Professor Devoney Looser

During Jane Austen’s time, higher dress hems led to more attention being paid to footwear and stockings. Different colors held significance, too […]

Though Jane Austen had a personal interest in clothing, she was against obsessing about it. Focusing on things rather than people wasn’t a fatal character flaw in Austen’s fiction, but it was certainly a flaw. […]

A love of fine things, especially in clothing, was often a sign of shallowness for a character in Austen’s novel. Austen herself was not anti-fashion, but she found it silly to be obsessed with it. […]

Jane Austen, in her works, can be seen as a staunch feminist who voices her opinions on women’s’ education. Through her novels, she advocates for the cause by exposing the follies and shallowness of the society. […]

Jane Austen’s novels aptly express the idea and significance of education in the 19th century. Women were entitled to education to grow up into attractive and skilled women worthy of marrying. […]

A slew of skills like singing, dancing, drawing, and knowing modern languages were hurled at women as ‘female accomplishments’. However, these were only intended to make her more worthy as a bachelorette.
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In the 19th century, the luxury of having to do nothing was one that rested with the eldest son. The younger ones had to fend for themselves with extremely limited professions accepted as respectable enough for them. […]

In the Austenian era, military positions could not only be bought but even exchanged. Lady Denham, in ‘Sanditon’, is more offended not by this but by the fact that some take pay cuts in order to escape active duty. […]

In the 19th century, there were several professions that a gentleman could adopt. Clergy was one of the most lucrative one. However, the challenging part was not in becoming one, but rather in successfully securing a living. […]