"Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich"

At the crossroads of the Enlightenment and Romanticism, Jane Austen writes her novel, Emma, filled with ordinary people, places and events, unlike other novels of the time.  This was the time in history when reading novels became one of the main forms of entertainment for many people, but especially the middle class. This highlights an idea of the Enlightenment regarding literacy and the popular press where individuals gained access to learning for themselves on a personal level.  Of course, many new works were too expensive to buy, but around this time period, methods for sharing and borrowing the latest fiction came about including libraries, reading clubs, and subscriptions.  These methods are all still alive in our day as we see the sharing of literary works.  

The Printing Press and the Weakening of Catholicism

Microsoft Word

History of Printing

I remember the time I first realized as a young child that I could type out words on a computer. I had been an avid reader, and it had never occurred to me that words that I wrote could be printed out and look just like the words that I had read in my books. I no longer would have to hand copy invitations to my friends; I could type everything out one time and each invitation would be identical.


Similarly, with the invention of the printing press came a newfound freedom. Words could now spread throughout the world without the painstaking task of hand-copying. Ideas could take root more firmly and take route faster than ever before.

Martin Luther and the Press 
Martin Luther famously posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517. It is speculated that Luther originally wanted only to make the issues known and that he had no intention of causing such a far-reaching disruption to the Catholic Church. However, as his ideas