Gender Roles In Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Practically every individual living in England during the 19th century had certain roles they were meant to play; yet, most of these roles have been stereotypes based upon gender and social class. Men were destined to be breadwinners, while women were ordained to be proper ladies whose hopes of a better life lay in marrying wealthy bachelors. Many individuals believed there was more to life than these “destinies”; and, amongst those individuals, was Jane Austen, a female novelist, who chose to critique these fates through her writings. One novel in particular, Pride and Prejudice, became an instant classic. Through her novel, Jane Austen challenged the social norms of society that women are dependent on men for their social acceptance and status. By describing the prejudiced ideologies and the qualities of the characters in her novel, Austen was able to use Pride and Prejudice as a device to reflect the set preconception values of the era.
The 19th century was an era of patriarchal societies where all power and opportunities were reserved exclusively for men. Some roles of men included providing for the family, performing physical labor, participating in government, and being educated. These roles allowed men to succeed by society’s standards both financially and educationally. Women, on the contrary, played the role …show more content…
Throughout the novel, readers obtain information about the boundaries of the classes; primarily the upper and lower class. Constantly in the novel the reader observes how these two worlds clash. For example in the conversation between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth, Lady Catherine was most surprised to learn that the Bennet family did not possess the finer things in life such as a