CREATIVE WRITING

As we celebrate 250 years since Jane Austen was born, Helen Stockton looks at what 21st-century writers can learn from the great 19th-century novelist

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and there are events planned to mark this special occasion. Most people have encountered Jane Austen’s writing, via TV and film adaptations as well as by reading her books, and her work continues to have a lasting appeal across the generations. Some writers have used her work to directly inspire fresh books that adapt or extend the original premise and content of her novels. However, there are some things that every writer can learn from her writing so let’s consider some of her strengths.

USE OF HUMOUR AND SATIRE

One of the things we enjoy in Jane Austen’s writing is her humour. And although she undoubtedly intends to make the reader smile, her humour serves a satirical purpose. She is exposing the foolishness of some of her characters, and the societal norms within which they navigate their lives, in order to make a point. The famous opening lines of arguably her most popular novel, Pride and Prejudice, gives us a good example of this: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

This encapsulates, in a humorous way, one of the key themes of the book, the demands of her contemporary society, that women must marry for financial and social advantage and security. In her portrayal of the clergyman Mr Collins, Jane Austen depicts a foolish, ill-educated man who varies between self-pride and cringing humility. She invites us to laugh at him. However, Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte, a sensible but plain young woman, accepts Mr Collin’s marriage proposal, whilst clearly aware of his deficiencies, to secure a comfortable home and a position in society. Whilst Elizabeth despairs of her friend, wider society applauds her advantageous match. Jane Austen is clearly using humour not just to entertain, but to make a point.