Persuasion (Historical Context)

Historical Context

Sentimental Novel

The sentimental novel was a popular form of fiction in England at the end of the eighteenth century. This type of fiction focuses on the problems encountered by virtuous men and women as they strive to lead exemplary lives. By the end of the novel, characters who displayed a sense of honor and behaved in a moral fashion were able to solve their problems and regain a sense of order in their world. The didactic plot promoted accepted standards of morality, encouraging readers to believe that such behavior would be justly rewarded in time. Characters in these novels did not check their emotions, which suggested their benevolence and compassion. The most well-known example of this genre is Samuel Richardson's Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, published in 1740, which chronicled the life of the title character, a servant girl who survived continuous assaults on her honor. Other novels in this genre include Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield (1776), Mackenzie's The Man of Feeling (1771), and Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent (1800). Austen broke from this form in her novels, which concentrate on realistic depictions of the tensions between her heroines and their society.

A Woman's Place

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, women were confined to the classes into which they were born, unless their fathers or husbands moved up or down in the social hierarchy. The strict rules for each social class defined the women and their lives. Women in the upper classes had the leisure to educate themselves; however, they, like their counterparts in the lower classes, were not expected to think for themselves and were not often listened to when they did. Urges for independence and self-determination were suppressed in women from all classes. The strict social morality of the period demanded that women exhibit the standards of polite femininity, culminating in the ideals of marriage and motherhood. Jane Austen's novels both reflect and challenge the period's attitudes toward women. Her heroines must operate within the confines of the middle class, yet their quick minds and independent spirits make them yearn for at least a measure of autonomy. Brian Southam, in his article on Austen for British Writers, comments that each of Austen's heroines must "practice the morality of compromise and discover her own way of accepting the demands of society while preserving the integrity of her own values and beliefs."

Social Revolution

Austen's novels describe how British society was divided at the end of the eighteenth century into three classes: the aristocracy, the gentry, and the yeoman class. Yet, the revolutionary fervor at the end of this century and the beginning of the next, exemplified by the American and French revolutions, was seeping into the social fabric of England. During this period, class distinctions began to relax and to be redefined. As the lower-middle classes became more prosperous, they began to emulate their social "betters," as did the landed gentry of the upper-middle class. The middle classes became absorbed with a cultivation of the "proper" manners, dress, and décor practiced by the aristocracy.