Her Most Deserving Daughters: The Radical and Traditional Ideal Feminine Character In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Lucas puts it best; in Regency era England, marriage is “the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want”(74). Charlotte, a practical soul, knows that it is in her best interest to seek marriage even at the cost of some independence. It is impossible to look at the lives of women in early 19th century Europe without considering the institution around which their lives revolved to a great extent. In any era a woman’s first interest must be to protect herself and her family, and …show more content…
My focus will be on the political and social positions of women, particularly pertaining to the role of marriage, rather than on a universal female experience, more in line with British than American feminist criticism (Murfin). However, to do so without a clear historical lens would be a major oversight, given the change in significance of marriage and the evolving roles of women between the 17th and 20th century feminist movements (Brown). In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s female characters (especially those that meet the criteria Miss Lucas mentioned, being single, educated, and of relatively small independent means) present Austen’s own judgment on marriage and the proper behavior of women, which was influenced by a combination of unconventional ideas and traditional values. Austen supports her maiden characters’ radical rejections of social norms intended to stop women from expressing their own personalities and opinions, but not those intended to protect women. Her emphasis on the value of marriage is the result of what the institution can offer women, rather than the traditional belief that women should aspire only to masculine
In Pride and Prejudice, Charlotte Lucas puts it best; in Regency era England, marriage is “the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want”(74). Charlotte, a practical soul, knows that it is in her best interest to seek marriage even at the cost of some independence. It is impossible to look at the lives of women in early 19th century Europe without considering the institution around which their lives revolved to a great extent. In any era a woman’s first interest must be to protect herself and her family, and …show more content…
My focus will be on the political and social positions of women, particularly pertaining to the role of marriage, rather than on a universal female experience, more in line with British than American feminist criticism (Murfin). However, to do so without a clear historical lens would be a major oversight, given the change in significance of marriage and the evolving roles of women between the 17th and 20th century feminist movements (Brown). In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s female characters (especially those that meet the criteria Miss Lucas mentioned, being single, educated, and of relatively small independent means) present Austen’s own judgment on marriage and the proper behavior of women, which was influenced by a combination of unconventional ideas and traditional values. Austen supports her maiden characters’ radical rejections of social norms intended to stop women from expressing their own personalities and opinions, but not those intended to protect women. Her emphasis on the value of marriage is the result of what the institution can offer women, rather than the traditional belief that women should aspire only to masculine