Essays on Jane Austen

In the Victorian era, appropriate etiquette and manners were predetermined for both men and women. The society in which they lived maintained stereotypical gender roles more rigidly defined than at the present. The coming of age was difficult for any young person; therefore, the ability...

The realistic novel, characterized by its presentation of reality and rational philosophy, was a genre created in response to the romantic, or “gothic,” novel and which was characterized by sensationalist escapism. In contrast to romanticism’s poetic and dreamlike language, the diction of the realistic novel...

Jane Austen’s Lady Susan novel is one of her most decadent Victorian novels which challenges mainstream morality through its protagonist Lady Susan herself. As the epistolary novel proceeds, the written exchanges among the character demonstrate indignation at Lady Susan’s contrariness: her flirtation, extramarital affair, machinations,...

Throughout Jane Austen’s Persuasion, observations arise concerning the differences between the two genders. There is an ongoing dispute between what is and is not intrinsic to one gender as opposed to the other. Anne’s observations on the matter often question the normalcy of what is...

“She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older–the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.” With these words, Jane Austen crystallizes one of the central questions of her novel Persuasion–whether it is better to be strong-willed or easily...

Long has the concept of female friendship confounded researchers, philosophers, scientists, and novelists alike. Friendships among women often confuse, and even intimidate, cultures built on hierarchies of power that center around men’s logical prowess. This cautious uncertainty extends to the writings of Jane Austen, whose...

Love, marriage, and the impact of gender are themes frequently taken up by Jane Austen, but it can be difficult to find where she stands on such topics, given the varying perspectives of her characters. While as readers we are often aligned with the heroine...

The gothic phenomena, although short-lived, left an indisputably heavy influence on literary practices in the late 1700’s, particularly that of the ‘feminist’ literary space. Jane Austen’s questionable heroine, Catherine Morland, is both the construction and deconstruction of female figures that populated the novels of her...

Jane Austen was an English novelist known for her six major novels among which one of them is Mansfield Park. According to critics, Mansfield Park is the first of Jane Austen’s novel to be conceived as well as executed and published in maturity. In this...

Jane Austen’s Perfect Heroine: The Use of Reserve in Persuasion “Her character was now fixed on his mind as perfection itself.” Jane Austen, Persuasion Anne Elliot is often described as Jane Austen’s most mature and perfect heroine; and so she is. One is disposed to...

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice continues to be a well-loved classic in any readers’ bookcase. The anxieties of marriage, distinctions in social status, significances of reputation, unreasonable expectations of women and inconveniences of too much pride and prejudice are some of the themes presented in...

“It is believed that every original idea has already been conceived hundreds of times over. The challenge of creativity is to transform a familiar concept into something that is unique to one’s personal understanding. Pop-culture is full of claimed ideas, transformed into something entirely new....

In elucidating a strong sense of time’s passing in ‘Persuasion’, Austen evokes the seething pain and angst that Elizabeth’s approach to ‘the years of danger’ affords in an era in which marriage and status were ultimately keystones of a successful life, and explores the oversights...

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice concerns primarily of the social norms of the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, in which was a patriarchal society ruled by men who held economic and social power. Pride and Prejudice has certain components that directly focus on the mixing...

Jane Austen uses her novels to express her disdain for nineteenth century English marital practice. She herself defied convention by remaining single and earning a living through her writing. Austen’s novels, including Emma, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion, frequently feature an aristocratic heroine who is...

The novels of Jane Austen primarily reveal satirical glimpses into the inner workings of Nineteenth-century England’s upper classes. With a mocking overtone, the author ridicules the plight of young women as they desperately seek a worthy husband. Ultimately, the heroine happily weds the man whom...

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel that combines the themes of marriage, wealth, class and self-knowledge to unleash an extravagant masterpiece. Since its immediate success after being released in 1813, it has remained one of the most well-known English novels. Written by famous novelist...

Historically, during the late 1700s and 1800s, many pieces of literature as well as conduct books were written as a way to demonstrate how the conduct of how women should portray themselves as well as what a woman’s education should involve. Mary Wollstonecraft delivered her...

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility depends upon social status and the adherence of characters to these social norms. Edward Ferrars is presented as a man of virtue and quaintness, a perfect companion to the narrator’s beloved character Elinor, who is the embodiment of sense. The...