Ah, to have lived in Jane Austen’s era. The corsets, the pearls, the elocution lessons? All of it sounds utterly idyllic. Cross-stitch and croquet. There’s something other-worldly about Austen’s narrative style. Her protagonists possess all the ‘airs and graces’ demanded by ‘high society’. Yet, in between the cross-stitch and croquet, they all flaunt independence- a rarity in the 1600s. Austen’s heroines defy the submissive/ complacent expectations of women. The 1600s saw women at their homes. Keepers of their husband’s calendars and their children’s antics. Academic fluency was not, by any means, prioritized. French lessons so as to sound educated? Sure. But opinions and critical thought? Not so essential. Leave that to the men.
 
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