Review on the Theory of ‘Regulated Hatred’ Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Persuasion (1816) by Jane Austen

This chapter highlights the theory of ‘regulated hatred’ in two masterpieces by Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Persuasion (1816). To analyse these novels, the paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach, including psychological, biographical, and New Historicist approaches; taking its inspiration from the theory initially introduced by D. W. Harding in his article ‘Regulated Hatred: An Aspect of the work of Jane Austen’ (1940), alongside C. J. Jung’s theory of ‘the formation of artist’s creativity’ highlighted in his article ‘Psychology and Literature’ (1930). The chapter comprise three different discussions.\. The first discussion includes the theoretical aspects of the research, outlining Harding and Jung’s theories. A brief overview of the plot of the two novels is set out, to assist in establishing the author’s narrative techniques. The psychological theories of Austen’s two novels Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility in reference to the theoretical framework has taken the second place in this chapter. Additionally, through a psychological, biographical, and new historicist analysis of Austen's narrative techniques, this study examines the ways in which she uses her hatred of both her enemies and unpolished manners in society. These include: her varying tones, her artistic representation, her tyrannical style and intellectual perspective, and the unequal treatment of her characters. In addition, there is a discussion of Austen’s motives in writing these two novels. This section discusses the assumptions behind the attempt to deduce new literary, social and political interpretations of Austen’s art, examining her novels as, amusement and entertainment, social critique, or as an outlet of her inner emotion with the aim of reforming the ills of society. The third discussion portrays the ways in which Austen adopts a new form of realism; in particular, how she employs her pen to revolutionise the ruling standards of social groups. Austen is seen to address the internal struggles of society successfully, by sympathising with, or disdaining, her characters in both novels. New critical theories by critics such as D. W. Harding, C. J. Jung, Raymond Williams, Linda Hutcheon, and M. M. Bakhtin, provide a new significance and interpretation when applied to old or modern works of fiction, including for instance, William Shakespeare, Anton Chekov and George Orwell. The study, therefore, offers a complementary understanding of the inner psychology of the creative Jane Austen, as well as of her art and the era in which she lived.