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A Feminist Study of the Women inPride and PrejudiceA Graduation ThesisSubmitted to the Department of Foreign Languages and LiteratureIn Fulfillment of the Study of ENG4910For the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsXXXShantou University May 11, 2012 Title: A Feminist Study of Women in Pride and PrejudiceAuthor: XXXAdvisor: XXX (Professor)Abstract The thesis aims at developing an insightful view on the situations of women as represented in Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of feminism. The novel offers us a miniature sketch of women in the early nineteenth century. The thesis attempts to explore social causes of womens lower status, social constraints and dependency on men by analyzing man-dominated education, economic constraints and man-centered marriagefor women in patriarchal society. It employs the theory of some feminist writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Simone De Beauvoir and Kate Millett in my analysis. In light of the feminist study of women in Pride and Prejudice, because of the oppression in education and economy, these women are marginalized in social life. They have to change their autonomy to docility and dependency. Marriage is the destiny designed for women. The novel does not point out another way to achieve the success of women, neither does it revolt patriarchy of the time. The seemingly happy ending actually reinforces the patriarchal systemrather than the emancipation of women from it. Thus, the thesis not only provides the reader with a profound understanding of Austens Pride and Prejudice, but also helps the reader comprehend the true emancipation of women.Keywords: feminism, patriarchy, education, economic constraints, marriage题目：以女权主义视角解读傲慢与偏见里的女性问题作者：XXX导师：XX (教授)摘要本文以女权主义理论为框架，通过分析英国作家简.奥斯丁在傲慢与偏见塑造的女性形象，以此来深入了解19世纪初女性生活的状况。本文试图从三个方面来探讨造成女性地位低下，依赖男人的社会因素，分别是父权社会下女性的教育、经济束缚和婚姻。本文将运用女权主义作家玛莉渥斯顿克雷福特，西蒙娜德波伏娃，凯特 米利特等的女权主义理论来解读小说中所反映出来的女性问题。通过分析，我们可知由于女性在教育，经济等方面的原因，蒙受了各种社会势力的贬损，于是从少女的独立自主的状态跌落至成年后谦卑的依附状态。小说中幸福美满的结局是传统女性命运的安排，并没有指明除结婚以外另外一条生存出路，也没有改变父权社会的秩序，所以并没有解放女性，反而加强了父权主义制度。因此，本文不仅帮助读者深刻理解奥斯丁的作品傲慢与偏见，更是提供了一个女性解放的深刻含义。关键词：女权主义，父权制度，女性的教育，经济束缚，婚姻ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof.XXX, without whose continuing assistance, advice and encouragement, this thesis may still fall into the category of “work-in-progress”. Her profound inspiration and insightful suggestions ensures its successful completion. I would also like to acknowledge the numerous inspirations provided by the professors in the Center for International Studies and Center for Women Studies at Shantou University, whose guidance helps my thesis a lot.Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my family and my good friends for their support and encouragement. TABLE OF CONTENTSAbstractIIAbstract (Chinese Version)IIIAcknowledgementIIIIntroduction11.Man-Dominated Education for Women42.Economic Constraints for Women73.Man-Centered Marriage for Women10Conclusion13Works Cited1516Introduction Jane Austen (1775-1817) is a well-known English novelist in the early nineteenth century. She wrote six important novels: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1816), Northanger Abbey (1818) and Persuasion (1818), among which Pride and Prejudice is the most popular. Her novels paint a realistic picture of the small circle of landed gentry in countryside England, in which social mobility is limited and patriarchy is strong. Social advancement for women is usually through a successful marriage. All of her six novels deal with the theme of love and marriage. Her bright and young heroines finally surmount obstacles and achieve romantic happiness. The reader also can find the fixed pattern in the two sisters marriages represented in Pride and Prejudice . The studies on this novel mainly are divided into two categories: thematic analysis and textual analysis. In thematic analysis, it is conducted through four parts. Firstly, love and marriage are the main theme of this novel. Marcus discusses and makes contrasts among four types of marriage: Elizabeth-Darcy, Charlotte-Collins, Jane-Bingley, and Lydia-Wickham. He reveals that marriage in bourgeois England is based on money and social status. Secondly, many scholars explore the theme of feminist consciousness by analysing its social background. In “Pride and Prejudice: Power, Fantasy, and Subversion in Jane Austen” (1978), Newton demonstrates the social reality that women are always discriminated and ignored in patriarchal society. Besides, in Austen, Feminism and Fiction (2000), Margaret Kirkham makes an account of Austen in the context of eighteenth-century feminist ideas. The author investigates the middle-class women problems. It shows Austens views on the status of women, female education, marriage and the family. The inequality of education and employment implied in the novel expresses Austens concern about women and manifests her feminist consciousness. Thirdly, some scholars study the characteristics of the heroine Elizabeth Bennet to understand the novel. In “Elizabeth Bennet” (2004), Wright compares Elizabeth with other women in the novel. He contends that her independence “makes her extraordinary and attractive personality felt” (2004: 40). More importantly, she bravely pursues her love with great dignity. Lastly, a few scholars study the meaning of pride and prejudice in the novel. In “Pride and Prejudice in Pride and Prejudice” (1968), Zimmerman reveals that Elizabeths pride makes her misjudge Darcy on the basis of a poor first impression, while Darcys prejudice against Elizabeths poor social standing blinds him to her many virtues. In textual analysis, many studies focus on its characteristics of language, especially the verbal irony. In “A Study of Irony in Pride and Prejudice from the Perspective of the Relevance Theory” (2011), Fang analyses the verbal irony on the grounds of the Relevance Theory to understand the themes of the novel.This thesis aims at developing an insightful view on the situations of women in the early nineteenth century from a perspective of feminism. It attempts to explore the social causes of womens lower status, social constraints and dependency on man. It employs the theory of important feminist writers including Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), Simone De Beauvoir (1908-1986) and Kate Millett (1934- ). Wollstonecraft is best known for A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), in which she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear to be only because men have denied them access to education. She criticizes educational philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who argues in mile (1762) that women should be educated for the pleasure of men. She argues that both men and women should be treated as rational beings. Woolf in her A Room of Ones Own points out that economic inequality causes womens dependency on men. Beauvoir is famous for her 1949 treatise The Second Sex, a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. She analyses womens oppression in detail. She distinguishes the terms “sex” and “gender” and formulates that “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” (1953: 273). Milletts Sexual Politics has become a classic feminist text. She discusses the role that patriarchy plays in sexual relations. In Pride and Prejudice, women is the center of the topic. The thesis in three parts analyses man-dominated education, economic constraints and man-centered marriagefor women in patriarchal society. The theory developed by the above feminist writers concerning these three parts will provide the reader a subtle perspective to study the women in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice.1. Man-Dominated Education for Women Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) contends that it is “the false system of education” that leads to womens wretchedness (1833: 6). J. S. Mill in The Subjection of Women points out that “the object of being attractive to men had become the polar star of feminine education and formation of character” (Twells, 2007: 24). Men dominate politics and economy in society. They label women as the feebleminded and exclude women out of reason. In man-dominated education for women, much attention has paid to womens physical beauty and tender temperament rather than knowledge and strength. Fragility is falsely considered as a tactics to obtain protection from men and tenderness of manners a part of sexual attractiveness, which contributes much to womens “status, temperament and role” (Millett, 1970: 54). The man-oriented education renders women alluring objects instead of human beings equal to men. They are nurtured to be feminine in temperament by sacrificing strength of their minds. The feminine temperament and the neglected cultivation of minds in education lead to womens subjection towards men. Womens independence and identities are admonished by patriarchal education. Firstly, for temperament, women are taught by the example of their mothers to be week and meek to raise mens emotion instead of inspiring respect. Independence of women is unjustly regarded as cunning and imprudence. Men exploit womens weakness to hold them in subjection and assure their positions of authority. When Caroline Bingley invites Jane Bennet to dine with them, her mother Mrs. Bennet, “a mean understanding” woman, insists that Jane go on horseback because “it seems to rain; and then you Jane must stay all night” (Austin, 1991: 26). She silly thinks that serious injury to Janes health and strength will secure Mr. Bingleys adoration and protection. Jane is educated by her mother to submit herself to a system of mental training framed and adopted for men. She is designed to resign her autonomy to mans hands and rendered to be in a state of childhood dependent on man. However, Jane herself is intoxicated by this kind of “servility in absolute monarchies” (Wollstonecraft, 1833: 38). She ventures her health to satisfy Mr. Bingley. On the contrary, Elizabeth Bennet, an active and independent character, is always scolded by her mother, despised by Caroline and criticized by Lady Catherine. When Elizabeth bravely walks three miles to see Jane in Meryton, Caroline sneers at her, “it seems to me that to shew show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country town, indifference to decorum” (Austin, 1991: 31). Elizabeths independence is unjustly labeled as inappropriateness of conduct because it is against masculine authority. The patriarchal educational notions of prescribed appropriate temperament perpetuate the infantilization of women. Secondly, women are debarred from the cultivation of their minds. Wollstonecraft maintains that “The most perfect education. is such an exercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen the body and form the heart. Or, in other words, to enable the individual to attain such habits of virtue as will render it independent.” (1833: 21) Attending balls in Pride and Prejudice has become womens sole interest because “to be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” (Austin, 1991: 6). Mrs. Bennet always encourages her favorite daughter Lydia to attend balls but ignores her cultivation of understanding. Without a ball, life is boring and gloomy for Lydia. Without wider range of education, Lydia cannot form a lofty ideal of life. In her mind, flirtation with officers is everything while morality is nothing. She understands little the true virtue of women that would lift her from the duties of her allotted station. Mrs. Bennets wrong educational notion makes her daughter a prey to men who find amusement in society. “The ignorance and emptiness of her mind” (Austin, 1991: 205) leads to her imprudent and silly acts. Wollstonecraft states that “in the education of women the cultivation of the understanding is always subordinate to the acquirement of women corporeal accomplishment” (1833: 23). The narrowness of mind arises from false educational notion that the glory of women lies in the decorum and mens adoration. Miss Bingley thinks that an accomplished woman must have “a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain thing in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved”. (Austin, 1991: 34). However, these accomplishments are served to please men rather than improve her mental facilities and spiritual strength. She is excluded from those branches of study especially “calculated to form the judgment, to cultivate the understanding” (Twells, 2007: 39). Miss Bingley spends her time on drawing, dressing and playing cards. She resorts to reading to attract Darcys attention but not to cultivate her mind and inspire her spirit. She possesses no true interest but ornamental decorum. All her accomplishments are taught to cater for mens tastes. “They were taught to please, and they only live to please” (Wollstonecraft, 1833: 24). As much emphasis is placed on their “corporeal accomplishments” in womens education, the women in Pride and Prejudice become bitter and languid when their youth is gone and past.In conclusion, womens independence and autonomy are destroyed by man-dominated education. Women are designed to be dull and silly objects. The prescribed meek temperament serves mens superiority. The deprivation of cultivation of minds nurtures women as disciplined slaves. They are told that the subjection and submission are womens charm and virtue. Womens lives in Pride and Prejudice center on men, and they cannot stand alone. They make themselves pleasing in mens eyes and not to provoke him to anger. In man-dominated education, independence is destined to be kicked out womens temperament. Knowledge is far away from womens lives. Women cannot possess the quickness of perception and discern the true beauty and defect. Education for women in patriarchal society is the source of womens folly. 2. Economic Constraints for WomenVirginia Woolf (1882-1941) in her essay A Room of Ones Own explores the question “Why did men drink wine and women water? Why was one sex so prosperous and the other so poor?” (2005: 25). She maintains that “Women, as non-persons without legal standing, were permitted no actual economic existence as they could neither own nor earn in their own right” (2005: 39). She means that women suffer from poverty as they have no access to money. It is evident that privilege belongs to men. Women have no access to work that pays, no access to inheritance. There is a connection between economic privilege and power. Economic inequality restricts womens independence and man-controlled power decides their lower status. The resulting dependence, confinement and pressure to marry cause the womens chosen destiny. Economic constraints determine womens destiny and women are reduced to the dependent class living on the favors from men. Because of deprivation of inheritance and little access to social work, men take control of womens whole life. The long history denies womens right of inheritance. In the novel, the Bennet girls are overshadowed by customary deprivation of inheritance. According to the law of the entail at that time, inheritance is only granted to men. Since there is no male heir in the Bennets, their house will be inherited by a distant cousin Mr. Collins if Mr. Bennet dies. The entail obviously benefits Mr. Collins, but constrains the Bennet girls. Economic advantages are granted to men; while economic restrictions are imposed on women. Men can gain economic privilege through preference, work and inheritance; while women are only given a kind of dowry. However, Mr. Bingley “inherited property to the amount of nearly an hundred thousand pounds for his father” (Austen, 1991: 19) and has four or five thousand pounds a year. Money permeates in all fields of life in the novel. Darcy, a noble man with property of ten thousand a year draws the attention of the room within five minutes after his entrance to the ball. “The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening.” (Austen, 1991: 7, 8). The economic difference between men and women in this novel is striking. It is indicated at the beginning of the novel. Single men have access to property, so all single women must marry for mens wealth. Obviously, currency determines ones autonomy and prestige. Men can inherit property, which places them in a position of supremacy. When Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collinss proposal, her mother warns her that no one will keep her when her father dies (Austen, 1991: 102). Mens economic independence grants them priorities of maintaining their supremacy. Little access to social work makes women dependent on men. At that time, women are constrained by the so-called “accomplished lady” concept. Women, especially genteel women, should be centered on husband, children and family. Few occupations are available to them. Being a governess is the most common work for women, but it is not respected and paid poorly. So most genteel women cannot get money except by marrying for it or inheriting a small sum of dowry. Few women through their own efforts earn an income sufficient to make them independent. Access to work makes men have more mobility, more autonomy, and more power than women. Mr. Bingley moves freely in a neighborhood, while women are fixed by their economic conditions. Mr. Collins has the right to choose a Bennet daughter as his wife. He places himself as a savior of the Bennets