preview

Examples Of Feminism In Pride And Prejudice

Good Essays

Discovering Gender Harmony Through Feminist Criticism

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen follows the story of Elizabeth Bennet as she battles against the social norms of a woman in her time period, which require her to settle with the first rich man who claims her hand in marriage. Throughout the novel, Elizabeth and her sister Jane are introduced to Mr. Darcy and Bingley, who ultimately claim the love of each girl, respectively. In between the major events of the novel Elizabeth is expected to marry her cousin, despite her lack of interest in him as a person, while Jane and Bingley struggle to reunite together from his family attempting to suit him with a girl of higher social standards and wealth. As you may have been able to tell, Pride …show more content…

Darcy and Mr. Bingley, respectively. By describing how each family’s bias of the girls almost separated both pairs and kept them from finding happiness in marriage, Austen highlights the flaws associated with ideas against feminist criticism; Mr. Darcy’s family did not like Elizabeth because she refused to adhere to the social norms and instead demonstrated her independence and strength by acting of her own free will, despite her lack of a sophisticated upbringing. It was for this same reason moreover, that Mr. Darcy was able to transform his sexism and conceited nature into a fair, unprejudiced mindset for the sake of Elizabeth's happiness. By analyzing the story of Pride and Prejudice as a whole, we are able to filter the novel’s impressive portrayal of feminist criticism through the story’s satirical sense of limited choices a woman is given in her life for happiness, and then reading through instances in which Elizabeth showcases her independence and free-willed nature to discover her own happiness both romantically and internally by adhering to the idea that women should be given the same opportunity to fight, work, and discover happiness as a man is

Get Access