Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Research Paper

First Advisor

Wendy Furman-Adams

Abstract

Eighteenth-century romantic comedies are the lenses through which the novels of juvenilia of Jane Austen are often viewed. However, like all art, Austen’s literature can be viewed on several different levels. Particular elements in Austen’s works that are not always focused on are the importance of the three elements of a bildungsroman, socioeconomics, and the feminine community. These aspects play essential parts in the development of the characters and their romantic relationships but also can be distanced from the general theme of a romantic comedy and observed on their individual merits; in effect, they are essential to the overall plot of Austen’s works. In this paper, I will examine the roles and interaction among bildungsroman, socioeconomics, and the feminine community in Lady Susan, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Northanger Abbey to come to a more thorough understanding of Jane Austen. For the purpose of this paper, I will define the themes as the following: feminine community as the grouping of the women characters through their interactions and gender; socioeconomics consists of the relationship between social and economic factors; bildungsroman as a coming of age. These themes are influenced by outside components such as primogeniture and the patriarchy. Individually, these themes appear frequently throughout Austen’s novels. Despite this, they do not always form a nexus together. For example, socioeconomics and the feminine community are often interrelated to patriarchy and primogeniture but not to bildungsroman. Therefore, it is more efficient to look at Austen in terms rather than try to find the links amid them.

Comments

WSP Major: English

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