If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more: Jane Austen's Heroines
Course Description
Summary
In this seminar, we will train our eyes on all six of Jane Austen’s novels — Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma — with an aim to discover what connects and binds Jane Austen’s heroines together, what separates these women from each other, and to explore Austen’s evolution as a writer through the evolving nature of her protagonists. We will investigate what can be learned about not just 19th century Britain but more importantly, what we can learn about the 19th century woman from Austen, and then discuss how these 19th century visions and observations of womanhood compare and nod to contemporary life, love, station, romance, desire, obstacle, and possibility. Students will present their own work in a myriad of forms: individual and group presentations; brief essays; and an extended critical/research paper.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will explore the following questions:
- How do these women reflect their author
- How do they reflect others -- other women in the time and space in which they exist
- How do they reflect their own time
- How do they reflect this time, now
- How were they an influence on female protagonists moving forward
- What were some of the models Austen drew from in past literature, not simply as a kind of heroine model to follow, but also as a heroine model to push against
- And, to be contrarian about it all, how do the men reflect or break the model Austen has developed for the women in her novels?