In Austen’s world, the rich were imagined to be more honorable, better people. And yet, her fiction showed the exact opposite: the laboring middle classes, or even, the poor as perfectly virtuous. […]
When it comes to the tradition of primogeniture, Jane Austen’s female protagonists stood no chance. Even though they were educated, they faced constant financial insecurity. Unable to inherit, marriage was their only way out. […]
Understanding the value of British currency, such as a pound, helps the readers know that it was an amount which could potentially be the entire salary of a servant and wasn’t a small sum in the Austenian world. Therefore, a character in the novel, spending a few on a whim would definitely be declaring his status and wealth. […]
After marriage in the 18th century, women and men were seen as a single identity, that of a man’s. Women could not buy property and filing for divorce was next to impossible. […]
Jane Austen’s female characters saw matrimony as a means to secure their and their family’s future. And yet, the laws remained unfair to them. Financially, they were dependent on their husbands, as their property legally belonged to their husband. […]
Marriage, in Jane Austen’s world, wasn’t just for love. It was seen as a family duty: a chance to climb the social ladder an ease family’s financial obligation, and secure social advancement. […]
In Jane Austen’s world, the characters had a set of rules to follow when it came to romance and courtship. Men could be manipulative or immoral but woman transgressing had to pay a long-term price for it. […]
In Jane Austen’s day and age, as in her novels, balls were the best place to meet other young people. Dances of all kinds allowed for sanctioned touching between unmarried members of the opposite sex—physical contact that wasn’t acceptable in other circumstances. […]
Jane Austen’s novels tied ‘coming out’
directly to marriage and its economics. It did not just signify adulthood, but an event where a woman would actively seek opportunities to interact with potential future mates. […]
Labeling Jane Austen’s ‘Northanger Abbey’ as a gothic parody is an injustice to the novel. It rather elevates the elements of the gothic and gives them a new flavor. […]
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