The Pursuit Of Happiness In The Imaginary World:Romanticism And Utopian Complex In Jane Austen’s Persuasion

Jane Austen (1775-1817) is one of the greatest novelists in English literature. During her short life, she only composes six complete novels Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion, and leaves behind three fragmentary books, Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon, yet for about two hundred years, she and almost all of her works have been studied by scholars at home and abroad repeatedly from various angles and perspectives, especially feminist viewpoint, through which she is regarded as the one of the most important pioneers in the English realistic novel. As a great writer in the Romantic Age, she is also marked on with the prominent characteristics of the time. After a critical reading of her works, the author of this thesis finds that Austen does carry some typical attributes of the Romantic Age in her novels, especially in Persuasion, and these attributes are exquisitely interwoven with her utopian complex.From the perspectives of Romanticism and utopian complex, and by analyzing Jane Austen’s personal life, this thesis attempts to discuss why she develops utopian complex, and how she exquisitely weaves the attributes of Romanticism with her utopian complex in her creation of Persuasion, in which she sets out to probe into the nature of happiness and self-fulfillment for herself and women like her in the patriarchal society.This thesis firstly gives brief introduction to the writer and the novel, presents the purpose and significance of this study. Then it will expound the notions of Romanticism and Utopia. Through analyzing Jane Austen’s relation with some of the Romantic poets, this thesis tries to probe into the possibility of her combining Romanticism attributes and utopian complex in Persuasion. Thirdly, the author of this thesis explores in detail the Romanticism attributes---rature, melancholy and imagination---and how they are woven with Austen’s utopian complex. There are many descriptions of natural scenes and the affluent natural imageries in Persuasion, which reflects that Austen, like many great Romantic Poets, is very sensitive to Nature. However, Austen deciphers the "book" of nature in a utopian way and governs the life of her characters by the principle which is based on her utopian reflection on Nature. The whole book is also shadowed with the mood of dense melancholy, which is another characteristic of the Romantic Age, and Austen turns to imagination, the technique of Utopia and attribute of Romanticism, for the cure of the melancholy bereavement or suffering of her characters, and finally brings her novel a happy ending as her usual arrangement. This thesis also analyzes the relation between utopian complex and Austen’s portrait of character and arrangement of the plot. In Persuasion, Austen creates an ideal heroine Anne Elliot, and arranges a happy reunion by removing all interferences. Such portrait and arrangement are the results of her utopian complex and her reflection on nature, which, in turn demonstrates the influence of Romantic Age and utopian complex on her writing.Based on the above analysis, this thesis comes to the conclusion that Jane Austen, as a woman in the patriarchal society, cannot find her happiness and satisfaction in her real world, therefore she creates work like Persuasion by combining utopian complex and Romanticism attributes together, to find refuge and to pursue happiness for herself, and women like her in the18th century.