Jane Austen's Novels and Their Impact Essay

Thesis: Throughout the text of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen challenges gender and social norms in the Georgian Era through the development of Elizabeth Bennet as she interacts with characters in the novel.

Jane Austen's groundbreaking novel Sense and Sensibility is a relationship-driven account of female protagonists. Sense and Sensibility shares much in common with other novels by and about women. Themes like autonomy versus independence and the role of women in a patriarchal society are explored in Sense and Sensibility. Using two sisters to symbolize the different directions the female spirit can be pulled, Austen shows the variable ways women respond to political, social, and economic oppression. The women of Sense and Sensibility are both trapped by, and breaking free from, the conventions of marriage and motherhood. Marriage and motherhood are portrayed ironically as the natural course of women's lives, but also as the chain that prevents their self-fulfillment. The social norm of patrilineal inheritance leaves Elinore and Marianne Dashwood, and their mother, penniless and dependent on distant male family members. Marriage and motherhood are restrictive roles for women, and yet Austen never provides a satisfactory alternative for Marianne. Marianne seems willing to break free from patriarchal social norms, but she ends up being a slave to heterosexual romance. The message in Sense and Sensibility ends up being rather bleak: women remain socially, economically, and politically oppressed because they cannot envision or enact suitable independent alternatives.

The life of Jane Austen is a very interesting story and many would say that Jane Austen wasn’t like the rest. She was an English novelist who was not only successful but also very quiet about her writings and publishments; most of her novels were not open to the public during her lifetime. She was born on December 16th of the year 1775, and she was the seventh child to a well known clergyman and wife. Jane was not educated like most would be; she was homeschooled by her father. Her father had huge libraries in their home and this is what created the school-like feeling of the Austen estate. Jane was a normal, and a quiet young lady but also had the opportunities to live life in the greater world, by the access

Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, seeks to explore the effect of wealth on society. Throughout the novel, this portrayal of wealth assumes an increasingly critical tone, and is thus used to suggest the negative impact of financial goals in a relationship. This is shown in the contrast between Catherine’s relationship with Mr. Tilney, and Isabella’s promiscuous ways. In this dynamic, Catherine remains pure, engaged to a poor clergyman, whereas her friend Isabella ensnares men in the hopes of gaining wealth and societal status. Through this dynamic, Austen provides an example of the British Romantic ideal that both love and the individual are only pure and righteous when freed from the constraints of society and affluence. Ironically, the Gothic novels that were prevalent in the later part of the British Romantic Period are frequently cited as a source of misfortune throughout the novel. Catherine, who is portrayed as good and pure, is misled into believing that the stories spun in Gothic novels are applicable to her own life. Her friend, Isabella, is also portrayed as a lover of the genre, which is Austen’s way of hinting at Isabella’s future sins. Although the Gothics influence both Catherine and Isabella, Austen portrays the characters as opposites-one the promiscuous villain and one the victim of the heroic tale. Austen continuously comments on the nature of heroism, and thus mocks the timid Catherine while ironically branding her a

Austen used techniques such as comedic and satirical irony, to break the mould of the expectations of the novel genre. Austen could simply have written in the same gothic sensationalist style, or perhaps a sentimental novel, but she chose not to. Instead, she parodies and undercuts them, with subtle causticness, and ridicule. Austen’s priority when writing Northanger Abbey was to defend the novel as a genre, whilst also addressing the concept of ‘reading’ itself. Essentially, by writing in the style of the gothic, she emphasised the ordinariness of the domestic gothic and, patriarchal domestic violence, abuse, and the general oppression of women that was present in everyday life (p.59).

or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense

In Emma Jane Austen exposes the limitations of the role of women in her society. Examine Austen’s presentation of what is called in the novel, women’s usual occupations of eye, and hand, and mind. Emma – Role of Woman In Emma Jane Austen exposes the limitations of the role of women in her society.

Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is essentially the “coming of age” story of Catherine Morland, a sympathetic yet naïve young girl who spends some time away from home at the impressionable age of seventeen. As Catherine matures in the town of Bath and at Northanger Abbey, she learns to forgo immature childhood fantasies in favor of the solid realities of adult life, thus separating falsehood from truth. This theme is expressed in a couple of ways, most obviously when Catherine’s infatuation with Gothic novels causes her to nearly ruin her relationship with Henry Tilney: her imagination finally goes too far, and she wrongly suspects General Tilney of murdering his late wife. The theme is less apparent

Jane Austen is well known as a novelist for her satirical representation of female characters in late Georgian society. During this period, novel writing and reading was still a controversial topic, and as such was incorporated in her book Northanger Abbey (1817), which has at its core a young female protagonist obsessed with novels. We can clearly interpret Northanger Abbey as Austen’s satirical response to the social conventions decrying novel reading, as she uses an intrusive narrator and more subtle supplementary techniques to comment on and satirize the debate surrounding novels.

This shows how influential her writing has become throughout the years. Austen’s writing opened the door for other writers to explore romantic literature. “J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, grew up reading Austen, who she described as ‘the pinnacle to which all other authors aspire’” (Redman). She inspires others, not only to write romance, but science fiction like Rowling has done. Her influence on the literature work is is astonishing considering she lived in the 1700’s. Many writers of that time are forgotten by most, but she has lived on way past her death. Austen is taught in high school and college English classes. She has been a huge inspiration for female writers as well. “Jane Austen is now thought of as one of the greatest English authors and considered by many as the first great woman novelist” (Jane Austen [b.1775-d. 1817]). Being considered as one of the first female novelist is a great accomplishment and a huge honor, it is a great shame the “creator” of romance did not get the recognition until after her death. She could have helped develop most extraordinary writers in her

Many readers of Persuasion believe Austen uses the namesake “persuasion” too neutrally. She appears to passively describe the results when the protagonist is persuaded to abandon Wentworth’s first proposal, but actually has much to say on being persuadable, and mainly argues that it is not inherently wrong. Persuasion in the novel’s early chapters works in two forms: as an overpowering force on the foolish like Sir Walter, or as an important voice to consider such as when Lady Russell opposed Anne’s engagement. These forms are often grouped together under the greater theme of social influence, and are treated like they run along the same spectrum where the first is negative and the second positive, suggesting the trait balances out into a neither bad nor good thing. However the value of persuasion is not determined in isolation. It depends on the other characteristics of the individual, because in Sir Walter it reveals undesirable weakness, and in Anne intelligence and pragmatism. The given extract well represents the aims of the whole novel, as here Austen explicitly reflects on persuasion and how it is anything but a neutral social influence.

The term gothic fiction implies a British literary genre from the late eighteenth, and early nineteenth century. The modernized term seems to have been generalized into anything that is dark, gloomy, or depressing. Gothic novels often time posses an emphasis on portraying the terror, a prominent use of supernatural circumstances, the presence of highly stereotyped characters, and the attempt to display techniques of literary suspense. There are also other parallels among this vastly popular genre. Gothic novels often time describe the city of London in corresponding ways. Also a common theme amongst gothic literary works is the duality of human nature, or the quality or characteristic of being twofold. These mutual themes are apparent in

Rachel :)))) Mrs. Keyes AP Literature 12 8 December 2015 A Literary Analysis of Emma by Jane Austen In Jane Austen’s novel, Emma, protagonist Emma avoids her own transformation by her attempts to transform others. However, Emma experiences her coming-of-age through the stable characters of those around her.

Love comes in many shapes and forms, whether it’s an inanimate object or a person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Jane Austen’s novel, “Sense and Sensibility”, revolves around two sisters who try to find true love, while requiring a balance of reason and emotion. Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are viewed as two completely different people. Elinor is known to represent “sense” while Marianne represents “sensibility.” In the novel, Jane Austen emphasizes two common women’s characteristics, and shows us how Elinor and Marianne both find love and happiness only by overcoming their struggles and learning from one another’s actions and mistakes.

Jane Austen lived from 1775 until 1817, a span of four decades that saw significant changes in English social, political, and economic life. At the time her birth, England was embroiled in a bitter struggle with its American colonies, the loss of which, several years later, proved to be a tremendous blow to English political and military prestige. Under the rule of George III, England's political climate became increasingly unstable with constant struggles between the King and Whig politicians. Ireland received its independence in 1782, although the violence that had long plagued the country continued to rage. Across the Channel, the French Revolution had begun and the English aristocracy watched in horror as royal heads began to roll.