Jane Austen - Love and Friendship

 

Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: A Hilarious Satire of Sensibility

For enthusiasts of classic literature, Jane Austen's Love and Friendship offers a refreshingly witty and satirical departure from her more renowned novels. Written in 1790 when Austen was just fourteen, this epistolary novel, a collection of letters, showcases her precocious talent for social commentary and parody. It's an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the development of Austen's literary genius and her lifelong critique of eighteenth-century sentimental fiction.

The novella unfolds through fifteen letters penned by the protagonist, Laura, to Marianne. Laura recounts her melodramatic adventures and "misfortunes" with an air of exaggerated sensibility, a popular literary trend Austen gleefully dismantles. This juvenilia work is a brilliant mockery of the overwrought emotions, instant affections, and improbable coincidences that characterised many contemporary romance novels.

At its core, Love and Friendship is a sharp satire on sensibility. Austen highlights the absurdity of characters who prioritise intense, often superficial, emotional reactions over reason, practicality, and moral conduct. Laura and her companion, Sophia, frequently indulge in fainting fits and bouts of hysterics at every turn of misfortune, no matter how trivial. This exaggerated display of emotion serves as a direct critique of heroines who believed "feeling deeply" was synonymous with virtue.

The narrative also parodies common literary conventions, including:

• Love at first sight: Marriages are contracted almost instantaneously based on fleeting attractions.

• Tyrannical parental opposition: Parents are often portrayed as cruel and mercenary.

• Unlikely coincidences: Characters constantly run into long-lost relatives or convenient benefactors.

• Financial imprudence: Characters' woes often stem from their own recklessness.

Notable Characters and Their Follies

The character list is a gallery of the ridiculous. Laura is the epitome of the "sensible" heroine, constantly self-serving and lacking common sense. Her husband, Edward Lindsay, is equally prone to melodrama. Sophia, Laura's closest friend, shares her penchant for histrionics, and her dying words, "Run mad as often as you chuse; but do not faint—," are famously ironic.

These fictional characters serve as vehicles for Austen's humorous critique, demonstrating the dangerous consequences of unchecked emotion and disregard for social norms.

Though unpublished in her lifetime, Love and Friendship was finally released in 1922. It showcases Austen's burgeoning talent for satire and parody, provides insight into the literary influences she reacted against, and demonstrates her early understanding of human nature. For Jane Austen fans and literary scholars, this short story classic is an intriguing and highly entertaining read, revealing the origins of one of English literature's most beloved authors.