for twenty-four hours. In his view, sensible men do only dally with women as they in truth do only possess two passions: love and vanity.This study examines Jane Austen s representation of morality and conduct in her two novels ´Mansfield Park´ (1814) and ´Persuasion´ (1818) by the use of the conduct books read and used by the people of the Victorian time.

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Svenja Strohmeier was born in Gehrden, Germany, in 1988. In 2008, she started to study English and History at the University of Hildesheim in order to become a teacher. There, she taught about morality and conduct at the English Institute of Literature and Language, in 2013. In August 2013, she will continue her education as a teacher in a Hanoverian school at the Realschule for English and History.

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