Austen's FID and Sterne's Parody and Satire in Gender Representations of the 18th Century

Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Lawrence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey were written in the same time period and have overlapping themes; a significant theme both novels address is the topic of gender roles. In eighteenth-century Britain, men and women were expected to act certain ways. However, the men and women in Persuasion and A Sentimental Journey often take the role of the opposite gender. Through free indirect discourse, Austen uses the narrator and other characters to critique or approve of characters that have fallen out of the expectations of their gender role. Because the focal point is usually ambiguous in free indirect discourse, the audience is left to interpret the true meaning of a passage—often, there are times we wonder if we are reading raw thoughts or reading the critical thoughts of the narrator. In a similar fashion, Sterne’s main character Yorick’s first person narrative also critiques those who have fallen outside of their expected gender role. Yorick’s candid, wandering, satirical, and parodic—almost seemingly stream of conscious thoughts leave us with ideas of eighteenth-century views on gender roles. Though some may disagree, Austen’s use of free indirect discourse and Sterne’s use of the first person narrative, satire, and parody through their characters and their characters' thoughts help produce gender representations of the eighteenth-century Britain to a great extent.