“Novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff;"

Wise words from John Thorpe ;-)

I wonder why JA gave these dialogues to him. It makes me think that perhaps it is the attitude of the *readers* she is sarcastic about.

We know what a rattle he is, and when such people start exploiting the 'not reading of novels' to further their 'superiority' then such an attitude of hypocrisy has to be criticized.

I also think she is being sarcastic about those *authors* who tend to further this attitude, by showing their characters who are such.
So to contradict this attitude she makes a character like John Thorpe say this dialogue.

I agree with you;
[JA seems to be saying that novels may be lightweight, but they provide an amusement to young ladies in the same way that balls and dresses do, so let them be enjoyed in their proper place.

My conclusion is that she's being sarcastic both about the *authors* and the *readers*.

We have to see what else JA has to say about novels and the reading of them in further chapters.