That is incorrect.bawd said:She writes formally and does not engage in the idealistic explorations as her 18th century counterparts seem to do (Dickens etc) and always see rhetorical balance as the primary purpose. Jane Austen writes brilliantly, just do some research on her style and you'll understand why.
If anything her work is underpinned by the tension between social idealism (which btw, Dickens does not propound in his seminal literature, he is one of the great English realists) as she incorporates epiphanies freely and traditionally fairy-tale 'happy endings'; and social satire which critiques the sentimental novel a la Richardson's Pamela and the economic realities of her time.
While she writes 'formally' (free indirect discourse and use of irony), this does not contribute to the integrity of her body of work. Rather it is an intimate detail that Janeites comment upon, to understand more deeply the mysteries behind 'dear aunt Jane'.
Oh btw her counterparts were 19thC writers, as her first canonical novel was published in 1811.
Emma is quite good though (didn't vote in poll)