Ageism in the novels of Jane Austen /by Monica Renee Medina.

This project seeks to examine displays of ageism within Jane Austen???s six core novels. Ageism is defined as prejudice and discrimination against an individual based upon age. First, I studied a specific character who demonstrates ageism, Emma Woodhouse. The possession of wealth blinds her to her obligations towards the elderly Mrs. Bates and singlewoman Miss Bates, while also enabling her father???s hypochondria via benign ageism. Secondly, I examine Jane Austen???s commentary (through her narration) on older men and older women. During these assessments, I found that ageist attitudes come in two varieties in the novels of Jane Austen: characters who are overtly ageist are to be seen as erring in judgment (no matter how benign the behavior), while Austen???s use of ageist stereotypes serves to promote the independence of her heroines by weakening their figures of authority