A Body of Truth? John Wiltshire's Outlook on Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility

Although John Wiltshire's book Jane Austen and the Body is very well-written and in may ways fascinating, he falls short several times by either not fully explaining the significance of his findings according to his thesis, or by totally contradicting his thesis altogether. His very first paragraph in a sense contradicts his entire theme by saying, Jane Austen's novels, I will admit, seem among the least likely texts on which to found a discussion of …

…was not well thought out and at times did not support his thesis. At other times, he very obviously contradicted his thesis altogether. Though well written and occasionally very engaging, Jane Austen and the Body made too many presumptions and had little or no evidence to back them up. Rather than citing many other authors, Wiltshire should have spent more time formulating his own arguments and focusing on what his book is about- the body.