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Courting Revitalization: Companionate Marriage and the Problem of the Landed Gentry's Reform in Jane Austen
Luze, Meredith Paige
Luze, Meredith Paige
Abstract
This paper investigates the flaws which Jane Austen sees within the landed gentry and examines how she uses the form of the courtship novel, with its emphasis on the heroine's viewpoint, to both point out the gentry's problems and pose a solution. Looking at Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion together shows how Austen becomes increasingly dissatisfied with the landed gentry and changes her opinion of the necessary solution from endogamous marriage to exogamous marriage. Courtship and marriage provide the means for revitalization of the landed gentry, and through the implications of the heroines' marriages Austen assesses the feasibility of her proposals for reform.
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Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.
Date
2012-07-18
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Keywords
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, Landed gentry, Revitalization, Class structure, Meritocracy, Courtship, Courtship novel
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English