AbstractsLanguage, Literature & Linguistics

Jane Austen and the significance of the meal : the contribution of food and meal descriptions to character development in Jane Austen's novels.

by Hilde Maria Villmones Bondeson




Institution: University of Oslo
Department:
Year: 1000
Keywords: VDP::020
Record ID: 1281939
Full text PDF: https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/25458


Abstract

This thesis investigates Jane Austen s references to food and meals in her novels, and how these references can participate in developing her characters. The characters are of paramount importance in this kind of novel, and the more information we have about them, the better we can understand their actions and comments, and hence the novel. The reader is often too carried away with the actions and conversations which these meals frame to notice that the meal itself is often used as a tool, and may convey a great deal of information. Austen s use of the meals, or the simple mentioning of a single food item, makes her able to reveal or describe much of either the characters in question, the time the action takes place, where, and maybe even which social class we are dealing with. My main aim with this thesis is to demonstrate how Jane Austen s references to food can reveal more about the action and characters in her novels than one might think. The intention is to give the food and drink that Austen mentions the literary treatment and analysis it deserves.