GENDER ROLES IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Keywords:
Jane Austen, Gender Roles, Feminism, Regency Society, Elizabeth Bennet, Literary AnalysisAbstract
The following explores how concerns of gender roles are engaged with in Austen's Pride and Prejudice, especially in how she subverts the patriarchal values and constraints of Early Nineteenth- Century English society. Boundaries placed on women are revealed through Austen's writerly tasks of developing the character of Elizabeth Bennet and morally transforming Mr. Darcy, in conjunction with reframing the ideas of esteem, equality, and the values associated with moral conduct. This illustrates an implicit critique of the gender roles associated with Austen's time, subtly advanced by the understated irony employed by the author and the even-handedness established by the wider narrative, the essence of which suggests gender emotional and intellectual equality.
References
1. Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Edited by Vivien Jones, Penguin Classics, 2003.
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4. Duckworth, Alistair M. The Improvement of the Estate: A Study
of Jane Austen’s Novels. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
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