Essay about The Power of Sickness in Jane Austen's Persuasion

Fay Weldon’s ‘Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen’ (1984) through the form of an epistolic novel, serves to enrich a heightened understanding of the contemporary issues of Jane Austen’s cultural context. In doing so, the responder is inspired to adopt a more holistic appreciation of the roles of women inherent in Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (1813). Due to the examination of the shift of attitudes and values between the Regency era and the 1980s, the reader comes to better understanding of the conventions of marriage for a women and the role education had in increasing one’s marriage prospects. Weldon’s critical discussion of these issues transforms a modern responder’s understanding of the role of a woman during the 19th century.

Social hierarchy and the patriarchal society are explored in Jane Austen’s novels. She shows us how society and class order affected women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Men were deemed superior over women. There were many differences that reflect the members of a particular social class and gender modes of conduct, upbringing, manner, education, and morality. Austen shows the injustice of inheritance laws and the psychological vulnerability of the women in her novels. Northanger Abbey portrays the volatility of patriarchal power.

In late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England there was a sort of moral ‘code’ of behavior and standards that are to be maintained by the middle and upper classes of society. Austen realistically mirrors this ‘code’ through the characters and plots of her novels while showing that social flexibility was narrow and class boundaries were strict. The topics of class stringency and social mobility are important areas in Jane Austen’s literature. We begin to see that Austen is not a revolutionary as she supports and preserves the morals and customs of societies hierarchy. However she often encourages and backs the emergence of new wealth permitting greater social mobility. In Austen’s world the naval and ‘tradesmen’ professions

Admiral Croft who was among the nouveau rich, had the financial means to rent Kellnych from Sir Walter, one of the so-called landed gentry. How does Jane Austen's treatment of class and social mobility reveal about these men and their women such as Anne Elliot and Mrs. Smith? Which group fares better and why?

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

    "Like all true literary classics, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is still capable of engaging us, both emotionally and intellectually" (Twayne back flap) through its characters and themes. This essay illustrates how Jane Austen uses the characterization of the major characters and irony to portray the theme of societal frailties and vices because of a flawed humanity. Austen writes about the appearance vs. the reality of the characters, the disinclination to believe other characters, the desire to judge others, and the tendency to take people on first impressions.

As Mr. Elton’s pride is greatly damaged, he decides to go to bath for a holiday, and returns with an offensive, vulgar woman, who will soon be his wife. Mrs. Elton is a rude, dull woman, but has a high social status, which is the reason Mr. Elton chose her. From this love-match, Austen shows us how wrong it is to marry for anything but love. Though it is a highly amusing situation, and Mrs. Elton herself is a very comical character, it in fact causes very serious and severe circumstances, in which these two people will be unhappily married for most probably the rest of their lives.

Jane Austen has created a very silly, vain man with immense family pride in Sir Walter Elliot. Sir Walter is extremely proud of his good looks, his family connections and above all, his baronetcy.

The assumption of money implying the quality of one's past and future is concretely established in this scene. For this very reason, Sir Walter did not want his daughter to marry a working man. He was afraid that if she would settle with someone who was not economically fit, she would be at a disadvantage, which was a common misconception during this time period. “Though every profession is necessary and honorable in any, who can live in a regular way, choosing their own hours... I say, to hold the blessings of health and a good appearance to the utmost” (Austen 20). Austen utilizes this passage to explain the character of Sir Walter and also show how much of an impact his views have on Anne. Although she loves Wentworth, she values her father's opinion much more. Austen goes on to illustrate another important characteristic of a man by creating dialogue between Mr. Shepherd, a family friend who only speaks of non-controversial topics, and Anne. Mr. Shepherd goes on to say, “Wentworth- Oh! Mr. Wentworth, the curate of a Monk-ford. I thought you were speaking of some man of property; Mr Wentworth was a nobody, quite unconnected” (Austen 23). Property was also used as a measurement of one's social class, which made Wentworth “unworthy” of Anne. Wentworth's lower social standing caused anxiety to her family as they were afraid it would hurt Anne if they were to get married. The

In Persuasion, the last of Jane Austen’s works, the readers are immediately intrigued by the autumnal tone of the piece, and the mellowness of the main character, Anne Elliot. Anne, a twenty-seven year old upper middle class woman, met and fell in love with Captain Frederick Wentworth at the age of nineteen. She was however, forced to break off the relationship at the time because Wentworth was deemed an unsuitable match. Eight years later, they meet again and by that time Captain Wentworth has made his fortune in the navy and has become an attractive catch. Anne was now uncertain about his feelings for her. Persuasion examines English society’s view of marriage and

In Jane Austen's last completed novel, Persuasion, England is one large family with two distinct branches, the navy and the aristocratic upper class-it is no accident that the two large books consulted in the novel are the Baronetage and the Naval Lists. The naval family poses a threat to the aristocratic family; in fact, undertones of social instability riddle the text, through imagery of death, illness, and accident. The marriages of Anne Elliott, Louisa Musgrove, and Harriet Musgrove reveal a gentry which can only redeem itself through intermarriage with the professional meritocratic class, symbolically taking on their values of utility and social responsibility, and

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels written by Jane Austen. This romantic novel, the story of which revolves around relationships and the difficulties of being in love, was not much of a success in Austen's own time. However, it has grown in its importance to literary critics and readerships over the last hundred years. There are many facets to the story that make reading it not only amusing but also highly interesting. The reader can learn much about the upper-class society of this age, and also gets an insight to the author's opinion about this society. Austen presents the high-society of her time from an observational point of view, ironically describing human behavior. She describes what she sees and adds her own

Sir Walter’s obsession with his own history shows us that vanity is Walter Elliot’s driving force in life. It also goes to show Sir Walter’s carelessness of major affairs, as the only script he cares to read is his own “Baronetage”. When describing Walter Elliot, Austen uses flattering language, such as “fine”, “beauty” and “good looks”. There is a tone of acute amusement and gentle contempt in Austen’s writing with “Sir Walter Elliot, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion”. This tone almost suggests to us that Austen does not perceive beauty to be of the utmost importance in life.

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.

An overly proud person looks down on people and as long as he looks down, he cannot see that which is above him. On the other hand, an individual with too little pride has an attitude of mediocrity and this hinders self-realization. Disproportionate pride blinds moral judgment, creates intolerance and deters relationships. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin is a novel that portrays individual characters who demonstrate a lack of balance in the way they perceive themselves and as a result they create ruin.