CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1. The rationale for the study
Jane Austen has long been a widely read author in English literature. Though she was famous merely for her works of romantic fiction, her perception of women and how they could have earned their positions in the society was far ahead of her time. Some might say this was because of her reactionary thoughts, which were true at some points considered that period of time was “an age characterized by gender inequality” for women (Hunter, 2014). These thoughts were expressed in the way Jane’s characters, or the “heroines” in novels worked their way out of the dependence of marriage in order to secure social standing and economic security. Years have passed by, and Jane Austen’s published writings …show more content…
For most of readers who are reading for sheer enjoyment, the novel is essentially a story of a heroin and a hero, in their searching for each other in love. But “Pride and Prejudice” is a slightly different sort of romantic fiction, and Elizabeth Bennet is a strikingly different type of women in comparison with other female characters in the same plot. These differences are not only the admirable characteristics of an intelligent young woman, with “a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous” (p. ), but also in the matter that every woman concerns to be the most important thing of her life at that time: marriage. As for the limited studies on the subject, the researcher therefore would like to investigate the novel and the character Elizabeth to have an insight of women and their act of femininity in the perception of the author, which is considered to be advanced even in the modern context. At the same time in order to sharpen her conclusion, the researcher also investigate other women in “Pride and Prejudice”. In an attempt of completing the task, “A study on femininity in the differences between Elizabeth and other female characters in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen” was conducted to fulfill this
1. The rationale for the study
Jane Austen has long been a widely read author in English literature. Though she was famous merely for her works of romantic fiction, her perception of women and how they could have earned their positions in the society was far ahead of her time. Some might say this was because of her reactionary thoughts, which were true at some points considered that period of time was “an age characterized by gender inequality” for women (Hunter, 2014). These thoughts were expressed in the way Jane’s characters, or the “heroines” in novels worked their way out of the dependence of marriage in order to secure social standing and economic security. Years have passed by, and Jane Austen’s published writings …show more content…
For most of readers who are reading for sheer enjoyment, the novel is essentially a story of a heroin and a hero, in their searching for each other in love. But “Pride and Prejudice” is a slightly different sort of romantic fiction, and Elizabeth Bennet is a strikingly different type of women in comparison with other female characters in the same plot. These differences are not only the admirable characteristics of an intelligent young woman, with “a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous” (p. ), but also in the matter that every woman concerns to be the most important thing of her life at that time: marriage. As for the limited studies on the subject, the researcher therefore would like to investigate the novel and the character Elizabeth to have an insight of women and their act of femininity in the perception of the author, which is considered to be advanced even in the modern context. At the same time in order to sharpen her conclusion, the researcher also investigate other women in “Pride and Prejudice”. In an attempt of completing the task, “A study on femininity in the differences between Elizabeth and other female characters in “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen” was conducted to fulfill this