April 20^th, 2025, is the 20th anniversary of the 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen’s most notable novel, Pride and Prejudice, which is being rereleased in theatres. I was ecstatic when I saw this, and I knew I had to go with my best friends. When I think about my friends, the three people I completed my English degree with, I think about our shared love for English literature in its various forms and our ability to share our thoughts and opinions openly and judgment-free. Literary analysis often provides insight into who someone is and how they view the world, which is one of the reasons I think we all get along so well. When we discuss literature, we all often share a very similar point of view, and when we don’t, we can talk about it to better understand why we believe what we believe. Writers like Austen paved the way for me and my friends to openly discuss and study English literature in the way that we do, which is why I think it is so important to talk about how her writing remains relevant. Her writing is so much more than love stories – it advocates for women to resist the political and societal structures that work to deny them their freedoms.

Austen’s writing is one of the things that made me decide to pursue an English degree. I was first introduced to her in an introductory course for my English degree, where we read her short story “Lady Susan” and some of her Juvenilia inserts from her teen years. What stuck with me most about her writing was her ability to remain relevant for more than 3 centuries since her passing and the social commentary that provides insight into the Regency era, specifically, writing on social class and gender roles. As a romance lover, I can also appreciate her dynamic characters and the way her writing contributes to well-known tropes that we often talk about in the genre today. Austen finds a way to combine incredible love stories and social critiques, while engaging women through the romantic genre, to instill community, power, and resistance in women. 

During the regency era, women had little to no rights and were used primarily for domestic duties. Unfortunately, many women in lower-class society never received an education, as they needed to assist with domestic duties from a very young age. Because of this, during Austen’s time, it was mostly higher-class women who could read and benefit from her writing. However, all women were expected to marry, not only for social reasons, but also for financial stability. A marriage was completely transactional, and for the benefit of her father and husband, but for a woman to secure a comfortable living, she had to marry into another wealthy family. Despite being wealthy and far more privileged than other women during the Regency era, Austen did not just write about those in positions of power and prestige. Writing about a woman’s need for marriage was a universal experience and continued to be so after her death. Therefore, writing about this topic, in a genre typically consumed by women, was incredibly brave and progressive for her time. 

Austen’s writing emphasizes the importance of sisterhood, rebelling against the status quo, and understanding what women have to offer to the world. She wrote to empower women in their decisions to refute traditional gender norms, particularly regarding marriage. Still, in 2025, women are being stripped of their rights all over the world. With a far-right movement currently present in America and women being urged to return to traditional values, women are once again depending on marriage for security and safety. To be in a heterosexual, traditional marriage is the norm that is being perpetuated in society, on social media, and in politics. The return of traditional values puts women back in the home, to prevent them from receiving an education and having thoughts and opinions. It is preventing women from making their own income, leaving them to stay with men who hold all financial power over them, even in situations of abuse. Austen’s writing is still important for women to read and study, so we can continue this centuries-long fight against traditional gender norms that deny us the future we so desperately need, and to remind us of the power we hold within us, and as a collective. 

So, thank you, Jane Austen. Thank you for providing my friends and I with a safe space to discuss our thoughts and opinions. Thank you for giving women power when they feel powerless. Thank you for inspiring me to pursue an English degree to make an impact on other women’s lives – we need it right now.