Northanger Abbey

fit by society. In whole, Austen’s novels possess particular characteristics that define the gender roles reflected in nineteenth century English society, and are fully encompassed in an observation —regarding marriage—by Henry Tilney of Northanger Abbey stating, “‘man had the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal.’” (I.x) (Mullan 279) In this, a clear statement is put forth, one blatantly illustrating the unbalanced scale upholding man on his pedestal and woman timidly shying…

A literary work exists because of society. Literature is a written work and relates to the society, they cannot be separated. Through literature, we could see how the author depicts the society and their social circumstances. Therefore, literary work is the reflection of the real life. It can describe the events in our life, and also contains the stratification which indicates that literature and society is closely related because literature expresses the situations and problems existing in…

Ian McEwan’s Atonement explores the highly enthralling themes of war and the subsequent horrors, corruption, and the power of language and story-telling, a theme prevalent internationally or otherwise in every piece of literature. McEwan utilises and vast plethora of techniques and literary conventions in order to allow a deeper insight into these predominant themes. McEwan uses techniques including imagery and pathos to powerfully illustrate his Realist view of war. Within part II and III,…

Hina Nazar’s work titled Enlightened Sentiments: Judgment and Autonomy in the Age of Sensibility, published by Fordham Press (2012) contains a critical review of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Chapter 5 of this work is titled “Judgment, Propriety, and the Critique of Sensibility: The “Sentimental” Jane Austen.” Nazar’s primary thesis is argues that Austen was an anti-sentimental conservative who opposed the new individualisms made popular by late-century sensibility and romanticism in…

Changes in society, beginning in the 18th century to the mid 19th century and continuing into our own time, underlie the romantic movement.Romantics abondoned many dominant attitudes and prinicples of previous age.Romanticism was a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality, physicl materialism and Classicism of 18th century.Romanticism focused on personal emotions, the individual, the subjective, irrational, the imaginative.Their deep love,…

It is quite gripping to view the oppressions that women faced in the early 1800s through the lens of a writer in accord with the push for feminism in literature. The story of Pride and Prejudice revolves around the Bennet family, a penniless group of women and their father, attempting to emerge into a predominantly wealthy society. The five Bennet daughters face innumerable challenges with men, the notion of marriage, and their lack of finances. Elizabeth Bennet defies the conventional idea of…

The proliferation of print enabled English society to gain more readers, but this reading public was caused by the sudden rise in the literacy rate amongst the lower class. As authors such as William Cobbett demand a certain method to be placed upon the act of reading and the type of literature to be read for the people, it suggests their disregard for the potential reading prowess in the emerging lower class readers as well as their attempt to subdue the power the population holds over writers…

“She never wrote a memoir, sat for an interview, or recorded whether she had herself felt the joys and disappointments of love” (Jane Austen Biography, 2012). Even though most of Jane Austen’s life was a mystery, her works of romantic fiction have earned her the title of one of the most popular writers in the English language. Jane Austen’s realism made her an influential writer because her humble beginnings and ability to relate her stories to future generations has made her a successful and…

War has a significant impact on society, revealing certain aspects of human nature otherwise hidden. From a historical perspective, both Joseph Heller and Ian McEwan criticise the nature of war through Catch-22 and Atonement respectively. Both authors reflect upon values and attitudes present during wartime through the portrayal of characters reflecting these and create a ‘constructed world’ of war, reflecting aspects of reality, to discuss and criticise the questioning of reality consequential…

Jane Austen was not known for her interesting or memorable life. Many label her life as “uneventful” or “dull.” The stories she creates in her novels seem as if they couldn’t be any more different from her own life. Jane Austen’s novels are exciting and full of romance and adventure. Jane Austen never married, but she did yearn for a husband, someone for her to love. At first glance Jane Austen’s life had no similarities to her novels, but her experiences did influence her writing. Jane…