No one does it quite like Jane Austen! What is it that makes her writing so original?
Watercolor by Cassandra Austen, c. 1804
Very Little Description
Beyond tall, “noble mien,” and handsome, we have no idea what Mr. Darcy looks like, not hair or eye colour or even his skin tone (we get skin tone a fair amount of the time). Emma has a true hazel eye, but very little else is told. We know surprisingly little overall about what the heroines and heroes in Jane Austen’s works look like, especially compared to modern romance novels, which dwell on every feature of the protagonists at length.
It’s not that Jane Austen cannot describe the setting, but she only does so rarely. We have extensive description of Pemberley, but know almost nothing of Longbourn or even Rosings (beyond opulent and expensive). Donwell and Northanger Abbey are explored, but not the houses of our heroines. These descriptions serve to help us understand the characters who own the houses; if this isn’t necessary, we are left to imagine for ourselves.
Personally, I love this style of writing! I don’t see pictures while I read, so description is wasted on me anyway. It also makes writing fan fiction in Austen’s style so much easier! What did the room look like? Who knows! What did they eat? Dinner. That’s all you’re getting. Jane Austen approves.
Silhouette of “L’aimable Jane” by unknown artist
Very Few Consequences
I’ve written about this on my other blog, I always find it amazing that in Austen’s works, there are very few dramatic consequences. Austen’s antagonists aren’t left destitute, disabled, or dead at the end of the story. Austen’s fallen women all receive a comparatively soft landing (with the exception of Eliza Brandon, who is deceased before Sense & Sensibility begins): Lydia Bennet will be provided for by her sisters, Maria Bertram/Rushworth lives in at least physical comfort, and Eliza Williams will be cared for by Colonel Brandon and not abandoned for her affair with Willoughby. Even the anti-heroine and femme fatal Lady Susan, from the novella Lady Susan, has a relatively happy ending, though she’s married to someone dumber than Mr. Collins.
Lady Susan in the movie Love and Friendship, played by Kate Beckinsale
This is quite different from fiction at the time or even writing today. Jane Austen seems somewhat to point towards “a juster appointment hereafter” (ie. let God sort them out), but mostly, she leaves her baddies to the natural consequences of their actions. The question that she asks is, “If you do this, can you live with yourself?” and the answer is ambiguous. Willoughby does regret losing Marianne, but he isn’t miserable forever, as the narrator jokingly points out. Henry Crawford is sometimes reduced to wretchedness, but his social punishment is less than might be wished for. Lucy Steele appears to make out like a bandit, but can she ever really have a happy marriage when her union is based on greed and malice? Mr. Elliot’s cruelty towards a widow lost him Anne Elliot for good, but she wasn’t planning on accepting him anyway so is that really even a punishment? We are even assured by the narrator that Wickham will not even die in the war, but survive to waste his money further and annoy his relations.
Interestingly, Jane Austen Fan Fiction is full of Gothic-fiction level consequences, which supports the theory that fan fiction fills in the gaps that the original author left. Many stories murder Wickham for his sins and subject Caroline Bingley, a minor antagonist at best, to various extreme punishments for her actions. I find Jane Austen’s method more realistic and more compassionate, especially to female characters who seem to face the most horrifying of punishments in other works of fiction. The outcomes in her novels reflect the imperfection and lack of justice in the real world, but we are also assured that her heroines, and even her more dubious women, will be safe in a society so often dangerous for them. I find that beautiful.
Pencil/watercolor sketch by Cassandra Austen, c.1810
Sarcastic Narration
I’ve searched, but the narrative voice in Austen’s works is so unique! The narrator mocks her own characters frequently, delighting in their foibles. The narrative voice often imbodies the words of Mr. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice:
For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?
The narrator never seems to take itself or the characters too seriously, laughing at Anne Elliot while she’s at the peak of her romantic success and mocking Darcy for thinking he was capable of being impartial. The narrator’s sarcasm is perhaps the strongest in Northanger Abbey:
I leave it to be settled, by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny, or reward filial disobedience.
but no one is safe, not even “poor” Dick Musgrove in Persuasion.
I have heard readers say that the narrative voice is too mean in Jane Austen’s novels, but I personally don’t feel that. The narrator may laugh at the characters, but I’ve always sensed a love for humanity. One cannot be so observant of human nature and represent it so well without loving it, in my opinion.
Love Isn’t Everything
Elizabeth Bennet may say in the BBC Pride & Prejudice miniseries, “I am determined that only the deepest love will induce me into matrimony,” but that is not something Jane Austen ever wrote or what Elizabeth Bennet’s novel version believes. In fact, Austen wasn’t the sort of writer who thought that love was the only thing required for a successful relationship. Her marriages are love matches, to be sure, but they are tempered with prudence. Financial considerations are openly discussed in her novels.
Elizabeth Bennet, 1995 BBC miniseries
Edward and Elinor do not marry in Sense & Sensibility until they are sure of a sufficient income:
They were brought together by mutual affection, with the warmest approbation of their real friends; their intimate knowledge of each other seemed to make their happiness certain—and they only wanted something to live upon. Edward had two thousand pounds, and Elinor one, which, with Delaford living, was all that they could call their own; for it was impossible that Mrs. Dashwood should advance anything; and they were neither of them quite enough in love to think that three hundred and fifty pounds a-year would supply them with the comforts of life.
Instead of Love Conquers All, Jane Austen writes about love, or at least admiration, esteem, and respect, mixed with an understanding that people need something to live upon. Jane Austen exhibits how passion alone can lead to disappointment (the Bennet parents) and how lack of consideration of financial matters can harm your children. Emotions may fade, but a union based on respect, good principals, and financial prudence will stand the test of time, especially in an era where divorce is essentially impossible.
Happy (belated) Birthday to Jane Austen! I hope she’s just as well loved in another 250 years.
More:
Imagining Jane Austen’s Heroines (with period portraits)
Who is more Physically Attractive? The Hero or Villain in Each Austen Novel…
Jane Austen: Delightfully Destroying Her Own Characters
Could Mr. Bennet have Saved Enough for Decent Fortunes on his Income?
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