StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
It is evidently clear from the discussion that Jane Austen used Pride and Prejudice, a story about love and the personal, household realm, to direct satire as a tool to challenge the assumptions and prejudices of her time, about status and gender…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97% of users find it useful
The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen"

The Erosion of Women’s Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice Colin Firth’s Darcy looked very appealing in a shirt wet from the lake, in the BBC film adaptation, is apparently without opposition [Col05], and most readers appreciate Jane Austen’s witty character dialogues. However, some readers and scholars focus on demonstrated patriarchal notions and feel Austen did not take the opportunity to criticize and rise above those restrictions, with her characters and plot (Morrison 337).

They will point, perhaps, a sentence like, “Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. (Austen 251). They will argue that Pride and Prejudice reinforce sexist stereotypes of women. Others focus on the way Jane Austen portrayed strong female characters who were dutiful but the creators of their own lives, in spite of the strict cultural restrictions of the day. They see her as subversive (Morrison 337). I will use this focus to argue that Pride and Prejudice, in fact, erode sexist stereotypes of women.

A core principle of feminist thought is that all people have value; that value is not a property only or primarily of men; that a woman has value and her value should be articulated and rewarded. Stereotypes of women are eroded when the value of women is upheld, noted and appropriately rewarded. Each time Jane Austen introduced a new character, in Pride and Prejudice, she spoke specifically of their value, for example in this brief excerpt: “She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper.

When she was discontented she fancied herself nervous (Austen 4). The importance of being noted and articulated lies not in flattery but rather in statements that acknowledge who the person is, and not necessarily who they are supposed to be. Stereotypes are negated by seeing a woman clearly, and not by glossing over her visibility or her eccentricity within a cultural-historical context. Not only in the introduction of characters but also in character development Austen reveals real women. Mrs.

Bennet, for example, may fall prey to the vapors, a distinctly counter-feminist indulgence, but she is also a strong woman, not terribly bright, silly and neurotic, but a driving force to be reckoned with nonetheless. Her power is exercised within the realities of her cultural and historical context, but she does not accept culturally-implied powerlessness. Her husband understands who she is and he clearly loves her. She recognizes herself in Lydia and values her, thus acknowledging her own value vicariously.

Elizabeth is a strong-willed, intelligent, witty, opinionated character, self-confident, having dancing eyes. She is realistically portrayed as having areas of weakness, particularly impertinence and her initial misjudgment of the male character, yet she was Austen’s favorite. “I must confess that I think her as delightful a character as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like at least, I do not know” (Austen 273). Furthermore, Darcy valued her and came to understand and respect her as his equal, by the end of the book.

Elizabeth, however, was a woman who, with or without male acknowledgment of her value, remained her authentic self. She loved and received love on her own terms and not at the behest of a man who desired her. Elizabeth is the character most like Jane Austen (Khei 58), and Austen’s admiration of her is at once an admiration of herself, a woman who resisted and questioned patriarchal prejudices of her time and felt pride in doing so. The stereotype of a heroine is that she is beautiful. Women are supposed to be beautiful and heroines are a superclass of women who should be particularly beautiful.

Feminism argues the stereotype, recognizing the value of a woman’s mind, and not only of her beauty, and seeing beauty as a property of every woman because every woman is unique. Elizabeth was said to have a not quite beautiful face and the reader is led to consider “that the major concern of the book is with the possibilities and responsibility of free and lively thought” (Morgan 340). This is a value that erodes the stereotype. Jane Austen’s writing was about the common household and has been criticized for not addressing the larger socio-political concerns of the day, especially the French Revolution (Khei 10).

Morrison agrees with Khei and also with Morgan’s observation that "Austen's 'social' concerns are with human relations, not society." (Morgan 4). Morrison, however, points out that this concentration on the person is appropriately feminine and only subject to criticism within a framework of patriarchal male values, in which the personal realm is discounted as inferior to larger social issues (338). In fact, male values are marginalized, in Pride and Prejudice (338), and this in itself elevates women’s concerns of the day (the personal) to a preoccupation of value.

This erodes the stereotype of women’s concerns having less value than men’s concerns. Austen’s masterful use of satire exerted a counter-force to the fantasies and ideas that were central to Romantic Era literature (Khei 13). Khei argues that it is through her use of satire that Austen best expresses the ideals of feminism, mocking status and gender inequality and guiding her characters to see each other as equals (13). This is the basis upon which stereotypes can be eroded and authenticity honored. 

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/gender-sexual-studies/1440647-the-erosion-of-womens-sexist-stereotypes-in-pride-and-prejudice
(The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice Essay)
https://studentshare.org/gender-sexual-studies/1440647-the-erosion-of-womens-sexist-stereotypes-in-pride-and-prejudice.
“The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/gender-sexual-studies/1440647-the-erosion-of-womens-sexist-stereotypes-in-pride-and-prejudice.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Erosion of Womens Sexist Stereotypes in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen

It is not too difficult to imagine the role of nineteenth century woman in pride and prejudice as being not much more than vessels of import for the all important male heir and objects which were bartered for.... Moreover, it is clear that in pride and prejudice, that the women in the novel, with the exception of the reckless Lydia, were perfectly aware of their status and as a consequence, their role.... However, women in pride and prejudice, for the most part demonstrate Jane Austen's own belief and compliance with orthodox tradition....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This dissertation discusses Jane Austen's novel "pride and prejudice", that is a reflection of the nature of courtship during the Victorian era.... The title of the novel itself: pride and prejudice, points to some impediments in this journey towards love.... Finally, we have seen that jane austen has made use of a series of universal constructs as the grounds for the construction of her novel.... … In the dissertation, it shows that despite all of the hypocrisies innate within the Victorian courtship tradition, there is still the possibility for one to find true love if they are able to realize and free themselves from, their own pride and prejudices....
84 Pages (21000 words) Dissertation

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Austen's authority of delicate prejudice and shrewd wisdom is exposed in pride and prejudice; she is able to express such a multifaceted message using a simple, but witty style.... It was written by jane austen, the renowned novelist of yester years.... pride and prejudice is one of the greatest classics of all times.... The key subject of this novel is courtship and marriage. Jane Austen, the author of pride and prejudice, depicts and indirectly picks apart the 18th century England's rustic society and the pride of high class through a number of people's marriages who are in different social positions....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

A Feminist Examination of Pride and Prejudice

Feminists have argued that, as a result of being able to write things into existence, men wield an uncontrollable amount of power to write the female body into a multitude of oppressed roles, and through systemic racism, sexist, heterosexism, and classicist domination, women have been...
11 Pages (2750 words) Research Paper

Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice

The essay "Jane Austen's pride and prejudice" analyzes the importance of class distinctions in the novel pride and prejudice.... pride and prejudice thus gives a description of a satirical society where getting married is a way of social mobility to flee lives of ignonimity and drudgery as governesses' girls had to fortune-hunt for wealthy husbands for survival.... From this novel, it is evident that jane austen wrote it with awareness of the class issues that affect different societies....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Treatment of Men and Women in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Auston and Provoked by Rahila Gupta

The book review "Treatment of Men and Women pride and prejudice by jane Auston and Provoked by Rahila Gupta" states: In this essay, I have addressed the question of whether the issues of gender bias existed in the 19th century still prevalent in today's contemporary world.... the belittling of women as portrayed in pride and prejudice is still common in the homes and institutions of modern societies.... In this Essay I shall be responding to the research question which is, how are men and women considered to be different form each other giving rise to the trend of prejudice against the weaker gender and how the two books, 'pride and prejudice' by Jane Austin and 'Provoked' by Kiranjit Ahluwalia and Rahila Gupta are instrumental in understanding the same and analyzing its causes in the light of historical background....
15 Pages (3750 words) Book Report/Review

Social Section Questions as a Critical source for the Understanding of Events

This paper demonstrates an analysis of ocean life that can handle radioactive water, "sense and sensibility" written by jane Austin, royal wedding bill, and others.... his is another classic love story in American Literature by jane Austin.... In the case of" sense and sensibility," jane Austin shows the value of money over love and love over money (Tetlock, 1986).... jane Austin shows this in the writing of the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth and Bingley and jane....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Jane Austin, Pride and Prejudice

nbsp;… It was a dialogue of Caroline, one of the characters in pride and prejudice.... Our discussion on legal issues in pride and prejudice is based on the facts related to property and marriage.... This work called "Jane Austin, pride and prejudice" describes law relating to the relationship among individuals.... The author takes into account the novel "pride and prejudice" by Jane Austen, the law of marriage, the conflicts among characters, the role of social relations in the novel....
7 Pages (1750 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us