JANE AUSTIN IS OVER-RATED
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Jane Austin is one of the most popular authors of English literature. Students, even today, study her books for class. I unfortunately, have never liked her works. In this article, I will be explaining why I personally think that Jane Austin is over-rated.
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The first and foremost reason for me not liking her novels, is that they are not inclusive. She only seems to write about women from the upper and upper middle-class sections of the society. All her characters seem to do, are go to balls, go to the houses of other rich people like them, and have a good, long gossip about all the scandals going on in their town. Neither can I relate to a single character she has written; nor have I met any woman in my life, similar to the women in Jane Austin’s works.
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The rich women don’t make up the majority of our population. So, I don’t understand why Jane Austin is only concerned with the part of society that they belong to. We don’t have marginalized women at all, in her novels. When she talks about the poor, in Emma, she looks at them in a patronizing manner, and as if their poverty is to be pitied. No! Poverty is a genuine social evil. The poor people don’t want your good-for-nothing pity. Its rich people like Emma, who are selfishly keeping all the wealth and resources to themselves, that has caused their poverty. But Jane Austin’s idea is more like, isn’t Emma charitable for wanting to give these poor beggars something?
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All her novels only have to do with romance, and ultimately end with marriages. Nothing so special, or feminist about that. I don’t understand why people say Austin’s works have feminist elements! Can anyone show me even one example of a Jane Austin character talking about the struggles faced by women, or advocating for gender equality? She had a perfect opportunity in Pride And Prejudice, where Mr. Bennet’s property is going to be inherited by Mr. Collins, rather than by any of his daughters. The protagonist of that novel, Elizabeth Bennet, who is supposed to be a strong woman; never breathes a word about women having the right to inherit property.
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Coming to Austin’s satire…You know what? If you have something to say, say it directly, straight to the face. You being indirect, makes your words actually not have as much of an impact as if you had been honest about it. I also hate Austin’s sense of humour. I perfectly understand it, but, I have never laughed at even a single moment in her works, which I know were intended to be funny. For example, people love to talk about how funny Mr. Collins is. The only emotion I feel, however, whenever Mr. Collins is on the page, is utter annoyance.
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Austin also has a very dry prose. She doesn’t know how to describe emotions, or something even slightly subjective in nature. We can’t tell what’s going on with any of characters, psychologically. In short, her works are like, food prepared with perfectly measured ingredients, missing salt or spices, which are what lend flavour to the food.
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She also has very long sentences, which are not at all accessible to a beginner of classics. Her writing feels like the language used for research projects, rather than a work of fiction. In a work of fiction, we need to cry bitter tears along with the characters, experience the pain that they are experiencing, feel happy when they are happy, feel our heart race when we think that danger is going to befall them, etc. Jane Austin’s works definitely don’t do those things!
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Austin also has something against women she thinks to be silly. For instance, lets consider the example of Mary Bennet. She’s plain, and to make up for it, she decides to be well-accomplished. How is her showcasing her accomplishments in singing, or playing the piano, something to laugh about? Her eagerness to display her skills, is a result of the discrimination and exclusion that she faced. How is it wrong for her to want to be noticed by others?
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Her romances are also not good. Darcy and Elizabeth have very minimal interactions. You can’t find one single scene where they had a deep, meaningful conversation, where they were open and vulnerable enough to share their personal problems with each other; before they fall in love. Darcy, at one moment remarks Elizabeth is not pretty, and thinks she is, the very next moment; and falls in love with her for it.
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In Emma, the love interest is most likely a pedophile. He knows Emma from a very young age, and him and Emma have an age-gap of almost 16 years. I also hate the idea that, women are imperfect, and need to be reformed by their perfect male partners, which is what Austin seems to say in Emma.
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In Mansfield Park, our saint of a heroin, Fanny, marries her cousin Edmund; who has been in love with another character, Mary Crofford, throughout the book. He has also been re-iterating throughout this book, how Fanny is like his sister. But, when thinks don’t work out for him with Mary Cromford, he settles for Fanny. How very romantic!
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Austin also doesn’t like women who are passionate, and love to openly express their emotions. In Sense And Sensibility, this can be seen clearly. Austin doesn’t want us to complain. We have to quietly endure everything that happens to us. If we even get sick, which is something we can’t control, we are silly.
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In Persuasion, Austin never seems to address the elitism faced by Wentworth. He’s shown as the one being in the wrong, for rightfully being angry and hurt over being rejected due to his social status. Why is he the one who has to make amends? He was the victim of elitism and snobbery, in this situation.
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Lastly, what issue does Austin have with the gothic genre? Why does she consider girls who read books from this genre as silly?
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In conclusion, I think we need to introduce more diverse authors into our curriculum. We need to study books with characters from all social backgrounds, so we can get to read the stories that really matter; and not limit them to the privileged sections of our society. What are your opinions on Jane Austin and her works? Let me know!
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