A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Gender in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma

This thesis explores the ways in which gendered language related to love and marriage can illuminate aspects concerning the themes of love and marriage in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma. A literature review has been provided in order to support the investigations conducted in this thesis, and it summarises the areas of gendered language which have been selected for analysis. In the subsequent sections, a study of the data collected with the use of the application WordSmith focuses on the ways in which patterns of gendered language uttered by various characters highlight fundamental features of different ages and classes. Key elements of age and class differences were uncovered, with extremely varying perspectives on love and marriage by the older generations and those of the higher upper classes, as opposed to the younger generations and members of lower positions in society. A reading of the two novels together has allowed for a wide analysis of Austen’s themes across...Show moreThis thesis explores the ways in which gendered language related to love and marriage can illuminate aspects concerning the themes of love and marriage in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma. A literature review has been provided in order to support the investigations conducted in this thesis, and it summarises the areas of gendered language which have been selected for analysis. In the subsequent sections, a study of the data collected with the use of the application WordSmith focuses on the ways in which patterns of gendered language uttered by various characters highlight fundamental features of different ages and classes. Key elements of age and class differences were uncovered, with extremely varying perspectives on love and marriage by the older generations and those of the higher upper classes, as opposed to the younger generations and members of lower positions in society. A reading of the two novels together has allowed for a wide analysis of Austen’s themes across her works, and it has led to the discovery of interesting parallels between Pride and Prejudice and Emma.Show less

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A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Gender in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma