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Sexism in literature
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Female gender stereotypes in literature
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Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of many works of literature that dealt with social issues during the Georgian Era. Pride and Prejudice is a classic that contains an intriguing love factor, yet also brings forth attention to sexist discrimination. During the Georgian Era, the oppression designed for women is normalized and Austen demonstrates its effects through the varying personalities of women from contrasting classes. In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen focuses on sexism in her novel through satire, revealing the lack of independence and opportunities for women; she demonstrates societal expectations for women to be demure and contrasting it with her ideologies using the lower-class, independent Elizabeth and the wealthy Mr. Darcy. …show more content…
Women cannot own any property, or initiate any bonds or connections without being accompanied by a man. This must have filled many women with frustration and confusion; Mrs. Bennet expresses her own emotions when she exclaims, “‘I cannot bear to hear that mentioned. Pray do not talk of that odious man. I do think it is the hardest thing in the world, that your estate should be entailed away from your own children; and I am sure if I had been you, I should have tried long ago to do something or other about it’” (Austen 52). It is important to mention that Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Bennet only conceived five daughters, and if they were to have a son, their property would not be in the hands of their relative, Mr. Collins. It is absurd for women to gain power, it harms the hierarchy that men built with their fragile masculinity. Therefore, Austen brings attention to this unfairness through the setting of her novel, purposely in a more closed-minded
Jane Austen has become an icon in the literary field over the past twenty odd years due to her well-established and deserved reputation as an author who can speak to the societal issues of her time. More importantly though, Austen has become an icon for feminist theory and academia due to her ability to portray gender issues and female marginalization within society in a complex, yet nuanced manner. While she succeeds in this feat in most of her novels, never is this clearer than in her 1811 novel, Sense and Sensibility, which critically analyzes societal patriarchy and the marginalization of women through the lens of two sisters.
Leadership has many definitions even though these definitions are merely a change of words (Northouse, 2016). The definition that covers most examples of leadership is the ability to influence your subordinates in such a way that your subordinates follow your orders and see the vision you have for your team (Northouse, 2016). Leaders are not born, however some of the characteristics that allow a follower to lead one day may be inherited (Storsletten, 2015). Leaders are obtained from the environment of the individual, such as when the son of the King eventually takes the throne (Northouse, 2016).
It is evident that Austen did not like the general role that women took on in the early nineteenth century, with no financial independence and an expectation to serve the rest of their lives being a good wife and mother with only the accomplishments such as music and art, to excite them. I have first decided to comment on the relationship between Mr and Mrs Bennet. Mr Bennet clearly regrets his marriage to Mrs Bennet and realises that he was really only attracted to her beauty and wealth, rather than her personality. This runs parallel to the relationship between Lydia and Mr Wickham.
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.
While there is no shortage of male opinions concerning the role of females, which usually approve of male dominance, there is a lack of women expressing views on their forced subservience to men. This past subordination is the very reason there were so few females who plainly spoke out against their position, and the search for females expressing the desire for independence necessarily extends to the few historical works by women that do exist. Jane Austen is a well-known female author, and it is natural that her novels would be studied in an attempt to find a covert feminist voice. However, though certain feminist elements may exist, one common theme found throughout the novels Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma, makes it impossible to label these works as completely supporting feminism. The idea that women should not be allowed to have power, should be controlled by men, and that males should use their power to the fullest extent is inescapable. This idea is raised repeatedly throughout these novels.
In today’s society, women are faced with oppression in many different ways, whether they are denied a promotion at their job over a man of equal or lesser ability or qualification, or brought up to act a certain way as a female member of society. A female’s fight against oppression, be it social or societal, is certainly a difficult one, and one that - depending on the woman and the society in which she lives- may follow her throughout her entire life. Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen that follows a woman named Elizabeth Bennet through her struggle to fight oppression in a time where certain behaviour and actions are expected of women. In this novel, the reader can view oppression through Elizabeth’s struggle to maintain a sense of self through her constant fight against societal oppression, the Bennet family’s struggles with class segregation, as well as the standards or roles set for the women in the time in which the novel is set.
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, is a remarkable story showing the complications between men and women before and during their time of falling in love. The plot is based on how the main characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, escape their pride, prejudice and vanity to find each other; however, both must recognize their faults and change them. Jane Austen follows the development of Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s relationship in how they both change in order to overcome their own vanities and be able to love each other. Mr. Darcy is a very proud and vain man. Darcy’s pride occurs because his family allows him to follow his principles “in pride and conceit” (Austen 310).
In 1813, a woman’s main goal was marriage. Females wanted to find a man who could provide for them and take care of them; not all women wanted love. Many were fine with living on a wealthy estate and living in an upper-class manner. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a novel about the Bennet sisters, five girls whom, in the time of 1813, are all unmarried and are looking for husbands. The central conflict is based around two young women, the eldest of the five Bennet daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. The girls have their similarities and differences, and can be compared and contrasted in many ways; in terms of which is stronger at handling the pressure of relationships, context clues give a valid answer. What the reader must interpret for his
Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is a female centric novel. The contrast between Austen’s strong female protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and the theme of marriage as a driving force throughout the novel suggests that, for an author whose own life was independent from a man, Austen was providing social commentary on women in society and could thus be seen to challenge traditional female roles. This is particularly important when taken into account the time period the novel was produced in. Austen was writing during a time where feminism was not a developed idea. As a female writer she was viewed as highly unusual for not marrying and having a career, something which ran contrary to the middle-upper class view for women as the domesticated, subservient housewife. Therefore, although Austen can be seen to conform to the view of gender stereotyping, it is possible to see the emergence of feminist attitudes in the way Austen presents strong female protagonists.
Through these characters, the reader learns about Mrs Bennet’s biggest concern; to marry off all her daughters. The themes of the novel are mostly related to the title, ‘Pride and Prejudice’, there is an element of personal pride amongst the characters and also prejudice, particularly with Darcy and Elizabeth. The first chapter brings in the reader into the world of social class importance, marriage and women’s role in the 19th century, which is satirized by Austen.
Pride and Prejudice, one of Jane Austen’s masterpieces, makes use of satire to promote social change, because the English society of the 19th century only saw marriage as a ticket that would help you move upward on the social ladder. Throughout the book, the reader gets front row seats as Austen mocks both the conservative middle class and upper class, giving the dissentient characters a chance to be seen in society with a better image. Austen expresses her feelings on why social changes must occur to her audience by making use of satire to describe Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Hurt, and Miss Bingley in comparison to the way she develops characters such as Elizabeth Bennet and the wealthy gentleman Fitzwilliam Darcy. Furthermore, while the reader gets to witness dramatic moments from Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Hurst, and Miss. As Bingley strives to comply with the traditions of the 19th century, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy play a significant role in trying to demonstrate to the reader why love should be the chief reason for marriage.
The Role of Women in the Society Depicted by Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice
Originally written in the late 1700s, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice satirically depicts the universal ideals in Regency England, primarily regarding social class.
On the surface, Jane Austen's 1813 novel, Pride and Prejudice tells the story of how three of the five daughters of a family living in 19th century England become engaged to be married. Underlying themes of the story, however, reveal a message about growing up and the judgments of people based on either outward appearances, behavior, or secondhand information from another person. The title of the novel proves to be extremely fitting, as Elizabeth, the main protagonist, learns that too much pride, along with many unjustified prejudices come to result in ignorance as to who a person really is inside and renders one incapable of finding true love.
The constant topic among the majority of the women in the Bennet household was marriage and future suitors. Mrs. Bennet prides in the hope that someday all her daughters will be married off to wealthy individuals who can even help support the Bennet family and increase their social status: “The business of her life was to get her daughters married...” (9). Mr. Bennet, on the other hand, only cares to see his daughters happy and content with themselves. Although Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s estate is endowed to Mr. Collins, Mr. Benn...