La relecture des genres
Abstract:
This article compares two novels of Isabelle de Charrière and Jane Austen: Trois femmes (1795) and Pride and Prejudice (1813). Starting from Valérie Cossy’s idea that a link is established between female/male gender and literary genre in Charrière and Austen’s novels, it develops the connection further. Through the analysis of first the representation of marriage, second the construction of female and male protagonists, and finally the literary techniques in each novel, the author establishes that these elements weaken male and female divisions. In these novels, Charrière and Austen successfully deconstruct patriarchal conventions related to gender and literary genre, transgressing the limits by smoothly juggling with inventive and varied narrative techniques. In later novels, Austen and Charrière seem to surrender to patriarchal authority and demonstrate many contradictions. This movement backwards can be seen as a proof of their powerful ability to negotiate and recognize human complexity, not as a failure.
SvD, February 2016
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