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Gender Inequality In Jane Austen's Literature

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The hierarchy in the society between men and women is a pervasive reality. In the present time, when women’s equality is still a question, their condition in the past years is easily predictable. They were not accepted on par with men at any sphere of the society – be it social, religious, political or intellectual. Women were not considered intellectually creative, contributive and productive enough to have a say in their own lives. They did not have any identity of their own, they were known either by their father’s names or by their husband’s.
‘The female sphere’ – a woman’s proper place was the home, whether she ruled it as its mistress or laboured in it as a servant is a constant debate, but the latter seems to be more true. Genteel work …show more content…

At fourteen, she wrote Love And Friendship. During her life-time, she wrote many famous novels like – Sense and Sensibility (Eleaner and Marianne) (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816). Her novels mainly include the theme of marriage and family life. It is a well known fact that a person is valued only after his/her death. Same was the case with Jane Austen. Although she mirrored the society of the time and tried to represent women’s condition, she got reputation only after her …show more content…

The first among them is Mary Ann Evans, known as George Eliot (1819-1880). She combines in her writings two chief tendencies of the Victorian era: one, a strong intellectual tendency to analyse the problems of life; two, a tendency to teach, that is, to explain the method by which these problems can be solved. Her important works are – Scenes of Clerical Life (1858), Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Ramola (1863), Middlemarch (1871-72). Andrew Sanders remarks; “George Eliot is the most earnestly imperative and the most probingly intelligent of the great mid-Victorian novelists.” (Sanders 447) Although she holds the highest rank in putting English novels at the top of the world’s fiction, the fact must not be discarded that it was due to certain restrictions on women at that time that she had to get her novels published under a masculine

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In doing so, these working women began to have the ability to support themselves, and, therefore, tended to rely less on men. However, these women not only defied the workplace’s principles, but also condemned society’s gender

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In her article, “Three Inventories, Three Households”, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich argues that women’s work was crucial not simply for subsistence but that “women were essentials in the seventeenth century for the very same reasons they are essentials today-for the perpetuation of the race” (Ulrich 51). She believes, women were expected to do everything. They were not only to take care of the children, but they were also cook, clean, raise the greens and ranches. Mainly, women plays important role for the survival and continuation of life.

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For decade women have been discriminated by society, all around the world. In many countries women are still treated as the inferior sex. “daily life for women in the early 1800s in Europe(Britain), was that of many obligations and few choices. Some even compare the conditions of women in time as a form of slavery.” (Smith, Kelley. "

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Women have found themselves at the bottom of society’s hierarchal pyramid for eons. Even though females make contributions that prove vital to the world’s function, they are still regarded as the weaker link. The female plight of constantly facing debasement is a pawn used to ensure compliance. It is a common notion that if one is demeaned enough, he or she will conform to the suggested persona. Society tests this notion through its treatment of women.

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Does “Pride and Prejudice” written by Jane Austen, reinforce or erode sexist stereotypes of women? The story was written in the nineteenth century, an era when men and women had a structured stereotypical role. There is no erode sexist, however, reinforce sexist is present. Women had a very specific role in society and their status was based mainly on the family’s fortune.

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Outline Question: How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose? Source: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Points: Pride and Prejudice received much criticism by authors, such as Charlotte Bronte and Ralph Waldo Emerson, for being a mundane book with female characters that fit the cookie-cutter image of English life.

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In author Jane Austen 's 1813 romance novel Pride and Prejudice, social class stereotypes play a very key part when affecting the rolls of the Bennet sisters. Very clear distinctions between people who are grouped into classes are shown throughout the novel by characters of different classes stereotyping against others. This causes problems for many of the main characters who often fails to meet the social standards of others and stereotypes others themselves When it comes to social stereotypes Elizabeth Bennet, the second oldest Bennet sister, is no stranger. Throughout the novel her mother is often reminding her how to properly dress and correcting her on her manners.

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With the rise of civilization also came the rise of patriarchy-based societies and the slow decline of the importance of women in society. For the longest time the history of the world has been written by men who have been the head of the patriarchy and have forgotten the role of women in history. It is important to realize that women do in fact have a place at the table with men when it comes to importance in history, and are not just the ones cooking and serving the meal. It is women who tasked with raising the next generation. By looking at women of the past, people of the future can learn and evolve to fight oppression and gain their own power.

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And now she is best remembered for her novel Jane Eyre, this novel has aroused the great interest of the readers for more than century all around the world and it still continues to sell well. Moreover, Jane Eyre now is one of the

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In Jane Austen’s novel, Sense and Sensibility she discusses feminism through the challenges women may face in marriage. Austen’s portrayal of her characters Elinor and Marianne demonstrate the struggles and pressures women face. These challenges can be seen through primogeniture, Elinor and Marianne’s approach to love and marriage, and a man’s ability to ruin or help women. The familial succession of assets typically went to the first-born son or the next male heir. In the case of John Dashwood, he inherited Norland estate after the death of his father leaving his half-sisters and stepmother “to quit the neighborhood Norland” and move to a small cottage in Devonshire.

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In conclusion, there are still phantoms that women face in society after moving on from the “Angel in the House” and there are a various of steps in the future to come to evolve society’s implications of men’s and women’s positions in

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LIT 106 – Final Assignment Representation of women in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen’s Emma Jane Austen - Emma Jane Austen as one of the most widely read writer in English literature voices her concern about 18th century gender roles throughout her novels. A woman choosing to write as a talent has been, in and of itself, a feminist act for the majority of literary history. Authorship was traditionally a male dominated field with few mentors for female writers. Austen continued to exchange the perils of appearing to be too independent or critical of her patriarchal culture while still declaring her own voice within the novels themselves. On the level of plot, Austen undermined her somewhat progressive themes by working

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Rebecca West once said, “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat”; feminism and other social issues are fundamental to literature, with them commonly being a driving force behind both modern and classic works of fiction. Feminism is everywhere, with women still fighting for gender equality in modern day Britain as demonstrated through Emma Watson’s United Nations speech which was broadcasted in September of 2014 where she differentiates feminism from ‘man-hating’. Feminism has developed considerably over time as general attitudes have been swayed through literature, political movements and women’s portrayal of themselves. In 1847, Charlotte Bronte released her novel ‘Jane Eyre’ which was viewed as very radical for its time as Bronte uses Jane to exhibit her resentment towards society. Jane is presented as a morally strong, determined character who, when she falls in love, embraces the notion instead of the label and profits which are associated with it; she states that she “cares for [her]self” and that “more unsustained [she is], the more [she] will respect [her]self” as she is not tempted away from her self-respect.

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Jane Austen (1775-1817) was one of the greatest English novelists in a century distinguished by great novelists. In six works characterized by keen perception, comic genius, and an unequalled prose style, Austen depicts both the nobility and the folly of human beings, especially as they fall in and out of love, in upper-class British society at the turn of the nineteenth century. Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1813, is Austen’s most popular work. A sparkling comedy of manners and morals, the novel describes the collision between two superbly crafted characters: the aristocratic, prideful, but honourable FitzwilliamDarcy, and the intelligent, witty, vital Elizabeth Bennet, whose initial prejudice against Darcy gives way to respect, love, and, as is typical of Austen’s novels, a happy marriage at the end. It is a remarkably happy novel that we continue to enjoy in part because Austen’s characters fulfill fairy-tale expectations; admirable, smart, and engaging characters are rewarded, and stupid, trite, and rude characters are ridiculed and banished.

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Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is a great example of her works that looks at the role of women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Austen shows us the gender roles inflicted on women during this time period and how they are perceived. We see the strict gender roles that women were adhered to and the struggle for identity as a woman. Central to this novel is the vulnerability of women and the expectations surrounding gender influence everything and produce define results. Gender definitely determines and structures the world in which these characters live.

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