From villain to anti-hero: the evolution of Jane Austen's unworthies

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1973
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Abstract
Jane Austen's novels portray the movement of a heroine toward marriage. For Austen, marriage indicates the heroine's achievement of the individuality and social maturity prerequisite to a happy and productive adult life. In each of the novels, at some point before the heroine finally chooses or accepts her husband-to-be, she consciously rejects a male character, often another suitor, who has failed to manifest the characteristics of mind and manner which are demanded not only by the heroine, but also through implication, by the moral background of the novel. Chief among these male characters variously described as villains, rakes, triflers and flirts are John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility, George Wickham in Pride and I>Pejudiae, Henry Crawford in Mansfield Park, and Frank Churchill in Emma. The role played by John Thorpe in Northange~ Abbey, and William Walter Elliot in Persuasion, is somewhat similar to that of the other "unworthy" male characters, but Thorpe and Elliot lack their significance and impact and are more incidental and episodic figures in terms of total relevance to their novels than even John Willoughby of Sense and Sensibility~who is the most stereotyped of the four unworthies. An examination of the central novels in chronological order reveals a definite change and development in the presentation of the "unworthy" male character. Although Willoughby, Wickham, Crawford and Churchill perform structural and thanatic functions which are roughly similar in their respective novel~, the consistency, the depth and the subtlety with which they are drawn become, more and more, an indication of Austen's increasing and maturing artistic ability. There is a striking change from a stereotyped presence of evil with characteristics of the scoundrel bordering on criminal to a man who, instead of showing the dignity and power expected of the gentleman he appears, is revealed to be simply trifling and flirtatious. The evolution from Willoughby to Churchill is one from wickedness to mere foolishness. This development is as much the evidence as it is the product of Austen's growing skill.
Description
Bibliography: p. 119-122.
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Citation
Donahoe, P. J. (1973). From villain to anti-hero: the evolution of Jane Austen's unworthies (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/19321