Subversion of Class and Gender Roles in Jane Austens Persuasion Essay

Subversion of Class and Gender Roles in Jane Austens Persuasion In Jane Austens Persuasion, Mrs. Croft makes and few appearances and delivers little dialogue. Nevertheless, Austen gives her significant narrative and thematic importance. Mrs. Croft provides a obstruct for several of the Elliots, while developing a commonality with the frequently ostracized Anne. This sequester between Mrs. Croft and Austens heroine valorizes Mrs. Crofts radical views concerning feminism and marriage. Beyond signifying a paradigm slip of paper in such social morals, though, the roles of full admiral and Mrs. Croft allow Austen to subvert the sovereign upper class culture. By exhibiting superior just genuine manners, by demonstrating the complacency of the dominant culture, and by exerting their own counterculture, Admiral and Mrs. Croft expose twain the foolishness and the artifice of their upper class acquaintances. Austen clearly contrasts Mrs. Croft with Sir Walter, Elizabet h and Mary, and therein reveals the selfish and impractical nature of luxury, saying, none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days (50). She admits to the confinement of a frigate, but notes that any reasonable woman may be perfectly adroit in one (50, italics mine). Meanwhile, Sir Walter cannot imagine life without journeys, London, servants, horses . . . (10), and, for Elizabeth, the sacrifice of one gallus of horses would be hardly less painful than of both (10). Mrs. Croft thus highlights the Elliots frivolousness. The Crofts also illustrate Sir Walters vanity, by moving his several looking glasses into storage, since Admiral Croft requires lone(prenominal) one. Similarly, Mrs. Croft exposes Marys self pity, allowing us to co... ...ne Elliot as worthy not only of the noble relations of their family, but also of the superior culture of the Crofts. work Cited and Consulted Austen, Jane. Persuasion. 1993. Ware, Herts Wordsworth, 1996. Craik, W. A. Jane A usten in her Time. London Nelson, 1969. DaDundo, Laura. Jane Austen Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography. Vol. III. Detroit Gale explore Inc., 1992. Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. Handbook to Literature. Upper Saddle River, N.J. Prentice Hall, 1986. Magill, Frank N., ed. English refreshful Richardson to Hardy. Pasadena Salem Softbacks, 1980. Southam, Brian. Jane Austen. British Writers. Vol. IV. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. refreshful York Scribners, 1981. Tanner, Tony. In Between Persuasion. Persuasion. By Jane Austen. Ed. Patricia Meyers Spacks. New York Norton and Co., 1995.