Jane Austen:

Portrayal of social conventions affecting women

by W.T.J.S.Kaviratne

Jane Austen had the rare privilege to read books in her father's library comprising more than 500 volumes on diverse subjects.

She was highly influenced by the writings of Samuel Johnson, Samuel Richardson and the poetry of William Cooper. Austen took the name for her novel Pride and Prejudice from 'Cecilia ' one of the novels written by Fanny Burney.

Just for the amusement of her family members, relations and her friends Austen composed Juvenilia; an anthology of poems, stories and plays rich in numerous parodies full of humour, ridicule sarcasm and satire.

Since her childhood she tried to compose epistolary novels but gave up and resorted to write major novels beginning in 1811.

Sense and Sensibility -(1811) was (originally titled Elinor and Marianne), Pride and Prejudice - (1813|) was originally titled Impressions, Mansfield Park - 1814 and Emma -1815 are some of her major writings.

In addition, Northanger Abbey (originally Susan) and Persuasion was published posthumously in 1818.

The novel Sense and Sensibility is a portrayal of a myriad of themes relevant to society and class, love, language and communication, dreams hopes and plans, home, family and marriage and wealth.

Austen had portrayed the authentic nature of women in Sense and Sensibility and sometimes she had depicted her female characters in a very harsh manner comparing and contrasting inward and outward appearances of young women implying that appearance was deceptive.

She identifies love as a force of complex nature. In Sense and Sensibility she has given a tragic portrayal to love which goes hand in hand with suffering.

The feeling of movement and transition constantly prevailed in the minds of the characters of Dashwood sisters, Steeles, Willoughby and Edward due to homelessness in Sense and Sensibility.

Communication

The major conflicts portrayed in Sense and Sensibility could be attributed to misunderstandings due to miscommunication. Austen analyses miscommunication as a symptom of a decadent society highly concerned with property and wealth.

In Sense and Sensibility, she has contrasted sense and sensibility and the dangerous consequences of excessive indulgence on sensibility.

Relationships between parents and children and how these relationships promoted personal happiness had also been depicted in Sense and Sensibility.

The love affair between Marianne and Willoughby portrays the theme of 'sensibility' while the theme of 'sense' is depicted with the relationship between Elinor and Edward.

Wealth and inheritance also play a pivotal role in Sense and Sensibility.

Edward and Elinor could survive with their little income due to the fact that they do not have expensive tastes. Marianne's marriage to Colonel Brandon is purely based on financial reasons.

Austen has exposed the consequences of idealistic hopes and pragmatic plans depicted in Sense and Sensibility. In the transition of dreams into plans and then to real life, the characters had to encounter numerous troubles and tribulations which proved to be both comic and tragic in nature.

Pride and Prejudice

Austen attributes happiness to virtue and self-awareness to the qualities which are strongly lacking in humanity.

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen highlights her concept that human life as purposeful and the necessity of guidance had been emphasised in satisfying appetites and desires using human faculty of reasoning.

The love affair between Darcy and Elizabeth portrayed in Pride and Prejudice is considered one of the cherished love stories in the English literature.

Pride of Elizabeth misjudged Darcy on her first impressions while Darcy's prejudice could blind him on poor social standing of Elizabeth.

Contrasting temperaments and attitudes exhibited by Darcy and Elizabeth finally disappeared mostly due to self-realisation. One of the chief protagonists of Pride and Prejudice , Elizabeth was on the verge of losing her happiness because of her vanity which overcame her pragmatism. Self-awareness has also been highlighted by Austen in Pride and Prejudice as a prerequisite in the development of the quality of virtue.

Lydia fails to control her passions and desires because she was unaware of her own self.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Individuals are defined by their marital opportunities and financial background.

Unstable economic conditions of women that prevailed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England had been featured prominently in most of the writings of Austen.

Conflict

In Pride and Prejudice, the conflict was caused by 'primogeniture' the system prevailed in England during the era of Jane Austen that the oldest son of the family inherited all the property when the father was dead.

Economic issue of primogeniture affecting female members of a family have been identified as a recurring theme of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey.

Prof Kathryn Sutherland was of the opinion that Austen used fiction to describe social reality in her own time and class, the gentry and professional classes of Southern England in the early 19th century. Individualism has been portrayed by the morally suspected characters such as Crawfords and the Bertram daughters in Mansfield Park representing individualism.

According to Gary Kelley , many of the literary critics were of the opinion that Austen was a religious novelist.

Religious nature

Duty towards society, morality and religious nature are some other central themes Austen had portrayed in her fictions. Austen was influenced by the works of moral poets such as William Cooper. Even though Austen was identified as a feminist writer, the majority of her admirers happened to be men.

Archbishop Whatley and Macauley compared Austen to literary luminaries of the calibre of Shakespeare, Coleridge, Tennyson, Sidney Smith and Andrew Bradley.

Sir Walter Scott said, "That young lady (Jane Austen) has a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with."