‘In Training for a Heroine’: Jane Austen and the Feminine Ideal
14 November 2026
10:00am-1:00pm
Rewley House 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA
Event status:
Applications being accepted
Dates:
14 November 2026
Study Format:
In-person day/weekend
Fees:
£60.00
Since the appearance in 1811 of Sense and Sensibility, the works of Jane Austen have enjoyed popularity and acclaim that show no signs of waning. One reason for this is that she transcends the limitations of the respectable courtship novel with wit, humour, and commentary on female social, economic, and sexual vulnerability.
To illustrate and illuminate Austen’s complex relationship with Georgian constructions of idealised femininity, as laid out in the contemporary conduct manuals that Austen herself read, this half-day event will take the form of two lectures focusing on three of Austen’s heroines.
The first will examine her earliest novel, Northanger Abbey, as a clever, multi-layered satire of the courtship and gothic narrative, featuring a naïve and unlikely heroine who triumphs in spite of – or because of? – her social blunders.
The second will compare the independent and confident Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice – whom Austen considered 'as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print' and the self-effacing and problematic Fanny Price from Austen’s darkest novel, Mansfield Park. In so doing we will explore how Austen’s novels of female self-development treat issues of class, economics, and politics, reading and education, female friendship and rivalry, and finally courtship and marriage.
Please note: this event will close to enrolments at 23:59 on 11 November 2026.
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Accommodation
If you wish to stay with us before and/or after the event, please contact our Residential Centre for availability and discounted rates.
Call +44 (0) 1865 270362 or email res-ctr@conted.ox.ac.uk
Our accommodation in Wellington Square has been rated as 4-Star Campus Accommodation under Visit England. All bedrooms are modern, comfortably furnished with tea/coffee making facilities, Freeview television, private bath/shower rooms and free WiFi. For more details see our accommodation information.
Recommended reading
Austen, J., Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Ausen, J., Mansfield Park (1814)
Austen, J., Northanger Abbey (1817)
Programme details
9.45am
Registration at Rewley House reception
10am
Breaking the Rules: Catherine Morland and Northanger Abbey
11.15am
Tea/coffee break
11.45am
Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and the Question of Female Duty
1pm
Lunch/end of day
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Event fee (includes tea/coffee) | £60.00 |
| Baguette lunch | £7.90 |
| Hot lunch (two-course) | £22.40 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Payment
Please see the terms and conditions for our open-access courses.
Dr Emma Plaskitt
Dr Emma Plaskitt is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford, where she wrote her doctoral thesis on eighteenth-century fiction. She has taught English literature 1640–1901 for various Oxford colleges as well as OUDCE programmes The Oxford Experience, MSSU, Berkeley, MSU, and Duke/UNC. Having worked for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, where she was responsible for writing many articles on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century women writers, she now focuses on teaching for the SCIO Study Abroad Programme based at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford and for Stanford University, for whom she is an Overseas Lecturer. Though a specialist in the literature of the long eighteenth century, her research interests include the Victorian novel — particularly the gothic novel and novel of sensation.
Module code: O26P108LTJ
Please use the ‘Book’ button on this page. Alternatively, please contact us to obtain an application form.
Picture – by Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen’s sister – Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9458174
