Abstract: Jane Austen, as one of the greatest female novelists in the nineteenth century of English literature, depicted the middle class provincial life in England with delicate touch. Her books, such as Emma, Pride and Prejudice, remain widely-read and have been successfully adapted for television and cinema. The early study on Jane Austen was mainly focused in the social meaning of her novels. However, since the 20th century, more and more people study the writing art of Jane Austen are. This essay analyzes the changes of Jane Austen’s narrative strategies not only in the aspects of narrative voice and narrative perspective, but also in the aspects of narrative mode and narrative method. Besides, it also tries to explain the reasons why Jane Austen changed her narrative strategies. In conclusion, the success of her novels in literature history mainly attributed to the changes of her narrative strategies.
Key Words: narrative perspective; narrative voice; narrative mode; narrative style
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1. Background 1
1.1 Jane Austen’s Personal Life and Education 1
1.2 Jane Austen’s Literary Life 2
2. The Changes of Jane Austen’s Narrative Strategies 5
2.1 The Change of Narrative Perspective 5
2.2 The Change of Narrative Voice 7
2.3 The Change of Narrative Mode 9
2.4 The Change of Narrative Style 10
3. The Reasons of the Change of Jane Austen’s Narrative Strategies 12
3.1 The Social Reasons 12
3.2 The Personal Reasons 13
4. Conclusion 15
Bibliography 18