"It does not occur to her [Mary], as it does to Fanny, to regret the destruction of the trees, since she is scarcely aware of inanimate nature, or the wider physical universe beyond herself and the few people she cares for."

Marilyn Butler, Jane Austen and The War of Ideas (Oxford, 1975)

"Lovers’ Vows gives them a licence for what would normally be entirely improper…The impropriety lies in the fact that they are not acting, but finding an indirect means to gratify desires which are illicit"

Marilyn Butler

• Austen’s use of irony, foreshadowing and concealment
• The significance of "improvement"
• Different characters attitudes to tradition and change
• The visit to Sotherton
• Fanny’s passivity while others act out their fantasies around her
• The symbolism of the play
• Other symbolic details

• Introduction: main ideas in brief
• The avenue of trees at Sotherton- differing attitudes
• Mary Crawford’s harp- "everything is to be got with money"
• What is meant by ‘improvement? Austen’s irony
• The abandoned chapel- what does it symbolise?
• Mock marriage ceremony: playing parts anticipates Lovers’ Vows
• Wanderings in the wilderness
• The symbolism of the locked gates
• The improper play: Lovers’ Vows by Elizabeth Inchbald
• How do the roles correspond to the characters
• How is the play symbolic of moral impropriety?
• What is the effect of Sir Thomas’ return?
• Symbolism of William’s cross
• Betsey’s Knife
• Conclusion, how does Austen use symbolism in the novel to highlight character and themes?

"The knife in the Price family, that dispossessed and unruly element to which Fanny herself belongs, lurks undercover at Portsmouth, a potential threat to peace and order."

Always use quotations judiciously to support your argument

by Nicholas R Evans

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