Strong Female Characters: Jane Austen\u27s vs. The Mashups\u27

The comparison of Strong Female Characters in Jane Austen’s novels Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, with the altered characters in the monster mashups by Seth Grahame-Smith and Ben Winters, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, respectively, reveals differences between the two society’s understanding and portrayal of strength and femininity. Because these texts are so closely connected – Austen is listed as a co-author of both mashups – the differences evident in the representations of women more clearly reveal the differing cultural values. Close textual analysis of the development of three primary female characters – Marianne Dashwood, Elinor Dashwood, and Elizabeth Bennet – through their respective novels and their parallel journeys in the mashups demonstrates that the mashups have weakened the characters. Though the mashups are advertised as making Austen’s characters into Strong Female Characters, Austen’s women are already strong