When Mr. and Mrs. Parker, therefore, ceased from soliciting a family visit and bounded their views to carrying back one daughter with them, no difficulties were started. It was general pleasure and consent. Their invitation was to Miss Charlotte Heywood, a very pleasing young woman of two and twenty, the eldest of the daughters
Sanditon
Austen, Jane. Sanditon. Ed. Margaret Drabble. London: Penguin 1974. Print.
It's very interesting to examine the different ways that Austen introduces her heroines. Because Sanditon was unfinished, we must assume that Charlotte is indeed the heroine, as she fits the part. Charlotte, however, does not make an appearance until just before the third chapter, whereas the majority of Austen's other heroines make an appearance within the first chapter, if not the first few pages of her novels. The novel remains a mystery as Austen never completed it, however, the manner of introduction of Charlotte's character gives us cause to wonder, if Charlotte breaks some of Austen's general conventions, what other molds might her character have been intended to break later on in the novel?