Jane Austen Critical Analysis

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Jane Austen was a pretty, intellectual author whose literary works were a reflection of societal values in the late eighteenth century as well as the early nineteenth century. During her time, from 1775 through 1817, in Hampshire, England, Jane Austen experienced firsthand the acts of discrimination, romance, and relationships, all of which had an effect on her writing style. At her time, women were not held high in society. Despite Austen being held to lower standards because she was a woman, she displayed her feministic views of the world through her works which mainly focused on three major themes: women, marriage, and family. Women did not have any equality to that of a man and were considered property of their fathers until they married, which they then became property of their husband. In Austen’s time period, marriage was a commitment based off money, not love. In Jane Austen’s case, family is a reflection of an individual in that family. For example, a daughter’s success in life is determined by how high the family is in social class. As a result, these three themes influenced Jane Austen and ultimately helped formulate her writing style which included her most notable literary devices: irony, symbolism, and parody.
“Irony is not just Austen's characteristic mode of expression: It is her characteristic mode of thought. Austen's irony reflects a perfect understanding of all the ways the world is wretched and the belief that although you can't really fight it, you can at least separate yourself from it” (Collins). In other words, Jane Austen uses irony to portray her attitude of the society around her. She is also able to appeal to her audience by using irony in a comedic way. “Jane Austen is a comic writer and, therefore, t...

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...ociety at that time. In this case, the theme of women is what influenced her use of symbolism. Her use of parody shows more about her feminism and how she believes that women should not be demeaned. Jane Austen was a remarkable young author that, although a woman, wrote significant stories that reflected her societal values with her unique writing style.

Works Cited

Asta, Jean. "Major Themes and Symbols." Hyperink. Hyperink, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
Collins, James. "What Would Jane Do?" WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 14 Nov. 2009. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Fullerton, Susannah. "About Jane Austen." JASA. N.p., 09 Mar. 2008. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Naeem, Muhammad. "Irony Is the Soul of Jane Austen’s Comedy." NeoEnglish. WordPress, 06 Nov. 2010. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Wright, Ben H. "Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey: A Gothic Parody." EZineArticles. EZine, 06 Mar. 2011. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.

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