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Rayanna Riecss
Dr. Kathleen Oliver
ENL4303
06 March 2016
Analyzing Jane Austens Lady Susan within a Patriarchal Framework
In her novels, Jane Austen weaves tales of romance, comedy, and social criticism. Her
bright-eye heroines engage readers with their tales of searching for love against a backdrop of
Regency England. However of all her works, Lady Susan differs the most. This short epistolary
novel revolves around the conflict between the recently widowed Lady Susan and her sister-inlaw, Mrs. Catherine Vernon. Mrs. Vernon sees Lady Susan for the manipulative flirt that she is
but struggles to enlighten her dear brother, Mr. Reginald De Courcy, after Lady Susan sinks her
claws deep into his heart. In their letters to their respective confidants, they each reveal their own
personalities and attempt to make sense of their goals and worries. Although this stationary war
certainly appears to engage in an analysis of the domestic woman versus the aristocratic lady, a
feminist examination of the two womens actions reveals how both must operate within a
masculine world.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines patriarchy as a social organization marked by the
supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the
reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly: control by men of a
disproportionately large share of power. Feminist theorist bell hooks extends this definition by
adding that it is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating,
superior to everything (18). Austens novels, especially Lady Susan, reflect indirectly and

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directly the subordinate position women were subjected to in that late eighteenth century English
society. Despite their inferiority in society, the women of Lady Susan dominate the work. They
discuss men, but through their writing they retain a great deal of more agency and overall
presence than the male characters. In fact, few of the men in the novel actually write any of the
letters. The plot of Austens Lady Susan is almost entirely expressed through the words of
women.
Austen presents the story mainly through the dueling perspectives of Lady Susan and
Mrs. Vernon. The novel begins with a letter from the recently widowed aristocrat to her brotherin-law, Mr. Vernon. In it, she cashes in an old invitation to stay with his family at Churchill and
relates to him how pleasurable this stay would be for her (Austen 261). This pretense of gratitude
breaks when Lady Susan discloses to her dear friend Mrs. Alicia Johnson that it is my last
resource. Were there another place in England open to me, I would prefer it (263). In Letter 3
from Mrs. Vernon to her mother, Lady De Courcy, she reveals that she always imagined from
[Lady Susans] increasing friendship with [them] since her Husbands death, that [they] should at
some future point be obliged to receive her (264). Through these opening letters the two
adversaries reveal themselves and set the stage; Lady Susan is a woman whose stability in life
has been threatened after the death of her husband and who favors manipulation to get what she
desires, while Mrs. Vernon possesses a strong ability to read people and can see through Lady
Susans deception. In choosing the epistolary medium, Austen allows both women to each
discuss their lives and express themselves from a first-person perspective, granting them a subtle
sense of control.
Deborah Kaplan notes in her essay Female Friendship and Epistolary Form: Lady Susan
and the Development of Jane Austens Fiction that in letter-writing women recognize a

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common goal: marriage to men of fortune, and flattering self-representation are their primary
means of attracting such men. They band together around favorable images . . . prompting
marriage proposals from men who come to believe in the images (164). This observation
highlights a key difference between Lady Susan and Mrs. Vernon. The former and her
correspondent Mrs. Johnson share similar goals of projecting the image they want society to
perceive of Lady Susan despite her scandalous flirting. They are willing to deceive and mislead
in order for her to triumph. On the other hand, Mrs. Vernon recognizes this flawed morality and
chooses to confide in her mother her belief in Lady Susans duplicity.
Mrs. Vernons letter writing allows her to take control of her feelings and suspicions by
jotting them down on paper, but in comparison to Lady Susan, little action comes from her
correspondences. Her husbands generous disposition and overall blindness to his sister-inlaws dishonesty prevents her from eliminating the deceptive aristocrat from their lives (Austen
271). Her brother comes to Churchill to gawk at the coquette, but Lady Susan transfixes him
with her meticulous linguistic decisions as well as with her captivating beauty and demeanor.
Lady Susan notes Mrs. Vernons powerlessness in a letter to Mrs. Johnson, saying I have never
yet found that the advice of a Sister could prevent a young Mans being in love if he chose it
(278). Mrs. Vernon requests that her mother attempt to break the spell in the content of a letter
about her concerns, but she curiously indicates, I think you had better not communicate them to
my Father, whose excessive anxiety about Reginald would subject him to an alarm which might
seriously affect his health and spirits (274). Then, as if by design, the letter containing the exact
fears she wished her father not to learn of falls into his hands when a cold which affected [her]
eyes prevents her mother from reading it herself (282). Perhaps this incident was entirely a

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fluke or more likely Lady De Courcy recognized and believed in the authority a father can have
over a son, especially compared to a mothers influence.
In contrast, where the correspondence between Mrs. Vernon and her mother often
depresses the reader, the partnership between Lady Susan and Mrs. Johnson exhilarates. They
conspire and deceive as they both recognize the hoops women must jump through to maintain
stability as a woman in a male-dominated society. Earlier on, Mrs. Johnson congratulates her
friend on her success with Mr. De Courcy and advise[s] [her] by all means to marry him,
noting that his future estate will be considerable (276). She also states that Sir Reginald is
very infirm, and not likely to stand in [Lady Susans] way. This reassurance, although tactless,
is consistent with the tone of most of their letters. Toward the end of the novel when their
scheming proves ultimately ineffective, Mrs. Johnson directs her focus almost entirely back to
the married Mr. Manwaring. She even informs Lady Susan that the jealous Mrs. Manwaring,
frets so much about him that perhaps she may not live long (335). Later in that same letter, she
regretfully divulges that her husband has learned of Lady Susans misdeeds and threatens to
permanently to relocate to the countryside if they continue their friendship. Despite their
closeness, Lady Susan fully understands and yearns for a time when Mrs. Johnson is equally
unattached, adding that she abhor[s] her husband. Although there is power in how these two
women scheme in order to find Lady Susan a husband and keep up a respectable image, they
ultimately realize the importance of male protection as well the existence of male authority in
their patriarchal world.
In addition to Lady Susans marital pursuits, the two friends also discuss the widows
daughter, Frederica. Barbara J. Horowitz analyzes Lady Susans less than maternal qualities in
her essay Lady Susan: The Wicked Mother in Jane Austens Novels. Austen leaves the reader

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with little doubt of the titular characters severe lack of fondness for her only daughter; Lady
Susan often knocks her intelligence and deems her tiresome (Austen 272). Although by the end
of the novel the residents of Churchill become aware of Lady Susans immorality with regard to
her daughter, she does a reasonably sufficient job of convincing them, even Mrs. Vernon for a
time, of a legitimate love for her daughter. Horowitz finds in this case Lady Susan relies on skills
of manipulation and utilizes Mrs. Johnson as an emotional outlet for her true feelings. Lady
Susan blames Frederica for making herself ridiculous when she writes to her confidant, Mrs.
Johnson. She is clever enough, however, to blame herself for any deficiencies in Frederica when
she speaks to the Vernons and Reginald. Despite her dislike for her daughter, Lady Susan knows
that if their patriarchal society were to become aware of such a maternal deficiency she would be
judged harshly.
Lady Susans disregard for daughter is truly frightening, but she does attempt to help her
in her own self-centered way. On its face, it appears that by attempting to wed her daughter to the
silly Sir James Martin she is simply trying to her rid herself of responsibility for Frederica. There
is certainly some truth to that as evidenced by what the readers know of Lady Susans character.
However, another argument should be made in addition to this reasoning. Austen reveals early in
the novel that Lady Susan has no intention of paying for her daughters education, indicating a
lack of funds (Austen 272). In her letters to Mrs. Johnson, Lady Susan also laments her
daughters emotional tendencies, sighing in awe when she observes Fredericas crush on Mr. De
Courcy (318). According to Patricia Meyer Spackss essay Female Resources: Epistles, Plot,
and Power, Lady Susan feels contemptuous toward her daughter, who indulges in feeling
rather than exercising control. For Lady Susan herself, artifices of emotion supply instruments
for domination. Real feeling must be denied, suppressed, disguised. She believes her daughter

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to be a simpleton and wants her to be settled before she makes a fool of herself, seeing her own
lack of resources and the strength a rich man can provide (Austen 297). Although harsh, this type
of mothering is indicative of the male-dominated world that they live in.
Spacks also writes about how Austen reclaims the feminine convention of letter writing
through her adolescent work Lady Susan. By writing, these women mobilize their forces,
internal and external: they provide rhetorics of self-justification, make plans of action, record and
interpret events in ways that help them decide what to do next. Writing becomes a form of
agency. Lady Susan and Mrs. Johnson certainly revel in their plots, and Betsy Winakur
Tontiplaphol argues in Justice in Epistolary Matters: Revised and Deconstructed Duties in
Austens Lady Susan, that though mark[ed] as a female pawn in a masculine world . . . Susan
harbors desires and fantasies uniquely her own desires and fantasies distinctly at odds with
those of the patriarchy. However, the contents of Mrs. Vernons letters should not immediately
be deemed without worth. Although not nearly as engaging, they do highlight an internal
struggle. Seemingly powerless in the face of Lady Susans manipulative skills, Mrs. Vernon still
attempts to end her reign of terror.
As a literary figure, Lady Susan is far more compelling than her adversary Mrs. Vernon.
She continues to astound reader through her intelligence and resilience. It is worth noting that
Mrs. Vernon appears similarly in awe of Lady Susans manipulative prowess. In a letter alerting
her mother of her brothers apparent affection for Lady Susan despite his prior dislike, she notes:
Her behaviour I confess has been calculated to do away such an idea, I have not detected
the smallest impropriety in it, - nothing of vanity, of pretension, of Levity and she is
altogether so attractive, that I should not wonder at his being delighted with her, had he
known nothing of her previous to this personal acquaintance; - but against reason, against

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conviction, to be so well pleased with her as I am sure he is, does really astonish me
(Austen 275).
She recognizes Lady Susans skills and never truly challenges her herself. Instead she relies on
her most often passive letter writing to spread her anxieties regarding her brother to her mother
and by extension her father. Unlike Lady Susan, she seldom attempts to fully take the reins and
scheme to get her way. Instead as according to Horowitz, she remains the sort of woman of
whom the writers on education and patriarchy approve.
Ultimately, Lady Susan has its flaws, but it contains note-worthy views on women and
their actions. Although not her strength, Austens use of the epistolary form magnifies the agency
of her female characters by placing them as the true narrators of their lives. Even though Mrs.
Vernon and her mother seem more accepting of their place in society, they certainly provide a
viewpoint of women longing for control. And although not all of their schemes succeed, Lady
Susan and her dear friend Mrs. Johnson unquestionably produce engaging glimpses into the lives
of women attempting to cheat the male-dominated world in which they reside.
Word Count: 2076

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Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Lady Susan. 2014. Love and Freindship and Other Youthful Writings. Ed. Christine
Alexander. London: Penguin Classics, 2014. 259-342. Print.
hooks, bell. "Understanding Patriarchy." The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. New
York: Atria, 2004. 17-34. Print.
Horowitz, Barbara J. Lady Susan: The Wicked Mother in Jane Austens Novels. Persuasions 9
(1987): 84-88. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
Kaplan, Deborah. Female Friendship and the Epistolary Form: Lady Susan and the
Development of Jane Austens Fiction. Criticism 29.2 (1987): 163-178. JSTOR. Web. 3
Mar. 2016.
"patriarchy." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2016. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
Spacks, Patricia Meyer. "Female Resources: Epistles, Plot, and Power." Persuasions 9 (1987):
88-98. Web. 3 Mar. 2016.
Tontiplaphol, Betsy Winakur. "Justice in Epistolary Matters: Revised Rights and Deconstructed
Duties in Austens Lady Susan." Persuasions On-Line 27.1 (2006): n. pag. Web. 3 Mar.
2016.