Oppression Of Women In Pride And Prejudice By Jane Austen

It was not just men who had pressure placed on them for what they should or should not read. Generally, the higher classes, which Austen tended to write about, taught young girls what may be seen as simply trivia to readers today. This is most effectively seen in Mansfield Park, just after Fanny had been relocated to Mansfield. Her cousins, Julia and Maria, were astonished at the fact that ‘she does not know the difference between water-colours and crayons!’ (MP, 21). It is clear in this, that the two sisters are being educated with the aim of becoming accomplished, rather than educated in literature and mathematics as their brothers would have been. As Mukherjee describes, ‘women’s education in the eighteenth century hinged upon the question

In the period which Jane Austen was writing in, there was a huge emphasis on the concept of the Accomplished Woman. This is prevalent throughout her work, with many characters expressing the accomplishments which they believe a certain woman to have. Throughout the novels, there is no woman so highly esteemed in this regard as Miss Georgianna Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Miss Bingley describes her, in a letter, as not having ‘her equal for beauty, elegance, and accomplishments’ (PP, 78). It is clear, therefore, that being accomplished was something which was highly esteemed, on par with beauty and elegance, in the character and reputation of women. In general, a woman was considered to be accomplished if she could draw, sew, play an instrument and sing, along with other such talents. Mr Darcy, however, sees these as only a baseline for accomplishments, and includes that ‘to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind through extensive reading’ as a requirement for viewing a woman as truly accomplished (PP, 25). This is something which Elizabeth takes offense to, despite her love of reading. She claims that she is not surprised that he claims not to know a large number of accomplished women, and that she ‘rather wonder[s] now at your knowing any’ (PP, 25). It may be the

From the moment there is mention of performing a play, Fanny and Edmund are both entirely opposed to the idea. Edmund states that ‘my father wished us, as schoolboys, to speak well, but he would never wish his grown-up daughters to be acting plays.’ (MP, 136). This is a significant distinction. While being able to read and speak in public was a respected skill, ‘Actresses were women in public and thus continued to run the risk of being equated with prostitutes’ (Sales, 126), which, despite the women only performing in their own home, causes enough of an association to be deemed somewhat unsuitable. Even in the men’s performance, there are greater societal issues at play. Tom, in offering to take the lines of the cottager’s wife, Sales sensationalises that he ‘puts a representation of an ale-house up in his father’s billiard room and offers to perform a drag act in front of it.” (102). While this is a slightly extreme reflection on the scenario, it is an example of the tenuous connections which would make the acting of the piece wholly inappropriate. However, the animated reading of extracts from plays or novels is, in fact, highly respected in the society of these novels. Even Fanny, who was the most steadfastly opposed to a