Gender Representations in Pride and Prejudice

08 F both 08 Fall debate the ways in which gender has been stand for in the text The conventional position gentle world is typically copn as a strong symbol of masculinity and elegance, its hard to non fall for their mold with the English female world the dominated ho exercisewife with utter beauty, nevertheless never her avouch opinion. In self-esteem and harm written by Jane Austen, this is certainly non the case. starting line promulgated in 1813, the story is rough the ro domaince between the young heroine Elizabeth white avens, the prejudice middle fork daughter and the proud, blotto eligible bachelor Fitz go awayiam Darcy as they some(prenominal) overcome their judge manpowerts and fall in fill out. though English gentle men were viewed as the stronger race with a high regard indoors ordering and strong social graces and economises the head of the family with the final examination exam decision, the main male characters in the clean be pictured as th e challenges these characteristics.Austen uses the impudents strong female protagonist, Elizabeth white avens to challenge to idea of women of that era creation weak and passive, whereas the eligible bachelor of the town, Fitzwilliam Darcy, lacks in the social expectations as he is portrayed as juvenile, especially when it comes to love and courtship. Mr bennet, the bewilder of the strong female heroine, is portrayed as withdrawn and passive compared to the erratic character of his wife, Mrs white avens.Through characterisation, Austen intelligently challenges the traditional mannish and distaff affairs of the Regency Era. The novel was archetypical submitted for publication in November 1719 under the alternative title First Impressions between October 1796 and August 1797. During this quantify, the aftermath of the french Revolution was a time of strong ethical debate about basal ideas and convert about politics and sex equality. Austens novel does not gossipmonger o n the events of war in her time, but quite a on the imminent change of ethics with regards to gender equality.Equality between men and women in that era was fairly non-existent as women were deemed the weaker race as a fair sex was expected to remain passive end-to-end her liveness, marrying early and supporting her save when con rampr be, bearing children and living a honour social life. Men, however, being the head of the family and the husbands having high quality within marriage, were deemed fit to defend their surface area and cede high regard within society with strong social graces and a hardworking attitude in the home.Young women in the Regency purpose were traditionally seen as plaza of their fathers, and when married off, they were past deemed the possession of their husband and forever loyal to the men in their lives. The feisty heroine of Elizabeth white avens challenges this expectation by being maintaining her independence in a time of feminine weakness b eing told you speak your opinion very unimpeachably for a cleaning womanhood of your age. In her first marriage proposal from the odd Mr collins, Elizabeth maintains her aptitude as rather than marrying for wealth, she refuses his proposal.Ignoring the expectations of her family, as intumesce as society, Elizabeth maintains her hope in marrying for love in saying do you not consider me now as an delightful female intending to plague you, but as a rational creature public speaking the truth from her heart as she implores Mr Collins to understand her motives in maintaining her independence, as she refuses to absolve for what she wants thus showing her personnel and repugn the idea of women being submissive with the society.Similarly, when Elizabeth journeys across the countryside to Netherfield to tend to her ill sister, Jane, as she does so with the bravado and independence not kinda readily present within the amphetamine class society. though others were un impress by E lizabeths independent behaviour, Darcy was quite impressed by her audacity as he says the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion as it gives women lectors of that era an example of how women jackpot buoy be independent and not have to conform to the societys expectations, that they can rise above and become more(prenominal)(prenominal) than just the property of man.In the Regency period, upper-class men were deemed the epitome of social grace and confidence. With a facade of social standing, Fitzwilliam Darcy challenges this social stereotype. Though seemingly confident in himself, Darcys pride gets the better of him as he is characterised as unvaned for a man of his time. When discussing his past with Elizabeth, Darcy blames his parents for his lack of social skills as they allowed, encouraged and almost taught him to be selfish and overbearing. This shows Darcys willingness to fault his parents for his lack of confidence, and for a man of his time is slightly childish. At the first ball he attends, Darcys snobbish behaviour is seen as immature as he blatantly insults Elizabeth Bennet, to whom he first met. To his friends, Mr Bingley, suggestion of leaping with Elizabeth, Darcy replies She is tolerable but not crowing enough to tempt me revealing him as a prejudiced man that is as well proud to dance with that of the lower class portraying the upper class man as snobbish and conceited.The character of Darcy contrasts with the refined range that has the upmost social graces within society, his awkward record created by Austen shows the weaker side of man. Born into a reasonably squiffy family, Mr Bennet, though meant to be the head of the household, is characterised as passive and reluctant to be knotty in his familys schemes. Described as so odd a mix of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve and imagination Mr Bennet does not epitomise the societys expectations of the fatherly figure.During conversations with his family, particu larly his wife, Mr Bennet would rather withdraw from the dispute to his tipple room or submissively imitate to the commands of his wife, especially in the opening of the novel. By marrying his wife based on looks alone, Mr Bennet believes that the respect, esteem, and confidence had vanished for ever and all his views of house servant happiness were overthrown challenging the idea that husbands had the final say in the kind, and that marrying based on looks was appreciated within the society.In the opening, preoccupied by the newly arrived bachelor Mr Bingley, Mrs Bennet has many an(prenominal) ideas and demands her husband take part for then he replies depend upon it, my dear, that when there are twenty, I will visit them all showing his willingness to make her happy rather than societys expectation of the woman keeping the man pleased. In a society preoccupied with the importance of marriage, Mr Bennet defends his daughters decision in rejecting Mr Collins proposal, telling he r Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr Collins nd I will never see you again if you do showing his involuntariness to conform to the societys expectations of women marrying for wealth rather than love. The wife in the Regency period was seen as the exact opposite of the husband, a weak passive woman who did in general domestic work and cared for her family whilst obeying her husbands orders. Mrs Bennet, however, certainly does not conform to these traditional roles. Described as a woman of mean understanding, little information and changeable temper, Mrs Bennet is Austens mark on the equality of marriage.In the opening of the text, the reader is shown the erratic and overpowering personality of Mrs Bennet in contrast to the passive nature of her husband. Concentrated on marrying her daughters off to a suitable bachelor, Mrs Bennet overpowers the opinion of her husband in ordering him that you must go, for it would be impossible for us to visit him, if you d o not showing her as boss around towards her husband portraying the wife figure in the novel to be more coercive compared to the husband.The use of the ultimatum type subscribe from wife to husband, as this is at the offshoot of the novel, foreshadows the theme of female authority end-to-end the text and in a time of oppression within a relationship as Mrs Bennet challenges the traditional role of the Regency eras housewife. Through Austens use of clever characterisation, she defies the traditional masculine and feminine roles of the Regency Era.The challenging of the societys values gave an alternative view of life for those living in the era. Though not portraying men in a good light, the novels feminist ideas gave women empowerment to speak up for their own beliefs and independence. Through strong characters such as Elizabeth and Mrs Bennet, women were given heroines to aspire to, and through the use of the submissive male characters of Mr Bennet and Darcy the strength of t he women contrasts against the weakness of the male characters.Jane Austens comments on gender equality was a powerful motion in her era, and still mend readers now in todays modern society. Bibliography Ashley Gardner, The Regency Era, 2005, viewed on the fifth May http//www. gardnermysteries. com/index-regency. html Heat and Dust, sexual practice Roles in the Victorian Times, April 7, 2008, viewed 7th May, Pride and injury by Jane Austen, first published 1813, published in Penguin Classics 1996, updated Further translation and 1972 Penguin Classics Introduction by Tony Tanner 2003. The res publica of Pemberly, Jane Austen Information, 2004, viewed on the 10th May, Scribd, Pride and Prejudice Class and Gender, 2012, viewed on the 9th May,