Essay, Research Paper: Jane Austen's View Of Women

Jane Austen and her Women
Jane Austen has been described as a feminist because of
her portrayal of women in her novels. Pride and Prejudice
has been the discussion of critics for many years. But more
or less, her feminism relates to her background. During
the Regency Period, women were not expected to maintain
a life for themselves. They were influenced by their families
to marry well in order to have a good future and be
provided for. There was a strong emphasis placed on
money and class which is clearly evident in Pride and
Prejudice. This style of living provided the background for
this novel, which some people refer to as feminism and
others to the satirizing of women in this age of history.
Austen could be described as a feminist in writing at all.
But she wrote from her world and her ( womanly ) point of
view. As she said on her own limitations I must keep to
my own style and go on my own way; and though I may
never succeed again in that I am convinced that I should
totally fail in any other . ( Dawson 1 ) She painted the
world she knew. The absence of large passions and
romance is absent from her pages because it was absent
from her life. Her love life was said to be sad and strange.
But she went on writing and provided her audience with
entertainment from her silly characters in Pride and
Prejudice.
Some of Austen s women were considered to be silly
such as Mrs. Bennet and Lydia. Mrs. Bennet is described as
a foolish, noisy woman whose only goal in life is to see her
daughters married, and Lydia as gossipy, immature, and
self-involved. ( Douthat 3 ) But she also presented a
varitey of characters that she made fun of. On the male
side, a prime example would be Mr. Collins, a pompous
clergyman who seeks to inheirt Mr. Bennet s property. But
then of course there is Elizabeth who proves to be an
admirable heroine who insists on being treated as a rational
creature. Through the character of Charlotte Lucas, Austen
presents a rather cool and objective view of the limited
options open to women. During the Regency Period,
women did not recieve the same offers of education that
were offered to the gentlemen. They usually did not have
careers and were expected to recieve a practical training for
their domestic role. One quote from a male stated that
women should read neither poetry or politics--nothing but
of books of piety and cookery. ( RoP 2 ) The majority of
girls time was spent on sewing and needlework.
Throughout Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth or Jane works on
their cross-stitch during their lesiure time. The household
work though, was actually done by the servants.
Mrs.Bennet prides herself on her family s being too genteel
for her daughters to be involved in the cooking, unlike the
Lucas family. ( RoP 2 )
In 1870, Anthony Trollope declared that Throughout all her works, a sweet lesson of
homely household womanly virtue is ever being taught. ( RoP 2 ) But it is not hard to
see some feminist tendencies. She did however, write about strong willful women
Elizabeth