Abstract
This thesis aims to compare and discuss the male fictional characters of two female authors of the Georgian and Regency periods respectively, Fanny Burney and Jane Austen. As a background, I have surveyed briefly the climate of thinking characterising the male middle classes in these two eras. A subsidiary purpose of my study be to find out the extent to which the portraits of men drawn by the two novelists can be said to reflect prevalent views of the roles played by men in the two periods. My main focus will of course be the ways in which the portrayals of men contribute to the overall impression we have of these novels.