Analysis of D.W. Harding's "Regulated Hatred"

D.W. Harding’s writing, “Regulated Hatred,” is an analytic article regarding Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Although Harding recognized the success associated with the Austen’s work, he states that he was, “quite certain [he] didn’t want to read her.” He believes that her book is compacted with “false impressions” associated with the era. Harding believes that the success of Austen’s novel is primarily due to the over-exaggeration of the flaws within her society. However, I disagree with Harding’s statement that Austen’s “books are, as she meant them to be, read and enjoyed by precisely the sort of people whom she disliked.”   I believe that the exaggerated qualities of Austen’s characters is a means of her to describe the flaws of her society in a non-chaotic fashion. The success of her novels is because she is courageous and able to point out and discuss these issues rather than to conform to them.  Nevertheless, I agree that Austen may have used some exaggeration to drive her point home. She created her characters as symbols of the extremes of her society, rather than the norm. Thus, Harding may be partially accurate that they are over-exaggerations; however, they are not fictional characters because they are true representations of Austen’s society.