Storytellings and poetry have always been relevant elements of society, a creative outlet compared to the hustle and bustle of practical human life. Within the past few centuries, literacy became a luxury available to all classes and genders. As women gained rights and freedoms, some stepped away from the norm and began to write. Texts written by these women have gone on to become incredibly influential, even ‘classics’ of their time. This report will analyse the effect of each time period on the writers and the work they produced.
Jane Austen was raised in the late 18th and early 19th century. Her family was successful by trade and although she was educated and accomplished, she was not rich. Her novels are primarily romance, but discuss
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Her writing portrays the disadvantages of women without being a ‘feminist novel’. Long before women could vote, they were expected to marry and be accomplished but also delicate and mild. The characters in her stories may have been women of society that ended up married, but their commentary on expectations could have only be from a female perspective, while as other romance writers at the time, such as Lord Byron wrote about the feeling of …show more content…
Austen was not so popular in her time, but became one of the best authors of Britain posthumously. Sylvia Plath was known in literary circles, but after her death also received more recognition. Agatha Christie was and is incredibly popular, a literary legend of the twentieth century. Rowling is still alive, her books being record breakers and immensely popular. Though writing completely different genres and time periods, the writers all have elements of feminism in their spirit and work. Austen analysed and commented on the expectations for women and marriage rituals, using satire and irony in her writing. Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice is an embodiment of the admiration of higher classes and condescension towards lower ones, as well as his dismissal of Elizabeth’s words, expressed in the following quote; “My situation in life, my connections with the family of de Bourgh, and my relationship to your own, are circumstances highly in my favour; and you should take it into further consideration, that in spite of your manifold attractions, it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may ever be made you. Your portion is unhappily so small that it will in all likelihood undo the effects of your loveliness and amiable qualifications. As I must therefore conclude that you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall choose to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the