JANE AUSTEN: A Woman Out of Time

I don’t claim to be an expert on Jane Austen, the person, but anyone who has read all of her writings multiple times can draw the obvious conclusions about her. Basically, Jane was a woman ahead of her time, who felt keenly the restraints of being a woman in the late 1700’s. She acknowledged those limitations on women often through characters like Elinor Dashwood (Sense & Sensibility) and Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice).

Jane’s female characters were all strong, intelligent and passionate women, who often stood up to the social laws prohibiting them from doing anything other than marry and raise families. However, when it did come to marriage, even in this Jane stood out. Her heroines married for love. As part of our celebration of Women in History, I’d like to outline some of those characters that together, formed the person we know as Jane Austen.

Elizabeth and Jane Bennett – Two of the five daughters from Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice”, Jane and Elizabeth were very close to each other and often confided in each other. WhileElizabeth was high spirited and passionate, Jane was calmer and more serene, happy to contemplate life in a gentle manner. Jane had the weight of responsibility heavy on her shoulders. Being the eldest Bennett, it fell to her to marry well so that her sisters might be raised in social standing. She was also the one who reined in her younger sisters when they got out of hand, and sometimes that meant Lizzie too. Yet, her heart’s desire was to marry for love, not money or social status.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not afraid to speak her mind, often doing so without thinking of the consequences of her words. She knew who she was and liked who she was. She was a woman happy in her own skin, though she knew there was always room for improvement. She wasn’t above self-examination and correcting flaws within herself. But she did it on her own terms.

Elinor Dashwood – Elinor understood the plight of women but she was frustrated by it. That was cruelly brought home to her when, upon her father’s death, she, her mother and her sisters were forced to leave the home they loved. But Elinor stood strong, taking over the family finances and housekeeping. Jane describes Elinor as “possessing a strength of understanding and coolness of judgement” which needed as they took up their new situation in life. Jane made Elinor strong yet tender-hearted, but in control of her feelings at all times. She was the rock and the glue which held their small family together.

She also proved herself a very trustworthy friend when asked to keep a solemn secret. Nothing, not even her relationship with her sister, Marianne, could move Elinor to betray a trust.

Emma Woodhouse – The thing I loved about Emma was that she was a tower of strength all on her own. She didn’t depend on anyone else for her happiness and she was completely secure in the knowledge that she was very much loved. She represented the independent woman who did not need to marry to maintain her status and comfort. “A single woman, with a very narrow income, must be a ridiculous, disagreeable old maid! the proper sport of boys and girls, but a single woman, of good fortune, is always respectable, and may be as sensible and pleasant as any body else.”

Jane Austen wrote so many women that defied the times. She wrote them from different perspectives, social statuses and intensities. I believe that all of these characters put together, make up the person, Jane Austen.

Feature image is a drawing of Jane by her sister, Cassandra.