Letters and Correspondence in Austens Emma Essay -- Jane Austen

Letters and Correspondence in Austens EmmaEmma as the next step in the epistolary novelJane Austens novel Emma was written at a time when the epistolary novel had just passed its peak (Cousineau, 32). Not only do letters and correspondence feature heavily in the novel, moreover according to April Alliston, elements characteristic of novels of womens correspondence recur in Austen (221). Some examples of these elements that Alliston provides are the existence of young marriageable heroines deceased mothers, or threatening ones which, in Austens novels, have become merely negligent and substitute mothers who pass advice on to the daughter (221).As epistolary novels were comprised entirely of letters, early novelists could assert the false truth of their work rather than label it as fiction (Cousineau, 28). However, one disadvantage to this practice is that artefacts such as letters are inscribed in doubleness and contradiction (Cousineau, 14). Letters serve as a medium between the le tter-writers and the reader, a medium which has the potential to warp the truth according to the private and apart(p) whims of the writers. By adopting an omniscient narration of her characters thoughts instead, Austen focussed the readers gaze on the private space from which the heroine gazes out, thus fixing her more squarely in its warning(a) frame than letter fiction ever could (Alliston, 234). Although this method of narration sacrifices the documentary status that eighteenth century fiction strove to achieve (Alliston, 236), Austens novels allow us to see directly into a characters thoughts. This both promises a more reliable version of truth by enabling the reader to view a characters genuine motivation, an... ...aults Correspondences in Eighteenth-Century British and French Womens Fiction. Stanford, California Stanford University Press, 1996. 219-241.Austen, Jane. Emma. New York Oxford University Press Inc., 2003.Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Hertfordshire Wordswort h Editions, 1997.Cousineau, Diane. Letters and the Post major power Epistolary Exchange in Jane Austens Emma. Letters and Labyrinths. Cranbury, NJ Associated University Press, 1997. 13-51.Knoepflmacher, U. C. 2. The Importance of Being Frank Character and Letter-Writing in Emma. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 1967. JSTOR 7 April 2007. Wheeler, David. The British Postal Service, Privacy, and Jane Austens Emma. South Atlantic Review, 1998. JSTOR. 7 April 2007.