Jane Austen

Despite how disappointing my Jane Austen Studies class has been so far this semester, I have still had the opportunity to re-read her six amazing novels, and for that I am grateful. (Disappointing because of our lack of discussion and new or useful insight by my professor who generally goes off on tangents about how much of a bitch Mrs. Bennet is or how Willoughby is an asshole--we get it already!) However, I still love Austen, and she remains my favorite author of all time. One thing that has come up a lot in our class is about whether or not Austen was the prototype for the modern feminist, and, as an extension of that, would she be disappointed at the state of women today were she able to see it?

My answer to part A, yes, and part B, yes. Her novels, all six of them, are focused on women that are somehow stronger then the norms of her time and she herself went against the grain (A rebours) of the typical English woman by becoming a writer. She lived in poverty and off of charity for much of her life, however, this is mostly because she wanted most of all to be able to do what she loved and that involved not conforming to societies expectations such as concerning marriage and occupation (or a lack of). Each time I read one of Austen's brilliant and numerous works, I am reminded not only of why I love literature, but also of why I love being an independent woman. Elizabeth Bennet always excites the passion for sarcasm and strength I think I (sometimes) posses, Catherine Morland makes me laugh at how I too live in a dream world and am easily excited, Emma always makes me appreciate Clueless a little bit more while also inspiring me to set up some of my friends. And it keeps going because I love living in Austen's world, she wrote timeless novels that are still applicable today, especially since women have not been quite as liberated as I expect she would hope. However, there are at least 65 women (and 2 men) in my Jane Austen Studies class that agree she is a powerful and inspiring character herself, one from which more contemporary American women would do good to take some advice from.