Getting Back to the Essence of Jane Austen

When it comes to Jane Austen people are either die hard fans, Janeites, or scoff at her literature.  While fawning over Mr. Darcy can be fun, Jane Austen is an innovator and creator.  If she is to be taken seriously as a writer we must recognize what she has done for the novel and literature in general.  +Shelly Jebe hopefully this is helpful for you.

1.  It wasn't until 1995-99 when the Jane Austen mania began to explode in Hollywood.  Now many people are all familiar with Jane Austen's novels because of the on-screen adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Emma.  These stories, are for the most part, are viewed as trivial and left to women to read.  If a man were to read a Jane Austen novel what would we think about him?  But Austen's books have affected many.  In 1926 Rudyard Kipling wrote "The Janeites" which focuses on soliders after the war.  What is interesting is seeing their views on how Jane Austen novels helped them during the war http://www.jasna.org/membership/janeites.html. Usually when we think of Austen, we think of girls hoping for a love like Lizzy and Mr. Darcy, but in this short story it focuses on Jane Austen's ability to reach all sexes.  Her writing can civilize even the strongest of men.  It is quite funny but really hits on some important topics.

2.  Susan Zlotnick's critque on Northanger Abbey titled, "From Involuntary Object to Voluntary Spy: Female Agency, Novels, and the Marketplace in Northanger Abbey", also goes in depth showing how brilliant of a writer she actually was.  Northanger Abbey was one of her first novels, and at such a young age she still managed to write a satrical novel criticizing soceity and other gothic writers during her time.  Also recognizing that one of her greatest contributions to the novel was free indirect discourse.  This technique alone changed the way novels were written. +Shelly Jebe if you can't access this article let me know and I will find another way to get to it.  https://learningsuite.byu.edu/plugins/Upload/fileDownload.php?fileId=d0f447e9-HlX8-q0tP-SmWW-pw69a3278be5

I hope that these two things can help strengthen your argument and show that Jane Austen was more than a romantic writer, she was an idealist who contributed powerful writing techniqes that expanded the power of the novel.