Exploring Love and Friendship in Jane Austen's Novels

Abstract

Jane Austen's early works are contained in three notebooks, all of which still exist today in various museums and libraries. "Love and Friendship" and "The History of England" are the two most notable works from her early writings.” Love and Friendship" is an epistolary novella written when Austen was a teenager. It consists of letters from the heroine, Laura, to Marianne, the daughter of her friend Isabel. The story is a parody of romantic novels of the time. In it, Laura falls instantly in love with a mysterious stranger, Edward, who she almost immediately marries. Laura also meets a friend, Sophia, with whom she instantly connects in a way that is so ridiculous that it is clear that Austen was making fun of conventional stories of the day. The complex story has them undertaking perilous journeys, solving mysteries, and having adventures, all while fainting near-constantly in a clear parody of what women in romance novels would do. Ultimately, Edward and Sophia both die and Laura retires to the countryside to mourn. The story is complete with many of the cliches of Romantic era novels, including falling in love and friendship at first meeting, unexpected inheritances, and others.