Was Jane Austen a Feminist?

As many people did of the time, Jane Austen was fond of writing letters. She was a close confidant to her nieces and they asked her question freely. They particularly asked her questions about things such as love, which her niece Fanny. Her niece seemed to be taken with one “Mr. A” ¹ Austen tends to go back and forth in her letters to Fanny about how to handle the situation. But she makes one thing perfectly clear, “When I consider how few young men you have yet seen much of; how capable you are (yes I do still think you very capable) of being really in love; and how full of temptation your next six or seven years of your life will probably be (it is the very period of your life for the strongest attachments to be formed)– I cannot wish you, with your very present cool feelings, to devote yourself in honour to him.” ² Austen goes on to plead with her niece to not rush to the first man who shows any interest in her. She wants someone for her like the men she writes about. She wants her to have someone who makes her happy and doesn’t give her a staid and tiring marriage. Rather than look for something settle for, to look for something exciting and something that will give her hope. It seems that she thinks that men and women should put the same into marriage, no matter if he loves her immensely, the happiness of both parties need to be included. This was odd seeing as how may women of the time married for comfort and wealth rather than for love and happiness. But Austen encourages her niece to look for more than that but for the things her stories have lasted decades telling, the story of love.