Status of Women during the Nineteenth Century in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

Abstract

The aim of this study is to cast a wide net on Jane Austen’s attitudes and portrayal of women in her novel “Pride and Prejudice.” To approach the aim of this work, the researcher has invested an analytical method to depict the position of women in the eyes of Jane Austen as a British female writer. Thus, this paper has shown how women have found in literature, particularly in the novel, a solace to conjugate their existence on earth and to announce their declaration of independence that empowers them to air much of their feelings and thoughts. The feminine associations of the novel, however, have meant to rival male writers. Besides, the research has delineated the way in which the novel examines the suffering of women and how they overcome difficulties and achieve success. From this masterpiece, the researcher has noticed that Jane Austen’s portrayal of her protagonist is based on her real world and experience. She establishes herself as a distinguished feminist novelist with her focus on the daily lives of genteel women, and in her treatment of the situation of women. She has also consolidated the status of the domestic female life as a proper subject for her novels, especially the matter of marriage.