1. Introduction The novels of Jane Austen provide us a valuable insight into the domestic life of the 19th century England which comprises customs and duties of the higher levels of society (aristocracy, gentry, and middle class), their leisure-time activities, and relationships; and portray the rigid social stratification and mobility of that time. It is, however, important to emphasize that they are primarily concerned with the manners of communication. Austen's characters are seldom alone or unaccompanied, meditating upon their feelings and attitudes but quite the contrary: they are almost constantly engaged in many different social activities varying from the morning calls and long walks to the afternoon parties, dinners and county balls which leave space for the usual exchange of civilities and the obligatory conversations about the weather and the state of roads. But, as soon as these courtesies are exhausted, which happens usually very early in the novels of our concern, the characters often turn to discuss matters of rather an intimate nature which usually include other characters' personal affairs and their suitability for matrimony as far as their descent, wealth, quickness of mind and attractiveness are concerned. In short, the characters of Jane Austen are prone to gossip. Therefore, Jane Austen achieves the detailed picture of all the above-mentioned social issues mainly by the numerous dialogues between the characters which proportionally prevail over the descriptions of any kind. Therefore, the dialogues “ and the dialogues comprising gossip especially “ help portray the characters, their opinions and attitudes towards other characters; and provide us the typology of characters in terms of the manner of their speech. Also, the major characters usually act rashly and excitedly when they overhear or are told a piece of news which is intimate in nature. A chain of events is thus often triggered, which either complicates the characters' lives, as in Emma and Northanger Abbey, or leads towards the happy ending, as in Pride and Prejudice. The purpose of the thesis is to provide a complex view on gossip, gossiping, and gossipers in the novels of Jane Austen. The main hypotheses of this work thus consist in that gossip can be perceived from two perspectives: the dynamic aspect of gossip deals with the plot dynamics, the course of events and the cause-effect relations in the story; and the static aspect of gossip relates to the description of characters. The verification of its significant influence on the plot dynamics, and its role in the character description is supposed to be achieved through comparative analysis of the five selected novels of Jane Austen, namely: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Northanger Abbey. The introductory part of the thesis is designed to portray the object of the research, and provide the basic terminology, i.e. the definition of the word gossip and the related terms. It also deals with the representation of gossip in the context of the narrative, which consists in the portrayal and the differentiation of concrete situations in the novels in which a reader can encounter gossip. The second part focuses on the static aspect of gossip, i.e. its significance in the portrayal of characters' traits and attitudes in relation to other characters. Also, it introduces the basic typology of Austen's characters according to the way in which they treat information about others. The third part concentrates on the role of gossip in terms of the course of events development, and its influence on the main plot; and portrays to what extent are the conduct and opinions of Austen's characters influenced by gossip and the fear of being a subject of rumors. The conclusions and generalizations provided by the individual chapters are summarized in the final part of the thesis. 2. Gossip and its Representation in the Novels of Jane Austen Both Merriam-Webster Online dictionary and the Free Online Dictionary distinguish between the two basic meanings of the noun gossip. Either it refers to a person of certain qualities, i.e. "a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others  (MWO) and also "a close friend or companion  (FOD); or a specific act of the information exchange. The latter meaning comprises two types of conversation, the first referring to a "casual and idle chat  and the second to a "conversation involving malicious chatter or rumours about other people  (FOD). From the definitions it follows that the noun gossip which refers to a type of conversation can be perceived either in its narrow sense as a malicious rumour and backbiting the purpose of which is to do harm; or in its wider sense as any information of an intimate nature which is spread about a person in his or her absence. In Austen's novels, gossip is always represented both in its narrow sense and the wider sense, the latter of which slightly pr