Reading clearly: Jane Austen’s heroines’ ability to read

Abstract

Through my in depth analysis and close reading of Northanger Abbey and Emma I had discerned a connection between the reading abilities of Jane Austen’s heroines’ and their success. I have found that Austen does this in numerous ways which ingrain this message into almost every aspect of these texts. Comparison of these dissimilar heroines’ brings to light their unlikely parallels and uncovers the ways in which they both need to improve their reading. The complexities afforded to each of the texts is vast and therefore Austen embedded this message, of the importance of reading skills, into every single aspect of this novel from grammatical choices to narrative. The ending of each of Austen’s novels correlate the acquisition of knowledge and overall development of the heroine to romantic success. Austen utilizes her literary mastery in order to precisely illustrate that this was an active choice for the heroines’ as they now have the proper skills to choose effectively. ¶

In my close reading and literary analysis of both novels Northanger Abbey and Emma by Jane Austen, as well as the evaluation of secondary sources, I have been able to draw the understanding that a heroine’s romantic success is predicated on her deductive reasoning as well as her interpersonal reading capabilities. Once a heroine attains these proper skills she will find her final success. Following my research and analysis of these two novels I would ask if this theory can also be applied to Austen’s other heroine’s? Are reading skills as imperative in Austen’s other novels, where the heroine is not stereotypically a bad reader, such as Elizabeth Bennet. Or when the heroine is much more uncomfortable in her surroundings such as Fanny Price. Do the reading skills of these heroines’ affect their eventual outcomes? (from Conclusion).