"A Maneuvering Business" Courtship, Family, and Marriage in Novels of Manners

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Wallace, Miriam

Keywords

Domestic Fiction, Novels of Manners, Marriage, Family, Courtship, 18th Century, Feminism, Austen, Jane

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

This thesis uses three eighteenth-century novels � Maria Edgworth' s Belinda, Frances Burney's Camilla, and Jane Austen's Mansfield Park -- to examine the role of domestic fiction in the education, entertainment, and social culture of women. I evaluate the roles of .women as readers and writers of novels as well as critics of the dominant social system. I examine the function of the proper heroine and the story of courtship as a means for educating young female readers not only about the importance of making a good marriage, but as a way to emphasize self-knowledge, propriety, prudence, and domestic happiness. In addition to my three main texts, I utilize Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile, Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women, and Ruth Bernard Yeazell' s Fictions of Modesty as tools for my research.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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