epistemological confidences

Let’s consider Austen’s characters as “epistemological postulates”: modes of observing, perceiving, processing, and judging the world, especially the social world and other characters’ thoughts and feelings.

Consider each of the characters below as a distinct type of “thinking machine.” For each character, answer the questions following and be prepared to give textual evidence (suggested pages to examine are provided, though you can look at other passages):

• Louisa (pp. 116-7)
• Captain Wentworth (pp. 98-99)
• Admiral Croft (p. 151)
• Anne (pp. 111-113; many other suitable passages)
• Mary (p. 108)
• Captain Benwick (pp. 129-30)

1. Who or what is this character’s attention most drawn to? What type of information or source of information is most important for him/her?

2. Is this character more involved in thinking, feeling, or some combination of the two?

3. What kinds of judgments does this character arrive at (e.g., cognitive, practical, moral, aesthetic)? Does the character make judgments about him- or herself, others, the world at large? What is the object of his/her judgments?

4. What judgment does the narrator seem to make about this character and his/her thought/feeling process? Consider the character’s possible alliance with the narrator or his/her placement in the “satiric field.” Also consider the character’s ultimate fate in the novel.

5. How does this judgment connect to Austen’s larger purpose in the novel (as satire, social commentary, comedy)?

(adapted from Catherine Winarski)