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Gender roles during the 19th century
Fairytales impact on children
Treatment of women in literature
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Recommended: Gender roles during the 19th century
Every girl dreams of finding her prince charming and having a fairytale wedding. She wants to be rescued from entrapment and saved from death. What these girls fail to realize is that the fairytales are laced with insults to women. All of the desireable women in the stories have long hair, tiny waists, and sparkly dresses. The princess is powerless and patient while the prince is brave and controlling. Each fairytale ends with the marriage of the princess and prince. Similarly, marriage is the ultimate goal for the female characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas take on the character of fairytale princesses while Mary Bennet and Elizabeth Bennet act more like modern women and through each character, Austen comments on women’s roles in 19th century English society. First, Jane Bennet portrays the perfect woman; the perfect women for men. She is beautiful and kind. She is also submissive, well-mannered, and well-bred. Jane is smitten with handsome and wealthy Mr. Bingley. Their relationship appears to be strong, and Mrs. Bennet has the “expectation …show more content…
Jane Bennet parallels Rapunzel. She spends her time wishing that her prince, Mr. Bingley, will return and rescue her from her sorrows. Charlotte Lucas parallels Cinderella. She marries her prince, Mr. Collins, for his social status after talking to him for one night. Mary Bennet, studious and confident, and Eliza Bennet, passionate and unconventional, are women that society disapproves of. As conveyed through these characters, Austen’s criticism of society is that it focuses too much on marriage, dependence, and submission instead of love, confidence, and education. Calling stories fairytales, a word with a positive connotation, causes people to ignore the oppression and insults towards women. Think twice before hoping for a fairytale
The Regency Period in England was an extravagant era often associated with prominent social, political, economic, and artistic advancements. It took place in the early 1800’s and was a time of much elegance and aristocracy. Movies and books set in this time period all seem to highlight the elegance and romance that was prevalent at the time. Famous Regency Era literary works, such as Pride and Prejudice, portray young English women getting their happily-ever-after endings with their true loves. Unfortunately, such endings did not actually happen to real women of the era because they lived very austere and vapid lives. They hardly had a choice in many of their lives’ decisions and had little to no career options. These women were raised from birth to be lady-like, obedient, and agreeable in order to attract respectable men to marry, as they were fully dependant on men. Women were essentially treated as property passed on from their fathers to their husbands. They had many restrictions placed on them and often weren’t even allowed to walk outside without proper accompaniment. Because the expectations placed on women were so rigid and absurd, some feminist authors from the time ridiculed these social standards in their writing. Famous novelist Jane Austen was known for satirizing many social customs of the Regency Period in her romantic fiction novels, placing a special emphasis on women’s rights. Pride and Prejudice in particular depicted protagonist Elizabeth Bennet as a smart, headstrong, free thinking individual who didn’t let negative outside forces sway her beliefs. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen challenges the social propriety and creates her own ideals for women through Elizabeth Bennet’s independence, intelligence, and stron...
Concepts of femininity in eighteenth-century England guided many young women, forging their paths for a supposed happy future. However, these set concepts and resulting ideas of happiness were not universal and did not pertain to every English woman, as seen in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice. The novel follows the Bennet sisters on their quest for marriage, with much of it focusing on the two oldest sisters, Jane and Elizabeth. By the end, three women – Jane, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s friend, Charlotte Lucas – are married. However, these three women differ greatly in their following of feminine concepts, as well as their attitude towards marriage. Austen foils Jane, Charlotte, and Elizabeth’s personas and their pursuits of love, demonstrating that both submission and deviance from the rigid eighteenth-century concepts of femininity can lead to their own individualized happiness.
In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s journey to love and marriage is the focal point of the narrative. But, the lesser known source of richness in Austen’s writing comes from her complex themes the well-developed minor characters. A closer examination of Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s dear friend in Pride and Prejudice, shows that while she did not take up a large amount of space in the narrative, her impact was great. Charlotte’s unfortunate circumstances in the marriage market make her a foil to Elizabeth, who has the power of choice and refusal when it comes to deciding who will be her husband. By focusing on Charlotte’s age and lack of beauty, Austen emphasizes how ridiculous and cruel marriage can be in this time.
When a bachelor from London comes to Longbourn, the Bennet sisters get excited to get to meet him at the ball. At the ball he is taken by Jane Bennet, the eldest of the five sisters. Mr.Darcy is Mr.Bingley’s friend and he isn’t taken by anyone, which makes everyone think of him as arrogant. But in a course of time he finds himself attracted to Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest of the sister, because of her charm and intelligence. Jane’s and Mr.Bingley’s relationship continued and on her way to visit him she gets sick and Elizabeth walks all the way to the Bingley’s house to take care of her sister.
It takes a creative imagination for a women of the 21st century to realize what their life would have been if they were born 150 years ago. In today’s society, almost any woman could have the career of their dream if they apply themselves. They can choose to marry or not to marry, or choose whether they want children or not; Women have the option to be independent individuals. However, in the 19th century none of those were choices for women. Women weren’t allowed high educations or careers, they had to marry men for social and economic purposes, have children and be housewives. The women of Hamlet and Pride and Prejudice appear to have no exception; both texts show women to be dependent because of their gender, birthright and social class.
The romantic era in literature was characterized by many different authors, male and female. Jane Austen was only one of many authors in that era, and one of the longest lasting; through her many novels, she shows various views on love and marriage. In Jane Austen’s critically acclaimed novel, Pride and Prejudice, Austen spares no character, male or female, in her criticism of the understood custom that the only route to happiness was marriage.
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is well-noted for its ability to question social norms. Most importantly, Austen explores the institution of marriage, as it was in her time, a time where many married for security rather than love. Her characters Elizabeth and Charlotte are renowned even more for their outspoken nature and different views on marriage. Though both Elizabeth and Charlotte yearn for a happy marriage, Charlotte has a more pragmatic and mundane approach while Elizabeth is more romantic and daring with her actions. Through the romantic involvements of both Elizabeth and Charlotte, Austen shows that happiness in marriage is not entirely a matter of chance, but is instead contingent on an accurate evaluation of self and others Elizabeth’s view on Jane and Bingely’s relationship is more hopeful, while Charlotte possesses a more aggressive view.
Austen observes through the female characters of Pride and Prejudice that the perfect woman, by 19th century standards, doesn’t seem to exist, and when she does there is some degree of misfortune in her path. She explores this notion chiefly through satire and irony, as the type of woman the female characters strive for is not always the most desirable. Through indirect characterization and tone, it becomes apparent that each female character is characterized positively or negatively, which allows for each character’s conclusion to be fully explained and understood.
England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and Prejudice is preoccupied with the gentry and most of the social aspects which consumed these people’s lives. There were so many expectations of how you would behave in public, but of course not all of these were upheld. Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet and Charlotte Lucas are four characters which keep such strong beliefs about the social norms. These characters are expressed so descriptively and through their personalities readers can learn just how the numerous social standards were received.
Over the centuries, women’s duties or roles in the home and in the work force have arguably changed for the better. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen teaches the reader about reputation and loves in the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries by showing how Elizabeth shows up in a muddy dress, declines a marriage proposal and how women have changed over time. Anything a woman does is reflected on her future and how other people look at her. When Elizabeth shows up to the Bingley’s in a muddy dress they categorize her as being low class and unfashionable. Charles Bingley, a rich attractive man, and his sister had a reputation to protect by not letting their brother marry a ‘low class girl’. Reputation even today and back in the nineteenth century is still very important aspect in culture. In the twenty-first century, women have attempted to make their lives easier by wanting to be more equal with the men in their society. Women are wanting to be the apart of the ‘bread winnings’ efforts within a family. Since evolving from the culture of the nineteenth century, women have lost a lot of family and home making traditions but women have gained equality with more rights such as voting, working, and overall equal rights. In the twenty-first century world, most women are seen for losing their morals for and manners for others. As for example in the novel when Mr. Darcy is talking badly about Elizabeth she over hears what he and his friend, Mr. Bingley, are saying about her but she does not stand up for herself.
This is the first sentence in the book, and it sets the tone and follows the theme for the whole novel. The first chapter revolves around around a conversation between Mr. and Mrs, Bennet about Mr. Bingley’s coming to town. Mrs. Bennet wants Mr. Bennet to call on him because she wants him to take one of her daughters for a wife. Mrs. Bennet comes up with many schemes to get her daughters alone with the single men in the story. I think that this quote is ironic, because it claims that the men want wives, but in reality it seems that the women are the ones seeking out husbands. Miss Bingley tries her best to get Mr. Darcy’s attention as frequently as possible. Mrs. Bennet and Jane try to get Jane alone with Mr. Bingley to spend time with him.
Love is an important part of today’s society; there is an entire genre of movies and books that revolve around the theme of falling in love and finding a soulmate. It has turned into a genre where the plot can be summarized as a boy meets a girl or vice versa and some problems arise, but in the end their love is pure and lasts. This rarely comes true in modern times. Love has turned into a fantastical and mystical dream women everywhere have; wanting to fall in love in the perfect way that Nicholas Sparks portrays it in his identical twenty or so books. Looking back in history and seeing how the way women have been portrayed, they have not changed much. In Pride and Prejudice, Twelfth Night, and I Want a Wife, the role women have in society
The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love for his daughters while, on the contrary, Mrs. Bennet’s love is over-acted and conditional. Both parents help to shape their daughters’ characteristics and beliefs: Lydia reflecting Mrs. Bennet’s flighty and excessive behavior while Elizabeth inherits Mr. Bennet’s pensive and reflective temperament. Looking past their dissimilar personality traits and contradicting convictions, both parents hold the family together and play an integral role in the household structure.
In Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” the story of two unlikely lovers unfolds. Elizabeth Bennett, the second eldest of five sisters, unfortunately has a mother who wants her to marry rich. When Elizabeth first encounters Fitzwilliam Darcy they mutually dislike each other. The two characters undergo conflicts that revolve around each other. As the story progresses Mr. Darcy finds a likeness for Elizabeth that she does not return. After Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, that she rejects, he clears up all the mistakes that Elizabeth believed he had made. Elizabeth then realizes that Mr. Darcy evolves much like herself, she falls in love with him, and he finally proposes to her, which she accepts. Through Austen’s use of strong character’s she illustrates how society and class can produce prejudice between two people madly in love.
Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” circulated in 1798 when the world was changing at a hasty rate. The American War of Independence took place, slavery was abolished and The French Revolution began. Austen disregarded these historical events and chose to highlight social issues she found to be pressing through her romantic fiction. Through Jane’s observations she decided to hone in on the concepts of love and marriage. Many novelists during Austen’s time used numerous metaphors and symbolisms to illustrate people, places and ideas but Jane chose to do the opposite. Austen relied heavily on the character’s behavior and dialogue and also on the insight of the omniscient narrator. In the first volume of “Pride and Prejudice,” Austen’s characters’ behavior and events make it apparent that love and marriage do not always agree.