TheFeministConsciousnessReflectedinPrideandprejudice.doc

the feminist consciousness reflected in pride and prejudice. introductionthe womens movement is the social struggle which aims to eliminate forms of oppression based on gender and to gain for women equal economic and social status and rights to determine their own lives as are enjoyed by men. the womens movement can be traced back to elightment era.it is the womens movement that has brought feminism into being. in general, feminism is “a doctrine that advocates for women the same rights granted to men or a movement aimed at equal rights for women” (/feminism/). actually, feminist applies theory to the womens movement. they are closely connected with each other. it is recognized that feminist is of two meanings: one is that feminist should be aware of the unequal and unfair treatments suffered by the female in a specific society, and of the consequent helplessness and disadvantage; the other, the feminist should confirm female self-value and the sense of value, that is, confirm female dignity, the value as an individual and the marked contribution to culture . 英语论文写作网the first stirrings of the womens movement were felt with the publication of mary wollstonecraft s a vindication of the right of woman in 1792. (susan m. shaw & janet lee,2001:24) jane austen, as the feminist leader mary wollstoncrafts contemporary, is the first great woman writer in english literature, and represents that women are playing an increasingly important part in literary scene. in her novel pride and prejudice, she not only pays attention to women status in society, but also creates a new image of woman. elizabeth, the heroine of the novel, appears as an intelligent, rebellious, independent woman. through elizabeth, jane austen expresses her attitude towards marriage and society, and her hope that women will one day become as independent as elizabeth.英语论文写作网this thesis intends to analyze the novel to find out how feminism is reflected in it, and explore jane austens real feelings toward the unfair social circumstances. pride and prejudice has always been a popular novel because of its interesting plot, unique perspective and sarcastic art of language. this paper is intended to discuss the feminist consciousness hidden behind the light and interesting plot of the novel. by doing this, we want people to notice a different aspect of the novel. the novel is far more than just a love story. we can find clear marks of how womens lives were in jane austens time, and how inferior their social position was. as the first female writer to touch the “taboo” fieldfeminism, jane austen had to face many difficulties. when we realize this, pride and prejudice becomes much more unusual because it represents the awakening of feminist consciousness in the 19#th century.英语论文写作网.. the portrayal of elizabeth as a pioneer2.1 elizabeths intelligence and reason英语论文写作网elizabeth is the main heroine in the novel. she is a sensible, intelligent and humorous girl. unlike other females at her time, she has sharp mind and her own judgment. from the beginning of the novel, we learn that mr. bennet pays a preference to his second daughter, elizabeth, because “she has something more of quickness than her sisters.” (austen, 2003:3)though young, and having been confined in the rural society, elizabeth is always busy with studying others characters. she always has deep insight and observes things from her knowledge.while elizabeth insights are original and deep, her conversations are full of wit and humor. her language is very concise and penetrating, especially in her dialogues with darcy. in chapter ten, darcy asks elizabeth to dance a reel when miss bingley is playing the piano.she smiled, but made no answer. he repeated the question, with some surprise at her silence.“oh!” said she, “i heard you before; but i could not immediately determine what to say in reply. you wanted me, i know, to say “yes,” that you might have the pleasure of despising my taste; but i always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes, and cheating a person of their premeditated contempt, i have therefore made up my mind to tell you, that i do not want to dance a reel at all and now despise me if you dare.” (austen, 2003:40-41) 英语毕业论文网.this passage shows elizabeth is quick-witted and sensible. her sense and reason come from her ability to use knowledge as well as her self-confidence. it is the inner beauty of elizabeth that has attracted darcy rather than her appearance.英语论文写作网most of all, elizabeth is a rational woman. she always tempers her behavior with reason and moral. even when she is feeling for wickham, she sees her action guided by her reason, and watchs herself from being over-passionate. it is obvious in the promise she makes to her aunt, mrs. gardiner,“#i will take care of myself, and of mr. wickham too. he shall not be in love with me, if i can prevent it.”(austen, 2003:115) 英语论文写作网so when she hears the news that wickham gets engaged with miss king, who inherits ten thousand pounds from her uncle in a sudden, elizabeth writes to her aunt, thinking “nothing could be more nature”. she even explains for wickham that “handsome men must have something to live on, as well as the plain”, and finally relieves that “my watchfulness has been effectual.” (austen, 2003:119)elizabeths intelligence is one of the most important highlights of the novel, and guides the whole plot. today, it is very common and natural to see such kind of heroines in a novel. however, it is most unusual to see such a thing at jane austens time. that is because women were considered foolish and stupid in that generation. the old latin saying “tota mulier in utero; women is nothing but a womb.” （.tw/ch erry/content/040803.doc）established this attitude early. and this attitude has lasted for many centuries. women are severely discriminated both biologically and psychologically. the social norms prevent women from being intelligent and wise. self-control and humility are considered the most valuable virtues of women. men fear that women will lose their gentleness with the development of their intelligence and talent. therefore, it is universally accepted that womens intelligence is inferior to mens.however, jane austen is the first one to challenge this social norm, and bring about a new concept women can be as foolish as mrs. bennet, but also can be as intelligent as elizabeth, and men are not always intelligent, they can be as foolish as mr. collins too, thus man and woman are totally equal in intelligence. this provides an equal footing for the development both of male and female. elizabeths appearance is just like a thunderbolt which suddenly falls on the male dominant community and brings hope to many suppressed women. jane austen realizes that the biology difference between male and female are defined by men rather by nature, since men are the dominant of the society. just like simone de beauvior, a famous french feminist, points out in second sex, “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.it is civilization as a whole that produces this creatureonly the intervention of someone else can establish an individual as an other.” (beauvior, 2004:251) mans dominance has secured an ideological climate of compliance. they have striven to show that the subordinate position of woman is willed in heaven and advantageous on earth. therefore, the inequality between men and women is formed by men, rather than by biology. unfortunately, when everyone believes that female is not as intelligent as male, this faith becomes a social ideology, and even women take it for granted. therefore, it is especially difficult for a female writer to rediscover the actual face of the society. jane austen is not only aware of the unequal and unfair treatments suffered by the female in a specific society, but also clearly brings out her protest by creating an intelligent woman to struggle for her freedom from biological difference.#2.2 elizabeths courage to revolt against traditionjane austen not only endows elizabeth intelligence, but also endows her courage. she is different from other females in the novel, because she dares to speak out what exactly she thinks and will never yield to conventions. she is determined and strong-minded, and she will do anything she thinks right rather than do everything according to social norms. she shows her mock and disdain towards some social rules. when jane is ill in mr. binleys house, she decides to walk there in dirt despite her mothers disagreement. when she is visiting lady catherine with mr. and mrs. collins, every one is awed and afraid of lady catherine, but elizabeth is free to speak her mind out though she knows it will offend lady catherine. she is never frightened by wealth or power. elizabeths courage comes from her independent characters. she has her own moral standard and value system, and is confident of herself. she does not depend on the social norms to evaluate her behavior, thus she always does what she wants to do and is free from being influenced by others opinions.the most thrilling rebellion elizabeth has made against the social custom is that she marries darcy despite that her family background is inferior to darcys. elizabeth and darcys marriage is not favored by the social norms, just like lady catherine has said, “because honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it. yes, miss bennet, interest; for do not expect to be noticed by his family and friends, if you willfully act against the inclinations of all. you will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him. your alliance will be a disgrace; your name will never be mentioned by any of us.” (austen, 2003:278) yet, elizabeth is not overwhelmed by the social difference. she insists in seeking her happiness regardless of the social rules, because she thinks that every one has the right to seek his own happiness, and she has a natural feminist moral that men and women are born equal regardless of their birth, so she shouts out, “he is a gentleman; i am a gentlemans daughter; so far we are equal.” (austen, 2003:356) elizabeths courage and rebellion may just be the representation of austens resolution to become the pioneer of feminism. elizabeth courage comes from her independent character. just as virginia woolf points out, “independence was the first necessity for a woman; not grace or charm, but energy and courage and the power to put her will into effect were her necessary qualities.” however, in jane austens society, obedience is supposed to be the most important virtue of a woman. in a male-dominating society, women are supposed to behave like jane in pride and prejudice, who is gentle, mild, pleasing and obedient. women are imprisoned and constrained by the dominant ideologies of womanhood, and they are tabooed expressing their passion or telling the feelings about their experience. men do not want women to have independent characters, because once women become spirit-independent and powerful, they will threat the social structure in which men are masters of everything.英语论文写作网however, jane austen does not agree to this social convention. through elizabeth#, jane austen expresses her feminist consciousness that a woman should have an independent mind at the first place so that she will not be a victim of the ill society where women are in disadvantageous position. with an independent character, woman will not behave according to the social rules which are formed in the male culture. it is just like george eliot s statement: when “the duty of obedience ends and the duty of resistance begins” (showalter, 2004:24), the responsibility of self-fulfillment become paramount. jane austen is the first female writer to pay attention to this, and tries to break it down through courage and rebellion.2.3 elizabeths self-discovery 英语论文写作网self-discovery is another important feature jane austen gives to elizabeth. though elizabeth is confined in the countryside and not as accomplished as other ladies, she never feels self-conscious. instead, she has strong confidence. no matter whom she meets and no matter what situation it is, she can always be in composure, because she trusts her intelligence and knowledge.英语论文写作网.however intelligent elizabeth is, her character has its own deficiency. actually, she is over-confident, and relies too much on her perception, so that she does not realize her prejudice towards darcy. to some extent, elizabeth is also pride, just as she points out to lucas when they are discussing about darcys pride, “i could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.” (austen, 2003:15)but after she reads darcys letter, elizabeth begins to rethink the whole thing. she finally comes to realize that she hates darcy because he has hurt her pride when they meet for the first time, and that while wickham compliments and pleases her from the beginning of their acquaintance so that she grows a liking to him. after analyzing herself and self-examination, she sheds off prejudice and sees a new development of the relationship with darcy. from this self-examination, elizabeth grows into mature, which makes her personality more charming, and she finally develops into a completely independent, and self-esteemed female. from her dialogues with lady catherine when she is forced to promise never to marry darcy, we can find elizabeth has got rid of the mortification feelings with her disgraced family connections, and becomes an entirely confident female.here, jane austen displays a character changing with the development of her experience. she implies that women have great potential of development and self-improvement. just like males, females also have logic and reason. they can learn from experiences and mistakes and move forward to further enhance themselves. she emphasizes that woman is rational creature as well as man, and what is more, woman has very large scope to develop once they realize their strength and power. this self-discovery has significant meaning to the society where jane austen lives. since women are severely discriminated in the society, and even women themselves do not realize the fact that they are being suppressed by the male-culture. jane austen not only advocates women to discover their disadvantageous position, but also urge them to discover their real strength and potential. self-discovery is the beginning of women movement, because only when women realize their real power can they rise to their feet to struggle for the same rights as men have.#generally speaking, elizabeth is intelligent, brave and rebellious. she is a pioneer of her time. jane austen embodies her feminist thoughts in elizabeths character. these three features of elizabeths character supplement each other, and form a new female image. self-discovery is the basic of feminist consciousness, since only when women discover their strength and realize the unfair treatment they receive can they begin to struggle for their rights. intelligence and reason is the foundation of self-discovery. only if women realize that they are as intelligent and sensible as men can they further discover the great potential they have. finally, courage to revolt against social custom is crucial for women to strive for a just new social structure. therefore, intelligence, reason, courage to revolt against social custom and self-discovery are actually some basic features a female has to possess if she wants to change the unfair situation. jane austen constructs her ideal image of female in this novel, and imposes her ideology on the whole society that women should be as intelligent, brave, and self-perfected, and most of all, be equal to men. this is the expectation austen holds for universal common women, instead of just for the heroine.iii. womens status reflected in the novel3.1 womens economic positionone of the unique features of pride and prejudice is that jane austen has brought out economic problems in it, and economy is a hidden clue of the novel.at the beginning of pride and prejudice, jane austen brings forward a philosophy in an ironic and humorous tone, “it is universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”. (austen, 2003:1) actually, it implies a reversed philosophy, “a single woman without adequate economic secure must be in want of a husband in possession of a good fortune”. that is the problem the five daughters of mrs. bennet face at that moment. from the novel, we can see that women at that time do not have jobs, or any other economic incomes. what is worse, they can never be the heir. just like miss bennets, they can not inherit the estate when their father passes away. with the appearance of mr. collins, the sole legal heir of mr. bennet, the insecurity and tense are touched and become severer, and that is why for mrs. bennet “the business of her life was to get her daughters married”. (austen, 2003:3)charlotte lucas is an important minor character in pride and prejudice. she has the same intelligence and sensitivity as elizabeth, yet, she yields to the social claims, and married mr. collins to get a secure place for the rest of her life. she succumbs to the social conventions, because she believes that marriage is “the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.”# (austen, 2003:99) therefore, she grabs the opportunity to encourage mr. conllins to propose to her when elizabeth declines mr. collins. though jane austen does not approve her on her attitude towards marriage, she shows her pity and compassion towards charlotte l