To Conclude

    Alright Austen Lovers, after bearing with me through the intricacies of this discussion, we have finally reached its conclusion. By placing Jane Austen in the context of the Regency Era, we have thoroughly explored the societal expectations and regulations placed on women. We've examined the ways in which the increase in literacy placed women in a place of transition between corruption and progress. We've encountered the role of female authors who used the quixotic form, among other things, to exploit the patriarchal society that controlled the world of publications and express their own contemporary criticisms of society. Finally, and probably most importantly, we've thoroughly investigated Jane Austen's connection to each of these areas. We've explored her own experiences as a reader and writer, and we've explored the ways in which she uses her writing to form a call to action and a model to follow in order to empower other female readers and writers to continue the argument and the battle to overcome the domesticated nature of female education. And so, having navigated this complex discussion of which there is probably so much more to one day discuss and flush out, I wish to leave you with a parting quote to ponder from Northanger Abbey in which Jane Austen conveys her idea of what a novel is, "Oh! it is only a novel ... only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language," (Kinsley 24).