Jane Austen, one of the most celebrated authors of the eighteenth century is still admired and idolized for her distinguished contributions to English literature. Although it has already been more than two centuries since she breathed her last, Austen continues to hold a secure position among the galaxy of the world's most distinguished writers. Incidentally it was only after her death that her true identity was unveiled and thus ensued an exceptional odyssey wherein she was acknowledged as one among the most erudite and revered writers in English history. When alive, she had been publishing her works anonymously under the pen name, 'A Lady'.
'A single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife' and thus begins the story of Austen's timeless classic, 'Pride and Prejudice'. This very first sentence of the iconic novel is refuted in the next sentence where it is clearly mentioned that it was usually not men but the families of the girls who actually scouted for affluent officers to get their daughters married. Austen's novels generally explore the significance of human relationships, particularly unearthing the stature of marriage on women's lives. Her other works like 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Mansfield Park' and others also facilitate incisive and fairly profuse insights of the eighteenth century British gentry and social nuances.
Sense and Sensibility deals with the Dashwood sisters who had been equipped with adequate sensibility and subtlety. To put it simply, the novel reiterates that it is wise to behave sensibly but it is also quite dangerous to be subjected to excesses of sensibility. The novel favours sense more than sensibility. Austen explores the complications of choices, social pressures and conventions of property and inheritance through this novel.
Jane Austen's works have always been intriguing and fascinating. All her books have been branded as perennial paragons. Many of her novels like 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Emma', 'Mansfield Park' have already been chronicled into movies. She is legendary in a true sense as she had introduced unprecedented thoughts/trains in English literature. She is indeed one among the feisty woman writers of that bygone era who has etched her credentials in golden letters for forever.
By: Prapti Bhuyan
Bsc Hons Agriculture
Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat
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