For Jane Austen and her heroines, walking was more than a pastime – it was a form of resistance

Saadaoui, Nada (2025) For Jane Austen and her heroines, walking was more than a pastime – it was a form of resistance. The Conversation UK (online) .

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Abstract

Nada Saadaoui - PhD candidate in English Literature at the University of Cumbria - published an online article in ‘The Conversation’ website about her research exploring Jane Austen’s depiction of walking in Romantic era English landscapes from the late 18th century to the early 19th century, focusing on the significance of the exercise in her life and work in relation to the philosophies and ideologies of the period.

In Pride and Prejudice (1813), when heroine Elizabeth Bennet arrives at Netherfield Park with “her petticoat six inches deep in mud”, she walks not only through the fields of Hertfordshire, but into one of literature’s most memorable images of women’s independence. Her decision to walk alone, “above her ankles in dirt”, is met with horror. “What could she mean by it?” sneers Miss Bingley. “It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence.” And yet, in that walk – unaccompanied, unfashionable, unbothered – Elizabeth reveals more about her spirit and autonomy than any parlour conversation could. For Austen’s heroines, independence – however “abominable” – often begins on foot. Elizabeth may be the most iconic of Austen’s pedestrians, but she is far from alone. Across Austen’s novels, women are constantly in motion: walking through country lanes, walled gardens, shrubberies, city streets and seaside resorts. These are not idle excursions. They are socially legible acts, shaped by class, decorum, and gender – yet often quietly resistant to them.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	The Conversation UK (online)
Publisher:	The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited
Departments:	Institute of Arts > Humanities
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	02 Jul 2025 09:40
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2025 08:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8943

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