Jane Austen was a satirist – why isn't she treated like one?
12 days ago
- #Satire
- #Women Writers
- #Jane Austen
- Jane Austen's works are filled with gentle satire and irony, targeting characters like Sir Walter Elliot and Isabella.
- Women writers like Austen, Frances Burney, and Eliza Haywood are often excluded from histories of satire despite their satirical works.
- Satire is traditionally defined as attacking vice or folly with wit, but this definition is often coded in masculine language.
- Austen and other women writers used satire to critique patriarchal society and challenge assumptions about women's roles.
- Examples of women's satire include Jane Collier's 'The Art of Ingeniously Tormenting' and Eliza Haywood's 'The Parrot'.
- Charlotte Brontë also employed satire, dedicating 'Jane Eyre' to Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair'.
- Women's satire often uses subtle critique rather than violent attacks, as seen in Austen's characters like Elizabeth Bennet.
- Virginia Woolf noted Austen's laughter at the world, highlighting the subtlety of her satire.