Moral education in Jane Austen's fiction : the influence of Dr. Johnson

Abstract

In my thesis I examine Jane Austen s indebtedness to her predecessor Samuel Johnson. I attempt to establish moral affinity between these two authors by analysing Austen s novels in the light of the concept of moral education, i.e. how some characters go through a moral process by which they come to see the world and themselves clearly and thereby become better human beings. In so doing I show how Austen utilizes themes and ideas developed in the Rambler, Idler and Adventurer essays. The various chapters explore Johnsonian concepts such as self-deception, self-knowledge, selfishness and fortitude and their bearing on Austen s six major novels. More specifically, I discuss the moral message in Pride and Prejudice, the concept of imagination in Emma and Northanger Abbey, and I compare Austen s and Johnson s views on the novel genre. I examine Johnson s ethics in more general terms as they apply to the heroines of Mansfield Park, Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility. Such an investigation emphasizes the importance of Johnsonian influence on Austen s works and may open up for a more profound understanding of the moral norms which inform her novels.