Jane Austen came up with many literary innovations which differed her from her predecessors. Barbara Hardy even calls her a possible creator of the modern novel. One of the differences between Jane Austen and her predecessor is the way how they wrote about the private world and the public world. The novelists before Austen had kept the balance between the two worlds but Jane Austen created a way, in which these two worlds can be lived together (Hardy 11-14). It is the social background that plays a significant role for Austen’s heroines as their mistakes are influenced by their social companions. Hardy clarifies that “Jane Austen’s heroines never live alone. On the contrary, Austen’s predecessor Fanny Burney placed her heroines away from the social scenes. Austen’s heroines can count on a company of a friend, relative or neighbour, Burney’s heroines often suffer from isolation” (Hardy 20-21). This statement seems to reasonable when considering that Emma’s biggest mistake happens under the influence of Mr Churchill and Elizabeth is influenced by her first impressions of Mr Darcy and Mr Wickham.
Regarding Jane Austen’s heroines, one of the most important features of her novelties is the way she handled the characterisation and the progress of her heroines’ emotions and feelings, which is important since the progress is caused by their ‘fallible’ actions. Marsh discusses Austen’s novelties and developments in comparison with Fielding’s characterisation in Tom Jones. He explains