Pride And Prejudice: Gender Injustice

The idea that mental privacy is important for women in order for them to develop and maintain their independence gives reason as to why Elizabeth rejected Mr. Collins but agrees to marry Mr. Darcy. When rejected, Mr. Collins immediately went to invade her mental space by telling her how she should have responded and then continued to badger her by telling her he will be back. Elizabeth herself combats Mr. Collins by stating “You must give me leave to judge for myself, and pay me the compliment of believing what I say;” here she demands her own mental privacy and, consequently, her physical privacy as well (Austen 74). On the other hand, Mr. Darcy gives Elizabeth the space she needs; he does not probe her but instead allows her to grow intellectually.

Darcy, Mr. Darcy simply gives a letter of explanation instead of attacking her demonstrating that he truly respects Elizabeth and her mental privacy-- this simple act allowed her to form her own thoughts and opinions based off the information she was given (Austen

Despite showing that women, such as Charlotte, need to marry men they do not love just to gain financial security, Austen clearly believes that women are just as intelligent and capable as men are. Through Pride and Prejudice, she also shows that women’s inferior status in society is unjust and should not allow for women’s physical and mental capacity to be broken. This is very much different than Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where women were invaded, murdered and thrown to the side just for the purpose of plot progression. The feminist politics of Shelley’s novel exist only for the purpose of man-- women are used to encourage action and create a masculine of production Shelley’s women are objectified, used and easily discarded while Austen’s characters are developed, free-thinking individuals who are given a voice throughout the