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Jane Austen's body of work delivers a nuanced understanding of life—especially as a woman, family dynamics, insights into the historical context of the period, and the social norms between men and women. For the last two decades, I have been fascinated by Austen’s diverse and massive fan following, scholars, and writers, and I love discovering why her words and characters still resonate with so many these two hundred years later. Once a month in 2024, I feature one Austen fan to offer their insights.
If you read Jane Austen fan fiction, you will recognize the name Heather Moll. She is one prolific writer who works tirelessly at her craft and self-promotion of her books. But honestly, I started following her when I started seeing her Twitter posts with amazing Georgian-era jewelry, linking to her blog. Then her gorgeous book covers caught my eye. The first book I read of Heather's, sometime in 2022, The Appearance of Goodness, had all the things I like in Austenesque novels: believable, familiar characters in unfamiliar situations, romantic tension, and a clever plot and character arc. Now, she is an automatic download to my kindle. And wasn't I thrilled when she agreed to give me her take on "Why we read and or write about Jane Austen!"—Christina Boyd
By Heather Moll
At first glance, it might seem strange that Jane Austen’s novels are relevant today. To some, her works seem to be about the importance of a young woman finding a husband. Our own value as women is still to some degree, measured by whether we are “settled”, as Austen might have said. So why read a book where the point is the woman is married at the end? This is a narrow view of what Austen’s novels are about, and what they actually say about women.
The reality for nineteenth-century women of Austen’s social class is they had few legal, educational, or economic rights. They went from being under the complete control of their fathers to merging their legal identities with their husbands. Married women did not even have an inherent right to custody of their own children. Yet marriage was often necessary to provide a woman with a roof over her head. Marriage was, as Charlotte Lucas thought, “the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.”
Legally, a married woman ceased to exist, yet marriage was a social and economic necessity—and could also bring lifelong misery if you chose poorly. A woman might stifle her personality and needs for her own home or to avoid living with an unwelcoming male relative. This doesn’t sound like the kind of female character we would want to read about. But Austen’s heroines are not ignorant and subservient, nor are they destined for unhappy marriages. They do not submit to men’s expectations. Instead, they defy them. Romantic interests, fathers, and societal expectations are all challenged, and sometimes even in the same conversation.
Elizabeth Bennet refuses Mr. Collins, who would have provided her with security, and her mother and sisters, too. Mr. Darcy and all his ten thousand pounds and status are also rejected, at least before he works on himself and comes to respect her and her family. Anne Elliot asserts herself when she declines to give up visiting her poor friend when her father expects her to join them in calling on the more illustrious Lady Dalrymple. Emma Woodhouse never shies from affirming her opinion to Mr. Knightly. Fanny Price, often considered a weak character, remains firm in defying her uncle Sir Thomas’s expectation that she marry Henry Crawford, even as she feels guilty about causing him pain.
Austen valued equality and compatibility between marriage partners. She may not be a feminist in the way we use the word today, but there is an aspect of female empowerment in her novels. The plots revolve around marriage—and securing a home—but mutual love and respect were necessary. In a time when the law would not treat you as an equal, Austen said a husband should love and respect his wife enough to treat her like an equal.
This is partly why I enjoy writing Austen variations—and reading the original novels, too. I like to write about Austen heroines taking any small grasp at agency over their own lives they can find. She writes fully realized female characters. They are not forgettable plot devices; they are not merely there to promote a viewpoint or to spur the hero’s journey. And they are never spiteful, unkind, or disrespectful while exercising their small amount of power—although I wouldn’t have minded if Elinor, Catherine, Fanny, or the others were rude in return for some of the boorish behavior they faced.
Austen women are rational creatures, or at least rational after being first misled by their imagination or by romance. They are the intellectual equals of the men they end up with, and that still resonates today. That’s just one of the reasons why I read Austen’s stories and write my own using her remarkable characters.
Why read two-hundred-year-old books that appear to spout outdated values? If you think her novels are about a woman getting married, you aren’t reading Austen closely enough. In Austen’s day, marriage was the only possible version of a woman’s happy ever after. Now we have many more paths to fulfillment, love, and security. And I think that would make Austen smile.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather Moll writes romantic variations of Jane Austen's classic novels. She is an avid reader of mysteries and biographies with a master's in information science. She found Jane Austen later than she should have and made up for lost time by devouring her letters and unpublished works, joining JASNA, and spending too much time researching the Regency era. She is the author of Rising Courage, An Affectionate Heart, Nine Ladies, and Loving Miss Tilney. She lives with her husband and son, and struggles to balance all the important things, like whether to clean the house or sit down and write.
Connect with Heather via Newsletter, website, Facebook, Instagram, Book Bub, Goodreads, and Twitter/X.
Check out her latest blog post for excerpt for her new release as well as an opportunity to win a signed paperback copy of My Dear Friend , Art of the Love Letter mini kit, and a black feather quill pen.
Insightful, Heather! Appreciated your thoughts on a favorite topic.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Austen, Heather! I agree that the marriage plot is a way for Austen to highlight her protagonists' strength -- and also their inherent right, as humans, to find and be with others who respect them as equals. Thanks, Heather and Christina!