Publication Date
4-28-2025
School
College of Arts and Sciences
Major
English
Keywords
Jane Austen, Women's Education, Enlightenment, Pride and Prejudice, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility
Disciplines
English Language and Literature
Recommended Citation
Ward, Ellie, "“Give a Girl An Education”: Jane Austen on Women’s Academic and Intellectual Enrichment" (2025). Senior Honors Theses. 1501.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/1501
Abstract
This thesis explores how Jane Austen, through her novels Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park, contributed to the cultural conversations surrounding women’s education in Georgian-era England. While women’s education at the time was limited and controversial, Austen critiques the prevailing system and supports the intellectual growth of women. Moreover, this thesis analyzes the influence upon Austen's position, beginning with her own educational history and expanding to consider the effect of Enlightenment ideology, particularly the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft, Thomas Gisborne, and Hannah More, on Austen’s thinking. Ultimately, Austen challenges the restrictions placed on women’s education by advocating for self-driven, reason-based learning, aligned with Enlightenment and Georgian philosophical thought.
