A critical examination of three Jane Austen fragments and their bearing on her completed novels
Whereas the novels have been exhaustively treated, Jane Austen's fragments have suffered neglect. My thesis aims to help remedy this lack of critical emphasis. I examine three pieces from the early, middle and late periods of her life - Catherine or the Bower (1792), The Watsons (1804) and Sanditon (1817). By showing that Northanger Abbey was neither her first attempt at fiction nor Persuasion her last, I argue that a study of these fragments deepens our insight into her creative processes, showing some unexpected shifts of tone and emphasis not immediately apparent in the completed novels. Chapter I discusses the importance of Catherine or the Bower as an early essay in serious fiction, revealing an interest in certain themes, narrative devices and moral imperatives more subtly developed in her mature works. As the most accomplished of the juvenilia, it shows a move away from the epistolary mode and simple parody of Sentimental excesses towards an exploration of realistic social and economic conditions. I have examined this evolution of form and moral stance in her work, along with her use of spatial detail, and her thematic emphasis on meditation, the abuse of power and the efficacy of proper education. Chapter II considers The Watsons as another decisive point in her development as an artist. Grave in tone, the piece locates the heroine in circumstances harsher than those presented in the fiction hitherto. To stress the pain of poverty, loneliness and the prospect of spinsterhood, Jane Austen had to develop new techniques for conveying the thoughts and feelings of a heroine returning to uncongenial home life. Comedy is underplayed to give scope to a celebration of tranquillity and modesty that looks ahead to Mansfield Park, as does the concern with clerical duty. Chapter III focuses upon Sanditon. Coming after the tenderness of Persuasion, this fragment is disconcertingly robust. In its use of caricature, the device of mistaken identity and. mockery of unchecked imagination, it seems like a return to the juvenilia, but new artistic directions are clearly evident. Playing with motifs of speculation, novelty, hypochondria and uncontrolled energy (mental, physical and verbal), Jane Austen condemns the powerful forces of change that threaten traditional life and values. She is less concerned with tracing complex sentiment than with giving prominence to topographical details that stress the impact of change. The study has been conducted in terms of close analysis of passages stressing various thematic and technical concerns, with cross reference to the complete novels where this has seemed pertinent.
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Department of English Language and Literature