With reference to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, discuss the Essay

With reference to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, discuss the Romantics active and complex involvement with gender - Essay Example It was during this era when the essence of a woman revolved on bearing and rearing children. History will tell us that women then were deprived of basic rights. To illustrate such vision, women were denied of formal education and prohibited to exercise the right to suffrage. They stood behind the shadows of great men who ruled society during that time. Branded as man’s attendant and helper, women were treated as second-rate citizens. Thus, women of the 19th century were nominated with only two roles to portray, either submissive companions of their husbands or industrious housewives and caring mothers to their children. These are the only cherished triumphs of the women who lived in that period. In 1972, British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft authored a book entitled   â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: with Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects.† She was one of the first highly acclaimed authors on feminist philosophy. â€Å"In this book, she argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but only appear to be for lack of education. She suggests that men and women should be treated as rational beings and imagines a social order founded on reason† (Wollstonecraft). She emphasized the importance of women in society because they bear children, rear and educate them to become good citizens of society. â€Å"Women should not only be regarded as objects that are to be traded in marriage, but must be accorded the same fundamental rights as men because men and women are co-equals. Wollstonecraft insisted that all political authority should rest on the grounds of reason and justice alone, she demanded that every person be entitled to enjoy and dispense the fruits of his and her own labors, that inequality of rank be eliminated† (Mellor 32). The social restrictions of women in the 18th Century became one of main subjects illustrated in Jane Austen’s book, Pride and Prejudice, wherein the character of Elizabeth Benne t, was shown as an example of how a woman can survive the challenges of a male-conquered society through her distinct brilliance, charm and intelligence. II. DISCUSSION The protagonist in Austen’s novel is Elizabeth Bennet. She is often described as an intelligent young, witty woman and, playful, though exhibiting sheer impertinence did not make her distasteful to others. Her family’s financial condition forced her to seek out a marriage for convenience. She remained the ideal woman of her time as she expressed her intention to marry for love. She was branded as one of Austen’s beloved heroines of all time. In the novel, Elizabeth was forced to conform to the prevalent social restrictions in place, which included a marriage for convenience. Elizabeth is then met the high and mighty, Mr. Darcy, who was enamoured by her simplicity and wit. However, society dictates that Mr. Darcy should marry a woman of aristocracy, beyond Elizabeth’s social class. This cir cumstance wounded her pride, and thus caused her to foster prejudices against Mr. Darcy. â€Å"Austen is regarded as an affirmative novelist. Positive values of good sense, kindness candor and restraint of egotistical impulses are exhibited by the characters in her novel. Morality is dominant in her written works, and does not consist in swallowing whole the values which society offers her, and her moral affirmations are always qualified by important critical or ironic reservations† (Nardin 3). This was exactly the purpose of Elizabeth’s character, unconventional and unafraid of the limitations imposed by society. She was envisioned as full of pride and her truthful