With particular reference to the novel's opening, How does Jane Austen Present the role of Women in Pride and Prejudice?

Authors Avatar

Jake Gallop                                 English Cw

With particular reference to the novel’s opening, How does Jane Austen Present the role of Women in Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice was first published in 1813. This was the time when it had only just been acceptable for women to actually write books and give their opinions. Austen being an author at the time encloses many of her opinions in within the book. She also includes many of the actual facts about the time and ridicules the role of women at the time. Jane Austen ridicules the fact that women at that time were getting married to ensure their financial security rather than marrying out of love. Women at the time didn’t marry out of love and thought that having financial security made a good marriage and was the most important reason. Jane Austen uses different characters in the novel to represent different opinions at the time. Elizabeth Bennet represents herself, being a middle classed lady and wanting to marry for love rather than money. Elizabeth is probably the main character within the play and portrays an intelligent woman.                

Join now!

        Jane Austen focuses her novel on the middle class people at the time and the role of women within that particular society. This is probably because she is middle class and she knew what other people and herself thought about the issue; therefore she focused her novel on them. Although Elizabeth is the main character, there are many other important women in the novel. The Bennet sisters represent a typical middle class family at the time. The mother is trying to get her daughters to marry rich men and Elizabeth thinks that the idea is wrong, hence she is representing ...

This is a preview of the whole essay