Jane Austen’s Characters Revolutionary or Sentimental: An Analysis of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma.

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to analyse the female heroines present in three of Jane Austen’s novels: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Emma (1815) and determine whether they are revolutionary characters or if they just follow the literary sentimental tradition. The main focus is on the female protagonists of the three novels: Elinor and Marianne in Sense and Sensibility, Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Emma Woodhouse in Emma. To give a comprehensive answer to the thesis statement, these women will be analysed from a literary, psychological and social point of view with the help of quotations from the books and psychological theories. These heroines have been chosen because they represent the perfect mix between the traditional sentimental heroines, who are dominated by their emotions, and modern women, who are fighting against patriarchy to obtain independence from the male power. With them, Austen takes the thread of Sentimentalism and applies it to female characters, adding at the same time a modern twist to their characterisation. She gradually portrays young women who go against everything they were taught by their families and the society they live in; who actively decide to show their emotions and let themselves be dominated by them and lastly, they fight to be the master of their own fate. These female characters are willing to risk their own reputation to achieve happiness and independence.