Gendered Friendships in Georgian Literature: Rebellious Lady Power in "Lady Susan" Juliette Bauer College

Long has the concept of female friendship confounded researchers, philosophers, scientists, and novelists alike. Friendships among women often confuse, and even intimidate, cultures built on hierarchies of power that center around men’s logical prowess. This cautious uncertainty extends to the writings of Jane Austen, whose often female protagonists also wrestle with the looming confusion of female friendships. In novels such as Emma and Wuthering Heights, Austen’s young heroines often end up trading in female relationships for the ultimate friendship of the Gregorian period—marriage. To understand the early English literary trend of women abandoning friendly connections in the name of nuptial bliss, one can look to philosophical understandings of reason and sensibility in friendship, as well as cultural implications of gender in both traits. Then, one can examine one of the exceptions to Austen’s pattern in her novel Lady Susan, published posthumously. The novel introduces an odd predicament in the friendship of Lady Susan Vernon and Alicia Johnson, which this paper will identify as a literary device conceivable only through the masculinized behavior of both women. Through these assessments, it becomes clear that Lady Susan is...