Written in epistolary form like her later unpublished novella Lady Susan, Love and Freindship is thought to be one of the tales she wrote for the amusement of her family.
The instalments, written as letters from the heroine, Laura, to Marianne, the daughter of her friend Isabel, may have come about as nightly readings by the young Jane in the Austen home.
Love and Freindship (the misspelling is one of many in the story) is clearly a parody of romantic novels Austen read as a child.
In form, the story resembles a fairy tale in featuring wild coincidences and turns of fortune, but Austen is determined to lampoon the conventions of romantic stories, down to the utter failure of romantic fainting spells, which always turn out badly for the female characters.
The story shows the development of Austen's sharp wit and disdain for romantic sensibility, characteristic of her later novels.
Isabel argues that because Laura is turning 55, she is past the danger of "disagreeable lovers" and "obstinate fathers" (Austen 516).
Laura initially disagrees with Isabel's assessment that she is safe from "misfortunes" simply because of her advanced age (Austen 516).
Janetta's relations with her father and with her lover, Capitan M’Kenzie, in the twelfth letter, show Austen mocking the fickleness of family ties and romantic relationships.
Laura ends the letter by posing the idea that her misfortunes in life "do not make less impression... than they ever did", but that her accomplishments have begun to fade (Austen 517).
The uncertainty of Laura's memory causes Austen's work to resemble a fairy tale in its qualities of ambiguity.
Laura depicts her initial attraction to the young gentleman, claiming him to be the "most beauteous and amiable youth" she had ever seen (Austen 518).
Austen's character Laura's instant and "undying attachment" to the stranger mocks the romantic notion of friendship as an overused cliché (Deresiewicz 103).
Deresiewicz shows Austen's satirical view of love and friendship by illuminating the idea that romantic notions of these themes are oversimplified and stereotypical.
Coming from an aristocratic family, Lindsay, referred to as Edward, describes his father as "seduced by the false glare of fortune and the deluding pomp of title" (Austen 518).
The letter ends with the hasty marriage of Edward and Laura performed by her father, which mocks the sensibility of Austen's characters (Sahney 130).
Sahney's analysis shows how Austen's views of sensibility differed from those of the romantic novels she is likely to have read in her youth.
Edward and Augustus create an "affecting scene" when they meet causing both Sophia and Laura to faint "alternately" on the couch (Austen 521).
Laura and Sophia have a "mature deliberation" and decide to leave the house before the Officers of Justice take possession (Austen 523).
Once in London, Laura asks every person they pass "If they had seen… Edward," but can get no replies since the carriage they are riding in is moving too quickly (Austen 523).
Sophia tells Laura that seeing Augustus in distress would "overpower [her] sensibility," especially since hearing of his misfortune is already shocking (Austen 523).
Laura then tells Marianne that her mind never wandered to thoughts of her parents, who she forgot to mention had died two weeks after she left their cottage.
Not wanting to arrive unannounced, the women write an elegant letter detailing their misfortunes and desire to stay with the relative.
Laura is overwhelmed with the feeling that this person is her grandfather so she throws herself to her knees in front of him and begs him to acknowledge their relation.
After analysing Captain M’Kenzie's actions concerning Janetta, Laura and Sophia declare he must be in love with her despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
They decide to write Captain M’Kenzie a letter encouraging him to confess his attachment to Janetta and secretly marry her.
Laura and Sophia plan to take a banknote or two each time they pass through the room because it would be "proper treatment for so vile a wretch" (Austen 527).
At daylight, she realises she is travelling with Sir Edward, Augusta, Lady Dorothea, Philippa, Philander and Gustavus.
Laura moves to the Highlands of Scotland and lives in "melancholy solitude" mourning the death of her family, husband, and friend (Austen 534).