There was a numerous family: Jane Austen's re-appropriation of the population debate

Abstract

This thesis examines Austen’s works in the light of the population debate and the socioeconomic theories that were dominant at the time. The operation of charity and benevolence, the Darwinian competition for husbands, and the extension of landed estates provide a triangular framework within which Austen’s major novels – and in certain cases her lesser works – are read as re-appropriating or criticizing the prevailing socioeconomic and philosophical theories.The preachings of Malthus, Smith, Godwin, and others are integrated into this work where it is suggested that the way Austen re-writes their concerns is to a great extent gender –based. The perfectibility of mankind looked forward to by Enlightenment philosophers is seen transformed by Austen into the issue of the cultivation and improvement of marriageable females and the attempt of the genteel society to affect the lives of others through moral improvement.Austen’s faith in the role of the gentry is also presented as providing the answer to the socio-economic issues that troubled her contemporaries. In that light, Malthus’ charitable practices are sidestepped by Austen’s implacably conservative treatment of charity not as a social or economic adjunct, but as a further reflection of a properly conducted elite stewardship. This thesis therefore hopes to show that whereas Malthus, Smith and Godwin all turned their attention firmly to the future, Austen harks back to an idealized pastoral image of England in which paternalistic and benevolent landowners maintain moral and aesthetic order.Although there are instances in Austen’s works which could lead one to detect sparks of radicalism, Austen remains conservatively inclined and decidedly backward-looking. She clings to the traditions seen as antithetical to the new ideas of progress, and she creates a historically specific strategy that embodies within itself a polemical resistance to all forms of Utopianism.

Η διατριβη εξεταζει τα εργα της Jane Austen κατω απο το πρισμα της δημοσιας συζητησης για το πληθυσμιακο καθως και των κοινωνικο-οικονομικων θεωριων που κυριαρχουσαν στα τελη του 18ου αιωνα. Η αναγνωση των εργων της Austen γινεται μεσα σε ενα τριγωνικο πλαισιο που αποτελειται απο τηε λειτουργια των πραξεων φιλανθρωπιας, τον δαρβινικο ανταγωνισμο για το τελειο συζυγο και το θεμα της επεκταση της κτηματικης περιουσιας. Οι θεωριες των Malthus, Smith, Godwin και αλλων ενσωματονονται στην αναλυση οπου προτεινεται οτι ο τροπος που η Austen ενστερνιζεται τις ανησυχιες τους βασιζεται κατα κυριο λογο σε θεματα φυλου.