Fay Weldon's 1984 epistolary novel, Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen 1984, has a striking resemblance to Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice 1813, in terms of the contexts of Regency England and the contemporary society to emphasise the ever-changing nature of values. Over a 150 years later, audiences can still identify Austen's portrayal of moral challenges regarding the value of education and the importance of self-determination. Weldon has appropriated in a mono-context through the portrayal of Alice, who like Austen's Elizabeth Bennett is in control of her own destiny. Education is a central theme of both texts with Austen and Weldon challenging their audiences to reject conventional methods of knowing and pursue an education
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She advocates for the value of moral education and the importance of self-determination through her subversion of Aunt Fay's didactic voice. Fay preaches morality at Alice, by placing her own standards of education and values on her niece's shoulders. She believes in the importance of "Literation, with its capital 'L'". Aunt Fay also depicts education system as fallible and encourages instead the use of personal judgement and experience: "perhaps they will explain it to you better, at your English Literature course. I hope so. I rather doubt it." According to the student sample, Aunt Fay, 'compounds the notion of unreliable narrator' as she removes her own agency by making 'baseless assumptions' relating the capacity of the education system. While Aunt Fay has attempted to position herself as a step away from traditional modes of education, her actions speak to her belief in conventional ways of thinking. She forces Alice to subscribe to her own set of rules and ideas, "Don't type, Alice, if you persist in your insane literary plan: use a pen.", and "You must read, Alice, before it's too late." Fay tries to paint herself as an impartial observer in Alice's creative pursuits, "How could I possibly tell you how to run your life". However, that is what she has been attempting to for the past several months. The audience understands the irony in contradicting nature
She advocates for the value of moral education and the importance of self-determination through her subversion of Aunt Fay's didactic voice. Fay preaches morality at Alice, by placing her own standards of education and values on her niece's shoulders. She believes in the importance of "Literation, with its capital 'L'". Aunt Fay also depicts education system as fallible and encourages instead the use of personal judgement and experience: "perhaps they will explain it to you better, at your English Literature course. I hope so. I rather doubt it." According to the student sample, Aunt Fay, 'compounds the notion of unreliable narrator' as she removes her own agency by making 'baseless assumptions' relating the capacity of the education system. While Aunt Fay has attempted to position herself as a step away from traditional modes of education, her actions speak to her belief in conventional ways of thinking. She forces Alice to subscribe to her own set of rules and ideas, "Don't type, Alice, if you persist in your insane literary plan: use a pen.", and "You must read, Alice, before it's too late." Fay tries to paint herself as an impartial observer in Alice's creative pursuits, "How could I possibly tell you how to run your life". However, that is what she has been attempting to for the past several months. The audience understands the irony in contradicting nature