Anja Rützel und Annika Brockschmidt: Jane Austen und ihre Männer (Literaturtage Recklinghausen 2026)

Jane Austen and Her Men: A Feminist Assessment

Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, and Captain Wentworth are still considered the ultimate dream men in literary history. But how would Jane Austen’s famous heroes fare under a feminist fact-check?

To mark the author’s 250th birthday, journalists and passionate Janeites Anja Rützel and Annika Brockschmidt take a fresh look at the male characters in Austen’s novels. Amid charm, romance, and social constraints, they ask: How modern are these men really? Where do patriarchal patterns emerge, and where do surprisingly progressive attitudes appear?

This goes far beyond mere love stories. The focus is also on the economic and social conditions under which women lived in Austen’s time. What did marriage, money, and social security mean for women’s self-determination? And how does Jane Austen use her unmistakable wit and sharp irony to expose male self-assurance?

An entertaining and insightful evening about love, power, money, and the astonishing relevance of an author whose social analyses have lost none of their sharpness to this day.

Featuring Anja Rützel and Annika Brockschmidt—known for their incisive journalistic work and their joint podcast “Der Bätchcast.”