Lost in Austen

Jane Austen’s love life was worse than Oedipus Rex’s. However, that did not hold Austen back. Without a husband, she had more time to write novels. She wrote three novels by the age of twenty five (Spark Note Editors). Jane Austen is now one of the most well-known authors in this world. One of her more known novels is Persuasion. Persuasion is a romantic novel written in the 1800’s. It is about a young woman named Anne Elliot. She is the protagonist in the story of Persuasion. Anne Elliot is a…

Topic 3: Patriarchy at its Finest The novels of Jane Austen and Francis Burney take on the patriarchal system in Sense and Sensibility and Evelina. Each has their own style of not living within the patriarchal society, but challenge it in their own way. Austen places her characters in the private space and Burney in the public, each takes on the burden of growing feminism during the 18th century, each with their own characteristics (Elinor – Sense Evelina – Sensibility) and deal with marriage…

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is the life story of Elizabeth Bennet, a young girl from an aristocratic, yet not wealthy family. Elizabeth places utmost value in five core qualities: knowledge, intellect, humility, judgement, and integrity. She only respects people who exhibit these values, and who also see these values in her. Elizabeth believes that men and women are equals along these qualities. Even though she believes this, she does not act that way in social situations. In fact, the…

Such language allows the novel to remain relatable, even as the use of a language evolves. Austen infuses her words with irony and social realism. Austen understands human nature and society; more specifically, she understands the norms and values we insert into society in order to create structure (something that we as humans, continue to do), whether that structure is…

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has been cherished and revered by a consistently large audience for many decades. So how has a novel, published 205 years ago, continued to remain relatable and relevant in modern society? The universal themes of Pride and Prejudice on both the interpersonal and societal levels, such as love, marriage, and class, keep people constantly returning to the story, but in addition, it is Austen’s light, crisp, and direct telling of both characters and plot that yields…

Puppets Why are there so many expectations about the behavior of women? She should have the right to decide how to live her life without being controlled by society like a puppet master controls his puppets. In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen questions this unfair treatment of women. The novel portrays the Bennet family with five daughters whose mother is desperate for her daughters to marry into rich families. At this time, the Bingleys and Mr. Darcy move close to them. The…

people searched for spouses that not necessarily brought love, but instead brought power, prestige or even just security by way of the family, the connections they possessed, and the possibility of inheriting fortunes depending on the family. Jane Austen explores this world of matrimony and the relationships people in a well-off station of life have with one another in her novel Pride and Prejudice as her characters navigate the social etiquette that they all abide by as they, and their…

no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. '" (Austen 7). Elizabeth had always prided herself on her ability to ignore vainglorious people, but she is slighted by Mr. Darcy because of his good looks and in response says, "How despicably I have acted!" she cried; " 'I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities '" (Austen 141). Mr. Darcy is a prideful man, and many say he is rightfully so; " 'One cannot wonder…

When it comes to Jane Austen novels there is no mistaking the repetitive trend found in her heroines. She gravitates towards the perspective of those who aren’t exactly poor, yet they don’t come from a point in life where the world is served on a silver platter. Elizabeth is no exception, and when comparing her to most of the other characters of Pride and Prejudice, it is obvious that she is inferior. Yet as one reads the novel, it is hard to agree with all of the evidence that Elizabeth is…

Jane Austen was a very influential writer in the nineteenth century; she has never faded from popular opinion or discussions. Many of Austen’s novels, such as Emma, have been reimagined into films, enabling her to reach many different audiences through different interpretations. Emma is a beautiful novel about a young woman who is convinced that she will never marry; she does, however, what to help whoever she can in this matter. Once she deems herself successful in matching Miss Taylor, “less a…