Paper 2: Similarity in Gender Representations in "Persuasion" and "A Sentimental Journey"

In the 18^th century, women were treated as the inferior gender. In Jane Austen’s novel, “Persuasion”, Austen describes how Captain Wentworth had to earn his status by working hard at sea in order to gain recognition among the people who had previously not looked kindly upon his social status. “Her [Anne’s] brother and sister came back delighted with their new acquaintance, and their visit in general (Persuasion, 55).” This markedly accepting nature was after Captain Wentworth gained his title and thus proved himself worthy to Anne’s family. The women represented in “Persuasion” were also conflicted because one of the few ways to achieve a higher rank in society was to marry a wealthy and respectable man. To aid in representing the conflicted feelings in the characters, Austen uses free indirect discourse to hint at the inner turmoil experienced by the characters, but leaves enough ambiguity in the reader’s mind so that the conflict feels like it is not completely resolved. In that respect, men were sometimes similar to women, in that both genders had  to work hard to achieve the status that they wanted, and the unresolved issues lend credit to the idea that status must be constantly maintained. In Laurence Sterne’s, “A Sentimental Journey”, some of the men and women are denoted with incomplete names, like Madame de R and Count de B, and are implicated in the episodic chapters in the story. This running theme, coupled with first person narration, creates the notion that women and men are similar entities striving to achieve the best in life, even when presented with unforeseen circumstances.