Dr. Croft: “I am certain that Jane Austen’s novels influence her readers for good beyond the delight they give. Jane Austen has wisdom to offer on many topics – friendship, money, character, courage, education – but I’ll begin with the subject she’s most often associated with: romantic relationships.
Jane Austen is the antithesis of other authors of romance novels in the way she depicts healthy relationships with clarity and realism. Rather than providing a romantic escape from reality, her novels provide remarkable insight about how to marry wisely. The novels have many similarities, but are each so distinct that generalizations about them are apt to fail; although her emphasis on good character, self-knowledge, and friendship runs through all her writing.
Jane Austen puts an unusual emphasis on the kindness and integrity of her characters, particularly as shown through their behavior in society – mutual compatibility and “being in love” is not her only or even her most important concern in the relationships of her heroines. Men whose courtesy and consideration only extends to people of importance or people they like do not make good husbands!
Her heroes reveal their good character in various ways: Edward Ferrars’ loyalty to scheming Lucy Steele, whom he does not love, prefigures the loyalty he will show to his real beloved, Elinor Dashwood; Mr. Darcy rescues Lydia Bennet (at great cost to himself) from a disgrace that would wreck her family, but does his utmost to conceal this kindness from Elizabeth Bennet rather than use it to win her; Mr. Knightley consistently treats marginalized characters with unusual respect and courtesy, showing kindness to the Bateses, Jane Fairfax, and Robert Martin, among others; Edmund Bertram takes the time to comfort his little cousin Fanny when nobody else even notices her misery; and all the heroes treat their mothers and sisters with respect and courtesy, even when those family members are very disagreeable.
Jane Austen’s villains, however, reveal their bad character through various lapses in courtesy whose significance we are likely to overlook until a drastic action makes their self-centeredness obvious. Men who flirt with other women (Henry Crawford), or who are unkind to younger sisters (John Thorpe), or who don’t treat their elderly relatives with respect (John Willoughby), or who are unreliable when it comes to commitments (William Elliot), or who are eager to exchange unkind gossip (George Wickham) make bad husbands now just as they did then. Considering the risk women face of intimate partner violence and domestic abuse, Jane Austen’s portrayal of subtle red flags is as relevant as ever.
Another dual theme that runs through Jane Austen’s works is that of self-knowledge and self-improvement. Characters like Elizabeth Bennet, Marianne Dashwood, Emma Woodhouse, Edmund Ferrars, and Captain Wentworth learn to acknowledge their mistakes and see themselves more clearly; and they use their hard-won self-knowledge to try to fix their errors and do better in the future. Elizabeth Bennet is forthright in acknowledging her flaws and the blunders they have led her into. But she does not brood over her mistakes and fall into depression; she resolves to combat her flaws and do better in the future. Marianne starts out by letting her misery take over her life and make her family miserable as well, but by the end, she emulates Elinor in facing disappointment with resolution and industry rather than sinking into dangerous depression (which causes her nearly fatal illness). Fanny has a different challenge to overcome: rather than recognizing mistakes, she must find the courage to stand up for herself when she is put under immense pressure to yield to her family’s wishes. Her cousin Edmund, in this novel, is the one who falls for someone charming but immoral; he must learn to see past Mary Crawford’s wit and liveliness to her selfish heart and to recognize Fanny’s true worth. Jane Austen’s protagonists all face relatable hardships that come from the inside and the outside, and they manage to navigate these obstacles with resilience, cheerfulness, and integrity. All of them can show us how to better navigate our own difficulties.
Jane Austen has a particular relevance to modern readers through her emphasis on and depiction of social interaction. She highlights the essentialness of having a circle of friends, acquaintances, relatives, and neighbors, in addition to being with that one special person we’d all like to find. Some of the movie adaptations are particularly misleading when it comes to this aspect: Jane Austen never leaves the happy couple alone with their love as the curtain falls, two newlyweds staring into each other’s eyes for fictional eternity. Instead (thank goodness!) she sees to it that they end up surrounded by a specific circle of friends and relatives who will ensure their future happiness as much as their marriage will. This final circle of friends is often set up throughout the novel, and often pointedly excludes unpleasant family members and acquaintances as much as it includes deserving relatives. (Elizabeth and Jane are happily settled near each other but not too near their parents, for instance; Fanny’s final circle at Mansfield is mercifully free of her Aunt Norris; and Elinor and Marianne end up practically next door to each other, with John and Fanny Dashwood miles away.) This social network surrounding the hero and heroine is often literally as well as figuratively the final scene of the novel: four out of the six novels end with a reference to the couple’s final happiness within the circle of their friends and family.
Jane Austen's complex portrayal of good romantic relationships and relationship red flags, her emphasis on good character and self-knowledge, and the importance she places on finding friendship are only a few of the ways in which her writing has the potential to change her readers' lives for the better."
Dr. Hawkins: “I find Jane Austen’s novels to contain several morals that are highly outdated and inappropriate for young adults today. Jane Austen romanticizes life in a way that can be very harmful for young women in particular, who need encouragement to follow their ambitions and not spend more time obsessing over their romantic relationships. These days, our goal for our daughters is not to get them married as quickly as possible, at seventeen, eighteen, nineteen – it’s to see them finish their education and learn to support themselves before, hopefully, they find a good man and perhaps decide to get married. And if they never find someone they want to marry, that’s fine too! Wouldn’t you rather see a girl going out with her friends than sitting at home watching “Pride and Prejudice” and hoping a Mr. Darcy will turn up for her? And not all of Jane Austen’s marriages look as positive even as that of Elizabeth and Darcy. Emma Woodhouse and Marianne Dashwood both marry men more than 15 years older than they are. Elinor Dashwood marries a man who didn’t tell her he was engaged to someone else; Fanny Price marries a cousin of hers whom she has known since she was 10 and he was 16. These relationships do not look healthy to me! And all of these girls (most are in their teens) will agree, according to English law, to obey their husbands during that ceremony where, as Emma says, “N. takes M. for better, for worse.” I am afraid that for some of these girls it really would be “for worse,” and I certainly don’t think we want young women today imitating these characters.
Another alarming aspect of Austen’s novels is the way women are constantly set up as rivals to each other over male attention: Elizabeth vs. Miss Bingley, Elinor vs. Lucy, Fanny Price vs. Mary Crawford – the list goes on. Women should think of other women as friends, not as rivals or obstacles to a marriage with 'The One.' "
Just as Dr. Hawkins is drawing breath to continue, Dr. Croft interrupts.
Dr. Croft: “Excuse me, Mr. Hunsford! I would like to request two minutes for a rebuttal due to Dr. Hawkins’s misrepresentations of Austen’s works.”
A murmur of astonishment wafts across the audience as the listeners lean forward in their seats. Dean Hunsford looks highly uncomfortable as he coughs for silence.
Dean Hunsford: “This, er, is all very irregular, and I’m not sure that – er, this is not quite – not quite –”
Dr. Croft interrupts this incoherent protest with such decision that the dean subsides into uneasy silence. Dr. Hawkins looks like she wants to interrupt, but cannot quite muster the decision or the volume necessary to effect this – so Dr. Croft carries on.
Dr. Croft: “My opponent’s objections to Jane Austen sound damning indeed, but they are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of her novels. Austen cannot be blamed for modern cinematic misrepresentation of her novels or with the diluting romanticization of modern sequels that twist their meanings into something Austen never intended. Her heroine Catherine Morland learns exactly this lesson when her obsession with gothic novels threatens her happiness in the real world. Austen’s heroines are all active and engaged in their communities, not sitting about waiting for Prince Charming. They read, and think deeply about their reading; they draw, play the piano, sing, ride, and dance; they go for long walks and visit friends and relatives, they run households, care for family members, and do works of charity for their communities. Yes, two of Jane Austen’s seven heroines marry with an unusual age gap, but these marriages are founded on mutual respect and great affection – the quality of the relationship is not defined by the ages of the couple. All of the heroines marry well within the accepted social norms of the era, although these norms have changed somewhat since, and all of these marriages look healthy even in our modern world. Considering the many changes for the better that have occurred with respect to marriages and relationships since the Regency era, it is really remarkable that all of Jane Austen’s heroines choose relationships that are so evidently good even by the standards of our era.
Contrary to Dr. Hawkins’s assertion of female rivalry, Jane Austen emphasizes the importance of social connection outside romantic relationships, and is noteworthy for the close and realistic friendships she portrays, particularly between women. These friendships can occasionally be fraught, such as Elizabeth’s disappointment with her friend Charlotte’s decision to marry Mr. Collins, but more often female friendships are a source of encouragement and good advice for the heroines. Notable examples are Emma and Mrs. Weston, Catherine Morland and Eleanor Tilney, and sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as well as Elizabeth and Jane Bennet. Jane Austen also, and unusually, portrays close platonic friendships across genders: Elinor and Colonel Brandon, Jane Fairfax and the Knightley brothers, and Anne Elliot and Captain Benwick are some examples.
Jane Austen depicts friendships and rivalries in a way that reflects the complexity of real world relationships. Yes, women can be rivals; but they can also be friends, and rivals can even become friends – such as Emma and Jane Fairfax. Many criticisms of Jane Austen’s work arise from a fundamental misunderstanding of her subtlety and her historical context, and I will address these further in the next section of the debate."
Dr. Hawkins (very frostily): “If I may continue – even as a romance author Jane Austen is deficient. Her romances are heavily money-driven, making her characters emotionally unsympathetic. Most of her heroines seem motivated – like Charlotte Lucas – by a wish to leave their family and have a grand home of their own, rather than by a great affinity with their husbands-to-be. Many of these young women are escaping from stifling homes where they are expected to be accountable to strict, unreasonable parents for all their actions, and rushing into marriage while still being teenagers is apparently their best option. None of Austen’s heroines so much as consider trying to earn their own living – a difficult but not impossible thing for women in the 1800s.
Jane Austen’s own life, as well, is hardly a good recommendation of her works. She never married – as far as we know, she never even had a serious romantic relationship. Like her heroines, she never found independence, living with her family on the income of her father and brothers all her life. Only four of her novels were published in her lifetime, earning her only a few hundred pounds; and Jane Austen was dismissive of her own writing, calling her work 'the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work with so fine a brush as produces little effect after much labour.' It’s no wonder that an author who experienced such a paucity of events in her own life should write novels that lack reality and emotional honesty."
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| Liv Quicksilver |
