Russell, ShannonLuti, ElaineSotiriadi, Chrysoula2024-09-262024-09-262020Sotiriadi, Chrysoula. "The Psychotherapist in the Parlour: Family Dynamics in Jane Austen’s Emma, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2020.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14490/372Thesis (B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Psychology)--John Cabot University, Spring 2020.This thesis approaches three of Jane Austen’s novels using three contemporary psychological models including pathological accommodation in Emma, insecure attachment theory in Mansfield Park, and mentalizing theory in Sense and Sensibility. Although Austen does not have the terminology or vocabulary for “dysfunctional” families, her novels indicate that she was a keen observer of human relationships and looked at these dynamics in the problematic families she describes. Literature also offers models that allow us to think about the psychological and social implications of the self in a complex and ever-changing world. The value of this anachronistic approach is to help answer traditional literary and moral questions posed in Austen’s fiction by viewing these through another lens. It can also challenge our reading of her problematic characters in terms of the limits of our sympathies for their actions and choices. The three psychological models adopted in this thesis can help us see more clearly the literary games involving seeing and reading characters that are present in these novels.vi, 59 pagesenAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Jane Austen, 1775-1817Families in literatureMansfield ParkSense and sensibilityEmma (Jane Austen)Emma Woodhouse (Fictitious character)Thesis