| Nineteenth century novelist Jane Austen had the ability to develop her fictional characters' personalities to their fullest. It is possible to separate the female characters from her novels into groups according to traits, characteristics and actions. Universal inner patterns, also known as archetypes, have spanned thousands of years relatively unchanged. Six of the seven major archetypes put forth by Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen provide the platform for an analysis of the archetypal patterns of female characters in Austen's novels. The archetypes are based on the myths of the Greek goddesses developed in Greece more than three thousand years ago. Persuasion and Mansfield Park focus almost solely on one archetype for each main character. Tension occurs among the different archetypes for characters in Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility. |
