That’s the nice thing about those books. Good authors can communicate their ideas without getting terribly clinical. The story works on both levels. My daughter was able to read Pride and Prejudice after 8 but before she was versed on what houses of ill repute were. So she could read it without real problems. Bleak House can’t quite pull it off because of the central theme of the whole thing, though Dickens is certainly in the same class, and was a bit of a social revolutionary in some ways himself (”Hard Times”). I get the feeling that Dickens was a bit apolitical regarding parties, though, and had a genuine love for England with her warts, and all.
I preferred Poe and Hawthorne and others when I was young, but did love Austen, as well. I read everything from Poe to Heinlein to Austen to Greek & Roman mythology. I would go to the library and get 6 or 7 books and take them back the following week and get more.
I am sad that I do not seem to read as much or get the joy out of it. I do read some, but nowhere near the amount I once did.