Honors Theses
Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
English
First Advisor
Ronald Schroeder
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
In this thesis, I compare true sibling relationships with pseudo-sibling relationships in Jane Austen’s novels. I detail why siblings who become friends are generally more successful than friends who attempt to become siblings. With real siblings such as the Bennet sisters, the Dashwood sisters, and Fanny and William Price, there is already a familial obligation that allows them to transform their relationship into something deeper and more meaningful. In the cases of pseudo-siblings such as Catherine Morland and Isabella Thorpe, Emma Woodhouse and Harriet Smith, Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram, and Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley, the transformation from friends to siblings is not quite as smooth. With the young women’s pseudo-sister relationships, they do not always look out for one another’s best interests, as the Bennet sisters and the Dashwood sisters do. The feigned brother and sister pairs, however, allow their sibling-like relationships to evolve into romantic love, causing something akin to emotional incest.
Recommended Citation
Thornton, Sarah Danielle, "“What strange creatures brothers are!: An Exploration of Sibling and Pseudo-Sibling Relationships in Jane Austen’s Novels" (2012). Honors Theses. 2438.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2438
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