Long thought to have been a woman whose traditional values of country, church and domesticity dominated her life and writings, Jane Austen has come under scrutiny in recent years as a 'Secret Radical'. It's worth studying the novels and letters again for evidence of her real feelings about the position of women in late Georgian and Regency England, the proto-feminist arguments she - and they - may have encountered, and the compromises all were forced to make. Nothing will be easy to prove, which always makes for lively discussion of a kind Elizabeth Bennet would have relished.
Course aim
This is a course for Jane Austen readers and a chance to consider her six major novels again in a different light.
Do I need any particular skills or experience?
- This course is for beginners and improvers
- It will be assumed that you have a broad knowledge of, at least, 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Emma' and 'Persuasion', though reference will be made to all six novels during the course.
By the end of the course I should be able to:
- Give a brief outline of the position of women between 1790 and 1817, and some of the ideas then current about the legal and social relationship of the sexes.
- Discuss events in Austen's life that may have influenced particular events in the novels.
- Investigate the relationships between men and women in the novels, and between women and women, in order to weigh the evidence for Austen's views. (Study dialogue in particular).
- Discuss how Austen's popularity in the 21st century reflects on these questions. (Is it down to nostalgia? Or her essential modernity?)
- Give your final informed view on Austen's 'feminism', with some supporting detail.
What else do I need to know?
Helen Kelly's 'Jane Austen, The Secret Radical' would be excellent preparation for this course, whether you agree with her or not.
View full course information sheet
