Jane Austen’s Negotiation

Jane Austen is a great female novelist in English literature at the turn of the19th century. In her short life, she has created six complete novels and left behind three fragments. Although unknown when alive, Jane Austen’s influence during the last two centuries is far and wide. She is regarded as one of the greatest and best-loved novelists in the English literature.Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last novel, being regarded as her most mature work, is a novel of profound thought and intense passion. It was created during the Regency period, the transitional period when serious social tension became acute. The thesis attempts to disclose the interaction between Persuasion and its historical context by applying the theories of New Historicism, especially the New Historicist dictum of "historicity of text and textuality of history". First of all it tries to present the writer’s creative intention of the novel from the perspective of New Historicism; secondly, it analyzes the influence of the historical context on Persuasion, especially the social mobility at the turn of19th century, that is well represented and depicted in the novel; thirdly, it traces the inverse impetus of Persuasion on the society and history in terms of novel and cultural significance. On the other hand, the novel also manifests textual nature and subjectivity of history as well as the historicity of the text reflected by historical events and figures. Finally, the analysis produces a conclusion that Persuasion is the art of negotiation between historical context and the writer. Jane Austen not only complies with the history, but participates in the construction of history as well.