Changes Of English Social Classes In Jane Austen's Later Works

In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an outstanding female writer in the history of English literature, who created the first group of universally acknowledged English realistic novels. Though most critics accused her novels of the narrowness of the literary vision and the world, her works were a microcosm of the English society of her time, and truly revealed the English social realities. The present study focuses on Austen's six complete works, mainly using theories of feminism, Marxism and postcolonialism, to probe the social-historical connotations of her works. This thesis is an attempt to reveal changes of social values of England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Austen's later three mature novels----Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1818) and Persuasion (1818), in the new perspective--- changes of social classes. Due to the influence of social-historical environment, Austen's later works mirror changes of concepts of traditional social values, such as moral, marriage, profession, estate, in the context of the decline of the upper class, the rise of the middle class and the development of the woman.The first part is about the English social background of Austen's day and its influence on her works. In her time, such events as Industrial Revolution, French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars had a great impact on English society and life. An attempt is made to analyze the background of English society and its influence on Austen's later three works from three aspects:economic realities, social history, and changes of the English social classes.The second part discusses the decline of the upper class in Austen's later novels. With the change of the English social structure and economic basis in the early nineteenth century, the feudal landowners gradually lost their superiority, were replaced by the rise of the bourgeoisie. The shaking of traditional concepts of morals, the hereditary system and the marriage of the upper class are all embodied in Austen's later works. The rise of the middle class in Austen's later works is discussed in the third part. English Industrial Revolution and French Wars brought about the flourishing of the trade and the rise of the navy. Due to the rise of the bourgeoisie, the traditional concepts of profession and estate changed. Tradesman is not a kind of contemptible profession, but a promising one. The traditional estate gradually lost its attraction.The last part presents changes of women's social status in Austen's later novels. Woman was not considered inferior, but equal to man in intelligence and sensibility. The harmonious matrimony must be founded on love and mutual respect. With the collapse of the old order, the function of women in the family gradually weakens, thus women should fulfill social function as "rational creatures".Based on the analysis above, this thesis concludes that, Jane Austen, as an outstanding realistic writer, always secured the lasting place in the history of English literature. Up to today, her novels have been translated into more than thirty languages, and adapted into TV series and films, which appeal to each generation.