Scene:

The concluding scene in a play, all characters are in a carriage heading to the deemed “ultimate” Jane Austen heroine’s home.

 

Characters:

Emma Woodhouse                              Catherine Morland

Fanny Price                                         Charlotte Heywood

Emma Watson

 

The scene begins in medias res, all the ladies are huddled together in a carriage, debating and discussing a topic Catherine brought up after reading one of her favorite novels, that topic being what a heroine looks like in a novel. All the ladies have ideas and thoughts on the topic and want to share it with the rest of the group…

 

Emma: I must have drifted for a slight moment, what was it again little Catherine decided to ask us? I’m sure it was the best of questions.

Catherine: Oh, well thank you Emma, yes I was just describing the most amazing of novels I had just finished and I feel it is only necessary we discuss what it means to be a true heroine in a novel.

Emma Watson: Well really, being a heroine could mean many things.

Emma: I swear Emma we have the same name but are just so differing in our views. Of course it is absolutely necessary to know that there is in fact only one true definition of a heroine.

Fanny: And what would that be?

Emma: Oh Fanny, truly one must know it themselves, this isn’t the sort of topic that can be taught.

Catherine: Well of course it has to be a strong woman.

Emma: Indeed. A strong independent woman.

Charlotte (chuckling once Emma remarks “independent”): Why independent? The point of a heroine is to learn how to believe in herself, to have battles she must go through herself, she could always use someone to help guide her so she isn’t alone.

Catherine: Exactly! A heroine’s life must have obstacles and there must be some sympathy from friends for her when she goes through those.

Emma: There will be no such sympathies. If a woman struggles she isn’t the heroine. If I created a novel myself I wouldn’t write myself to have struggles and naturally I would be the heroine.

Fanny (who had this entire time been observing the situation, trying to find the perfect opportunity to step in): Well maybe a heroine needs to be both, she needs to be strong but only strong enough that she is still capable of making mistakes so that she can learn from them.

Catherine: Yes preciously, and those obstacles are necessary. There needs to be adventure and seeking out. If I could only find the page I was reading to share with you all. It cannot be enough to simply put yourself as the heroine, my apologies to go against your point Emma, but really it is to particular what you are suggesting.

Fanny: Particularity wouldn’t allow for growth and mistakes.

Emma: A heroine learns but there is few mistakes which is why you ladies need my help in better understanding this.

Catherine: My novel explains it in so few words, the heroine is depicted as she should be; a young lady who is learning and figuring out life, just as the five of us are. We struggle but we find our way and in so doing that, we become the hero’s of our own life which is really all that one can ask for. By making mistakes we prove we are humans, we get sympathy from our friends, oh Emma, dear Emma, have sympathy on yourself and then you will see.

Emma: That does seem fair enough, I am beginning to see what the fuss was about you were saying involving the novel. Though I still cannot be completely sure.

Emma Watson: It does indeed seem fairly interesting and agreeable.

Charlotte: And indeed less troublesome for us all to begin to agree. The qualities seem to be what any young lady could wish for in and for herself.

Fanny (who stays quiet and doesn’t say anything smiles in approval with the other young ladies)

Catherine: Don’t you all see now, we are the ladies of our own stories, just like the heroines, oh isn’t wonderful. We are just like the heroines in the novels I pick up and cannot put down, we are reading and learning what it means to be the female hero.

 

Just as Catherine was concluding her thought the carriage pulls up into Northanger Abbey. The women get out and arm in arm begin walking into the house, Catherine in the middle of the bunch, proud that she now knows she herself was the heroine of the carriage ride, just as the young lady character was proud being the heroine in the novel Catherine had just finished the night before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part II: Reflection

 

Having the opportunity to study and focus on one author this semester was a reading and learning experience, excluding Shakespeare, I had never done before. Reading fantastic novels and manuscript works was great, but what I really took away from this class was getting to know an author, see patterns, understand choices, this being why I chose to focus my final project on Jane Austen as a novelist, in particular her choices when creating a heroine in her novel.

There are many repeating and signifying moments in Jane Austen’s writing that make her stand out as a writer. Her humor is sharp and quick-witted, her characters fully developed to the point her readers either love or hate them, however one inconsistency I noticed as we read all these novels and works was that of Austen’s heroines. There seems to be a deliberate difference between all of her characters and each, although given the same title, are so different and unique within themselves, there is no indication that one would be similar to the other. This was where my idea came in on how I wanted to portray the big question of; what it means to be a Jane Austen heroine. I thought, what better way to depict the differences and uniqueness of each heroine, than to put them all together in one setting. There is a fantastical aspect about doing this, but what I hoped, and what I feel I have been able to show, is when the characters are side by side, it becomes clear how each individually fits into the role of a heroine.

To understand my thought process even more clearly while doing this project, it was important for me to have an understanding of what a heroine is, that way I could dive deeper into my topic question of not only what a heroine is, but specifically a Jane Austen one at that. A heroine simply put, is a female hero in literature, hence why the word “hero” is in heroine. Heroines possess admirable, noble, specific qualities that make them stand out amongst the rest of the female characters in the novels. In some of Austen’s novels, such as Emma it is obvious who the heroine is; Emma Woodhouse. In other of her novels it becomes clear Austen is making choices on who she wants to portray as her heroine and this was another aspect that interested me and made me want to choose this project; to better understand the role these women roles play in the novels and how that makes them representative of a heroine itself.

The most creative and enjoyable aspect of this project was choosing where I wanted these heroines to meet. I knew they needed to all be together with no distractions so I began thinking about where Austen would possibly situate them if she herself was partaking in this project. Some of my favorite scenes throughout the novels and works involved carriages. I first encountered this type of scene in Northanger Abbey. Catherine was in a carriage going from Bath to Northanger Abbey and there is a specific moment where everything in the novel feels like it has stopped and only Catherine Morland’s eyes have movement. Catherine taking in nature and all her surroundings, looking out the carriage window is almost poetic and Austen makes me as a Romantic lover, very proud. Another scene that was one of my favorites was in Emma. Emma is in the carriage and Mr. Elton appears to confess his love to her. The entire exchange and interaction is hilarious and it was one (of the few) moments where I loved the character of Emma and the work Austen was doing with her. The two examples made me realize once again how different these two female roles are, but also where I wanted my setting to be; in a carriage. The confinement of the carriage allowed the characters to talk without interruption but also represented this sort of movement that I wanted to capture in this project. It wasn’t until I finished Part I of the project that I realized how I wanted to end the scene, that being for the carriage to arrive at the heroine’s house that proved to be the “ultimate” Jane Austen heroine. In order to do this I made the creative aspect of this project the ending scene of a play. In doing this I was really able to familiarize myself with each heroine and allow for her voice and personality to shine through. I also knew I wanted the ladies to discuss what it was I was searching for in this project; what is means to be a heroine. By the ladies all discussing this question, I hoped, and believe I was able to see all more clearly who the “winner” was so to speak, of this carriage ride.

One of the difficulties I had when completing this project, besides the obvious of getting into the heads and personalities of the characters, was not allowing my prejudice’s to get in the way of deciding who was the ultimate heroine. I had a clear favorite character and novel and I struggled with not allowing her to win by default of my love for her, that being Fanny Price. I knew that although she was my favorite, Fanny wasn’t going to win. As unbelievably great as she is, when looking at all of them together in the carriage, it became so clear it couldn’t be her. She is a heroine but a very unique one. Her reliability is accurate but there wasn’t any overall clear-cut achievements and indicators that would make her the ultimate. I do want to note however, how much work Austen is doing with this character. She is such a bright and sympathetic character but I feel that that sympathy readers have for her can overshadow some of the main indicating points of being a good heroine. Fanny sometimes didn’t even feel like the main female character. That left Emma Woodhouse and Catherine Morland. I did include the other two female heroines from Austen’s manuscript works; Emma Watson and Charlotte Heywood, however due to the little shown and given of their characters, the other two novel heroines made more sense for me in showing how they are heroines. I weighed the pros and cons of both of these characters. Emma is a powerhouse and she does learn and grow as a character in regards to the mistakes she makes. Catherine is also a more subtle example of a female powerhouse. She pushes the novel for her own agenda to get to the bottom of whatever it is she is after. I think there is a clear indication however with these two characters. Catherine is a likable character from the beginning. She is given opportunities and she uses those opportunities to try and attempt good. Yes, she was in her own world at time but that didn’t stop her from trying to do right and make good decisions. She was actually concerned when it came to General Tilney and there was a lot of good in her character. Readers sympathize with her and her character does grow so much. Emma’s character grows as well but from a very different standpoint. Emma is awful at times and also selfish. She wants things to go according to her plan, her father admitting this himself in regards to her setting people up. She does learn and grow from her mistakes but there isn’t nearly as much sympathy with her character in my reading. I think Austen tried and succeeded in making Emma a character readers can be unsure about sometimes, not just in reliability but in awareness and decision-making. As difficult as it was for me to pick between these two, ultimately the carriage ends up at Northanger Abbey. I think Austen was doing so much with Catherine’s character in regards to being a heroine and her character really defines what it means to be one, but with an Austen twist to it. She felt to me a mix of Fanny and Emma’s best qualities combined. There was so much work that Austen put into all of these characters but Catherine’s character felt the most worked on in regards to representing that heroine definition, this being also evident on what the story is surrounded with, the Gothic novel.

This project was not only enjoyable but really allowed me to take away a better and deeper understanding of what it means to look specifically at one authors works all together. It was a unique experience and one that made me really come to appreciate what it means to write novels. I look forward to reading the remaining two novels, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion to see how this depiction and style Austen is allowing her readers to see to really shine through completely.