By Jane Austen

 Born in Hampshire, England in 1775  Daughter of a country vicar, had 5 older brothers and an older sister  Never married  Not formally educated past grammar school, taught by father/brothers  Died in 1817

 Sense and Sensibility 1811  Pride and Prejudice 1813  Mansfield Park 1814  Emma 1816  Persuasion 1818  Northanger Abbey 1818 Both Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously.

 Austen’s novels take place almost exclusively within the circles of the landed gentry (land owners who could live off rental income) and aristocracy (the nobility – titled families). These two classes made up less than 2% of the population of England.  The landed gentry were the “new” rich – upper middle class families who had enough wealth following the Industrial Revolution to buy land and estates in the country. They were eager to align themselves with the aristocracy and distance themselves from the middle class.

 Social class and the lack of class mobility  Rigid class system – conflict arises when members of different classes mingle  Women, patriarchy, and property rights  Entailment and other patriarchal practices limited rights and options for women.  Marriage and Family  Expresses Austen’s disillusionment with the fact that many women were forced into marriage due to financial necessity  Propriety, social decorum, and reputation  Adherence to the laws of propriety, social decorum, and reputation determined the ways in which a person was judged by other people  And…Pride and Prejudice, of course.  The novel was originally titled First Impressions as first impressions and preconceived perceptions complicate the relationships between the characters.

 Irony  Austen assumes an ironic tone in order to comment on the faults and inadequacies of her characters  Much of the dialogue is characterized by a tone of irony  Austen uses a combination of situational irony, verbal irony, and dramatic irony throughout the novel. Her famous opening line establishes an atmosphere of irony: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

 Satire  Cleverly disguises Austen’s criticism of her intended targets by clothing it in humorous language, funny characterizations, and sarcasm  Targets include: Mrs. Bennet – a woman with little intellect who talks incessantly and embarrasses her family with her constant attempts at matchmaking Mr. Collins – a man who considers himself to be morally and intellectually superior to his fellow men. His high opinion of himself often makes him a laughingstock

 Free Indirect Discourse  Uses a third-person narrative perspective in order to convey ideas and thoughts from the point of view of a particular character, usually the heroine.  Often difficult for the reader to determine whether the ideas presented are conveyed objectively by the narrator or whether they are the reflections of a character  Pioneered by Austen and a precursor to stream- of-consciousness

 Comedy of Manners  Literary genre popular in England during the Restoration Period.  Uses elements of satire to ridicule the behaviors, manners, flaws, and morals of members of the middle or upper classes  Frequently include love affairs, witty and comical exchanges between characters, and the humorous revelation of societal scandals and intrigues  In P&P, the characters’ search for love and financial stability, the social scandals in the Meryton community, and the witty banter between characters qualify the novel as an example of a comedy of manners.

 Bathos  An abrupt transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect  For example: "In the United States, Usama bin Laden is wanted for conspiracy, murder, terrorism, and unpaid parking tickets."  Austen frequently leaves the ridiculous or less noble idea at the end of the sentence, so that the sentence ends with an anti-climax.