Feminism by proxy: Jane Austen’s critique of patriarchal society in Pride and Prejudice and Emma

<p>Reading Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma from a feminist perspective reveals Austen’s desire for progressive marriages built on equality and love. Comparing the characteristics and eventual marriages of Austen’s heroines, Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, to other women and relationships in her novels highlights their uniqueness as women of agency who desire more than the society of Regency England offered women. Through such comparisons, Austen brilliantly displays her critique of the patriarchal society and the limitations that it set on women. Her critique is further established in the two novels through her emphasis on breaking down the false patriarchal dichotomies that were prevalent in her society. Austen’s fight for women’s equality aligns her with other feminist thinkers of the time, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, and works to set the stage for what would later become first-wave feminism.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.available

2021

Author dc:creator

• Miller, Alexis

Contributors dc:contributor

• Laura George, PhD
• Margaret Dobbins, PhD

• Austen
• feminism
• private
• Wollstonecraft
• English Language and Literature
• Women's Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1122

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-2523