Going to do a few non-Silm posts. In addition to Tolkien and many other authors, I’m also a fan of Austen and the Brontës, and what’s a blog for if not to talk about things you like?
Character Types in Jane Austen’s Novels
While many writers repeat character elements across their novels, Jane Austen does it to a higher degree than most. The major characters in her novel can be placed in several recurring character types, which remain highly consistent across books. However, she succeeds in doing this without repeating the same stories; the differences in her books come from the shades of the difference in the characters and the situations in which they are placed.
I’d say that there are two main female and three main male character types. (I’m going to cover Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. It’s been ages since I’ve read Persuasion, so I’m leaving it out.)
1) The first female character type is the witty, lively, opinionated young woman. This covers Marianne Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennett, Mary Crawford, and Emma Woodhouse. They are all intelligent; lively conversationalists with strong opinions and, often, quick wits in expressing those opinions; somewhat willing to challenge social conventions; and, on the whole, active and vigorous types. (Well, Marianne is when she isn’t moping.) Often, they are not quite so clever as they think they are.
2) The second female character type, in contrast with the first, is reserved, quiet, generous-spirited, responsible, dutiful, broadly convention-adhering, and with great - though rarely shown - depth of emotion. This is Elinor Dashwood, Jane Bennett, Fanny Price, and Jane Fairfax.
3) The first male character type is the romantic counterpart to the second female one: agreeable, well-meaning, but a little weak-willed or weak-charactered. The key examples of this type are Edward Ferrars and Mr. Bingley. Edward is strong-characteredin some respects (his refusal to abandon Lucy even at the cost of disinheritance) but weak-charactered in others: he develops a relationship with Elinor without telling her he is already engaged, and becoming engaged to Lucy is the first place was a foolish decision. Bingley allows his friends to convince him to break things off with Jane even though he genuinely cares for her.
4) The second male character type is the romantic counterpart of the first female one: reserved, intelligent, with high standards, quiet but deep-running passions and strong principles. This is Colonel Brandon, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Knightly.
5) The final major character type is what I’ll called the Rake. Willoughby, Wickham, and Henry Crawford. Passionate, charming, shallow, superficially attractive, sexually unprincipled, and predatory. (Willoughby and Wickham also have histories with Brandon and Darcy in which they preyed on a female relative of the latter.) The second female character type is often at least initially attracted to this type: Marianne falls head-over-heels for Willoughby; Elizabeth is, initially, pleasantly flattered by Wickham’s attentions; and Emma flirts, albeit unseriously, with Frank Churchill, to the distress of many involved parties. Mary Crawford is the exception, as Henry is instead her brother, but the exception helps prove the rule - these two character types have some level of rapport in terms of personality.
Mentioning Frank brings me to our two edge cases. Frank is a combination of the first and third male types - he’s fairly shallow, careless, charming, but unlike the usual Rake characters he’s genuinely good-hearted, only somewhat weak-charactered, in line with the first male type. His romantic connections fit this combination: he flirts with Emma (and she with him), in line with the Rake type, but ends up with Jane Fairfax, in line with the first male type.
Edmund Bertram, I would say, is a combination of the first and second male types (hence his attraction both to Mary Crawford and later to Fanny Price - and theirs to him). He’s kinder and more easily empathetic than other characters of the second male type, but like them in being intelligent, determined, and principled.
As a result, it’s little surprise that many readers are invested in Mary and Edmund, because they’re not so far different from Austen’s succesful couples. It doesn’t hurt that some of Mary’s actions that are treated as warning signs - like criticizing her uncle for taking his mistress into his house while his wife (Mary’s aunt, who she was close to) was still there, or making jokes about church, or using amateur theatricals as an excuse to flirt - don’t feel very serious to the modern reader, and in the first case feel outright laudable. Plus she’s lively, witty, energetic - even kind, so long as kindness poses no real inconvenience to her. She is Lizzy Bennet without the morals, and Austen’s way of showing how necessary those morals are when her deeper flaws come to light (being fine with her brother seducing random women, abetting his attempt to break Fanny’s heart, hoping Edmund’s brother will die so she can be rich). And in another way, she’s a female Willoughby, torn between the prospect of a modest lifestyle with someone she has real feelings for, and the luxury, license, and wealthy lifestyle she’s accustomed to. Like Willoughby, she likely wouldn’t have been truly satisfied with either outcome.
These character types also illuminate why certain relationships don’t get off the ground. Henry Crawford is unsuccessful in charming Fanny Price because she’s the wrong character type for him - she doesn’t find superficial charm and flirtation attractive. But Austen also deliberately contrasts Henry with Darcy - he’s trying to win over a woman who dislikes him by changing his behaviour to amend the personality traits she dislikes, and he does a great favour for one of of her siblings, and he is notably courteous to her embarassing relatives even when they are crass. However, the entire feel is different. Darcy makes Wickham marry Lydia not to make Elizabeth feel indebted to him (as is the case with Hery getting Fanny’s brother promoted), but because he cares for her and doesn’t want her to be unhappy; he deliberately hides his intervention from her. (Also, Henry’s action costs him nothing.) And, just as importantly, Lizzy’s correct critiques of Darcy are founded on his snobbish behaviour; her aspersions on his fundamental character are proven false. Fanny objects to Henry’s bad character; no amount of charm can remove that complaint.
The second female type and second male type also seem to mesh quite well as friends: Elinor and Brandon develop a good friendship, and Mr. Knightley has a very high regard for Jane Fairfax. (These two are also my favourite non-canon pairings. I’m never really forgiven Emma for deliberately breaking up a nice couple who care for each other on the mere basis that the man *horror* works for a living. And I love Jane Fairfax and want good things for her.)
By playing with these character types, Jane Austen lets all her characters be foils for each other and allows the more subtle differences among characters of the same type to drive different directions of the plot.
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