" Eudora Welty singles out for praise Austen's " habit of seeing both sides of her own subject - of seeing it indeed in the round" . ... Both men and women can be vain about their appearances, selfish about money, overawed by rank, and limited by parochialism; both men and women can function capably, think profoundly, feel deeply, create imaginatively, laugh wittily, and love faithfully. Without vindicating the rights of anyone directly, Austen posits a humanism far ahead of her time. " How really modern she is, after all," Welty concludes of Austen. "