I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman’s inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman’s fickleness. But perhaps you will say, these were all written by men.
Jane Austen, Persuasion
How to blog about books without talking in depth about one of the greatest English-language writers ever to have picked up a pen? Jane Austen’s books have the reputation for being sappy, silly love stories, but I would argue that anyone who thinks that has never read a Jane Austen novel. Do the heroines find love? Yes. Without exception. Do women the world over watch the movie adaptations of Austen’s novels and swoon? Absolutely. But Jane Austen’s work is not the Regency-era equivalent of a Walmart clearance rack romance (that is probably titled something like The Millionaire’s Secret Love Child). Her books are thoughtful, funny, biting social commentary. They portray people in all their shades: the Busybody, the Cad, the Hypochondriac, the Wallflower, the Wet Blanket. More to the point, she writes women in all their variety. There’s no formula to an Austen woman. No type.
Now, I’ve seen just about every book blog have some sort of ranking of Jane Austen heroines. I wanted to do something similar, because I could talk about Austen all. day. long. But how do you rank characters who are so different? What’s the criteria? How are they judged?
It seems to me that ranking Austen’s female characters does them a disservice. I feel that ranking them is basically just a popularity contest. Of course everyone likes Elizabeth Bennett and Emma Woodhouse the best; they’re the most gregarious and confident of the set, and those are attributes that our current society prizes.
So, instead of “ranking” Austen’s heroines, I’m going to (briefly) tell you why I love each one and why I think she’s a strong character. This is going to be another two-parter, so come back next week for my take on the ladies I don’t get to today.
Fanny Price
That’s right. I’m starting with Fanny Price. Poor Fanny gets no love. I get it—Fanny’s kind of underwhelming. She’s got very little confidence, she’s a doormat for most of the book, she’s not super witty or clever (at least compared to some of Austen’s other characters), and she’s in love with her cousin (ew). But Fanny has some wonderful qualities that are often overlooked, especially by the other characters in Mansfield Park.
Fanny is described as useful. She is constantly there to read to or otherwise assist her Aunt Bertram and Aunt Norris, even though Aunt Norris is a hideously awful person. She knows that she’s not the most dazzling girl in the room; she’s not a Mary Crawford. She’s not wealthy, and we all know that wealth covers a multitude of Regency-era flaws. She’s not anything that is particularly valued by those around her, but she knows how to make herself useful. I think it’s beautiful that she carves a niche for herself in Mansfield Park, making the best of a challenging circumstance.
Fanny is an introvert. She doesn’t complain. She has a moral compass that leads her right every time. She stands her ground when the issue is important to her. Fanny Price deserves a lot more love than she sometimes gets from readers. If you’ve read Mansfield Park and you didn’t like her, I’d urge you to give her another chance. And if, by chance, you happen to be a movie director, would you please make an adaptation of Mansfield Park with a Fanny Price who is true to the actual book character? The movies are always trying to make Fanny wittier or sassier than she actually is. Fanny doesn’t need to be changed to be more palatable. Our society just needs to learn to appreciate different types of women.
Elinor Dashwood
Elinor Dashwood is, I think, another Austen lady who doesn’t get a ton of credit for being exceptional. Of her sisters, Elinor is the sensible, down-to-earth, no-nonsense one. While her family is dealing with the tragedy of her father’s passing and the reality that they’ll soon be forced from their home, Elinor is the one who keeps her head. Her mother keeps finding new houses that match their previous level of comfort, not their reduced financial circumstances. Her sisters Marianne and Margaret aren’t of much use. Elinor does the house hunting, the budgeting, arranges everything for their move. She does it all, and she does it with grace.
What I love about Elinor is that she never loses her cool, even when she would be within her rights to. Edward Ferrars leads her on and then disappoints her with zero explanation. Elinor then finds out that he’s been secretly engaged to some girl named Lucy Steele for a long time. Even as her heart breaks, Elinor is able to keep it together and hold her head up high.
If there’s one word, other than sensible or practical, that describes Elinor Dashwood, it’s dignified. She lives in a crummy cottage on a relative’s estate, she has to scrimp and save to get by, she faces the condescension of her obnoxious half-brother and sister-in-law, and she gets her heart broken. Through it all, Elinor never loses her dignity. I want to be like Elinor when I grow up.
Elizabeth Bennet
Everyone loves Elizabeth Bennett. Well, maybe not everyone, but I haven’t met the person yet who doesn’t think this spunky heroine is the coolest. Wouldn’t you love to be friends with Elizabeth? I would. She’s exactly the kind of girl who is popular now. She’s witty, outgoing, smart, and kind of sarcastic. She’s a good friend and a loyal sister. She is aware of her family’s deficiencies but loves them fiercely anyway.
But the thing that I love best about Elizabeth is that she never sells herself short. Elizabeth Bennett knows her worth. She doesn’t accept Mr. Collins’ offer of marriage, even as she’s pressured to by her mother. She knows that he won’t make her happy, and she’s not willing to endure misery for the sake of comfort. Nor does she accept Mr. Darcy right away. He’s better than Mr. Collins (after all, who isn’t), but his marriage proposal is so insulting that Elizabeth’s previous dislike is only increased. She’s not impressed by his 10,000 pounds a year (which, according to this blog’s reckoning, is equal to almost $900,000). She won’t marry a man who insults her and her family just because he’s got money. It’s only after he earns her good opinion and her love that she agrees to marry him.
She also stands her ground and doesn’t allow herself to be cowed by people of higher status. One of my favorite scenes in this book is when Lady Catherine shows up at the Bennetts’ home unannounced and chews Elizabeth out for the sin of being the object of a rumor that Darcy wants to propose to her. She is, if it’s possible, more insulting than Mr. Darcy was in his first proposal.
Says Lady Catherine: “If you were sensible of your own good, you would not wish to quit the sphere in which you have been brought up.”
And then Elizabeth comes right back at her with this zinger: “In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman’s daughter; so far we are equal.” Sure, the Bennetts don’t have as much money as Mr. Darcy, but Elizabeth doesn’t consider him to be so much above her. He is a gentleman. She is a gentleman’s daughter. In her eyes, she’s his equal. I love that.
One of the reasons I think Austen’s books are so popular with women is that we see ourselves reflected in these characters. While other authors write paper-thin archetypes or the omnipresent “strong female character” (gag), Jane Austen wrote women who breathe. What she wrote about the relationships between women, the way women think, the concerns of the women of that time, is so true to life, proving that Austen wasn’t just a good writer—she was a keen observer.
Next week, I’ll take a look at the rest of Jane Austen’s leading ladies: Emma Woodhouse, Catherine Morland, Anne Elliot, and Marianne Dashwood.
Happy Reading!
