Jane Austen is one of the most prominent English writers of the 19th-century novel. Mainly known for her skills in describing the society around her, Austen is one of the writers of her time who was able to sketch a very apt description of her society and did so with the remarkable genius of the pen. Being a female writer, her themes were strongly feminine, and almost all of her works revolve around women and their place in the society. This included the various roles that a female played in society; as a young woman, a wife, a daughter or a woman with any kind of ambition (Azrak 3). However, the way she described women and their place in society were more of a satire on their treatment and role in society, and she did so as a way of criticizing the behavior of the women of her time.
If one were to compare the status and role of women in society in the 19th with the 21st century, there are certainly stark differences between the two. Jane Austen began writing in the advent of the Romantic Period however, her work was devoid of the imaginative and emotional drift that was present in the work of her contemporary writers (Harcourt). She also did not write on a broader perspective largely because of the experience she had and the limitations she lived through. In the 19th century England, she lived a life of privacy, and her world was small. Her experience of the country was little and apart from seeing a few villages and towns, she had not gone through much. Coupled with this, she had lived a protected, unmarried life where she also did not gain any education. This led to her novels being restricted to the daily routines and lives of women in the country and everything that was pertinent to the women of her class and status (Harcourt).
Yet she was a woman who realized that women in her society were only capable of living a limited life, and this is what she portrayed in almost all her works. Pride and Prejudice is one major example of the critical review of the women in Austen’s time. The very first line of the novel opens up the theme of the novel and the role of a woman considered in her time; “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). Hence, she sets the tone of the novel that women are only fit for men that are wealthy and are particularly in need of a woman that can live with them amidst their wealth as one of their possessions. This is linked to the existence of the rich and handsome Charles Bingley, who is the center of attention of all the mothers and young women in the vicinity, especially for the Bennet household. Women need to have a wealthy husband in order to survive. Hence, they need to marry this man in particular (Scholieren). This happens to be a point of view that will be strongly criticized by the feminists of today, however, in Austen’s time, women were completely reliant on husbands and especially wealthy ones.
Women were undoubtedly objectified in her society, and only the prettiest, and very attractive ones were able to land themselves into rich homes, even if they came from average families. It is not very different today as well; women are indeed appreciated for being physically appealing, and many of them earn their fame and wealth from their looks (Sutherland). However the difference arises from the society’s acceptability of allowing these women to have an education, go to college and pursue careers equivalent to those which men have, is a major discrepancy between the two ages (Scholieren). Women in the 19th century, carried only a formal education which allowed her to read or perhaps write and the very limited job opportunities prevented them from going outdoors, earning a living and building a fortune for themselves (Swords 77). Hence, they were reliant on rich men. Pride and Prejudice describe this perfectly by describing the young and inquisitive mind harbored by Elizabeth Bennet and how she could do so much more in life if she read more. As Elizabeth, herself tells, women were encouraged to read, but what would they do with all that reading and those of them that wished to remain idle and do nothing were allowed to do so (Austen 133). Thus, being a writer herself, Austen is criticizing the mindset and social set-up of her society where a woman like herself can write to have a voice only if she wants to, but society itself will do nothing to empower her.
Women in Austen’s time behaved the way they did because of the societal ways. The richer, upper-class women did have a few portals open for them however if they did not study or marry, they had relatives and family members to support them financially (Shirley). Just as it is Elizabeth’s case, she has no brothers, hence she relies on her father’s fortune and so she needs to marry otherwise she will be in financial trouble once her father passes away.
Certain jobs were also considered humiliating and degrading, such as becoming a governess in a home, where at times a woman might be harassed by a male or given menial chores to do which would not make sufficient money (Swords 78). If a woman wanted to opt for a different career choice, she would lose her social standing and respect. Moreover, respect also lay in the hands of living as an unmarried woman. Austen shows how a single woman cannot travel alone, hence whenever the Bennet sisters traveled, they had a chaperone and staying over at someone’s included the residence of a married woman. When Lydia ran away, her solace was only marriage, which would reaffirm her position in society. Hence, Austen reveals how women’s behavior and social standing revolved around the societal mindset and the helplessness regarding society’s views on women (Shirley).
Work Cited
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 2008. 1-234. Web. 25 July 2016.
Azrak, Sara El. “A Vision of Women through Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.” (2016): 1-12. Web. 25 July 2016.
Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin. Jane Austen. 2016. Web. 25 July 2016.
Scholieren. Jane Austen and the women of her time. Scholieren.com, n.d. Web. 25 July 2016.
Shirley. Jane Austen: Pride and prejudice -- notes on education, marriage, the status of women, etc.
2004. Web. 25 July 2016.
Sutherland, Kathryn. Jane Austen: Social realism and the novel. The British Library, 12 Feb.
2014. Web. 25 July 2016.
Swords, Barbara Women’s place in Jane Austen’s England. Jane Austen Society of North
America. Mar. 1983. 76-82. Web. 25 July 2016.
