Janeite
Janeitism did not begin until after the publication of J. E. Austen-Leigh's "A Memoir of Jane Austen" in 1870, when the literary elite felt that they had to separate their appreciation of Austen from that of the masses. The term "Janeite" was originally coined by the literary scholar George Saintsbury in his 1894 introduction to a new edition of "Pride and Prejudice". As Austen scholar Deidre Lynch explains, "he meant to equip himself with a badge of honor he could jubilantly pin to his own lapel". In the early twentieth century, Janeitism was "principally a male enthusiasm shared among publishers, professors, and literati". Rudyard Kipling even published a short story entitled "The Janeites" about a group of World War I soldiers who were secretly fans of Austen's novels.
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
"Tom Jones" has been compared to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" in that both deal with the disputed inheritance of estates. This plot allows them to examine who possesses the right to wield authority. Both novels have virtuous men and women winning an inheritance despite coming from mixed social backgrounds, showing that they believe there is a compromise between authority stemming from birth and the emphasis on merit. Both authors also had anxiety about the state of social authority in England and cared deeply about their audiences.