Gender in "Pride and Prejudice"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Austen's novel focuses on the importance of marriage to ensure security and the novel creates a colorful composition of characters in many stereotyped positions, all of who challenge their place in one way or another. It shows how the contents of the work as well as the messages of the work demonstrate challenges to gender stereotypes that could be difficult for the modern reader to recognize. It points out that the most important of the satirical representations revolves around security for women, and though the character of Mrs. Bennet is portrayed as comical her very real economic future, along with that of her five daughters challenges the wisdom of a very real fear that many women of the time had regarding security in the absence of a man.

From the Paper:

"The humor within the work demonstrates countless examples of the precarious nature of women in Austen's time and culture. The novel draws a fine line between reinforcing and eroding stereotypes of women, as it uses the words of the female characters to challenge and bolster as the propriety of author's culture permits. One of the most striking, and even the most stereotyped is Mrs. Bennet, who on the surface is the worst kind of hollow and worrisome stereotype, and yet her very existence in the novel is meant to teach a lesson about the validity of her place in life, and the place of those she is charged with ensuring security and success."

More papers on Gender in "Pride and Prejudice":

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• Analytical Essay # 904 : "Gender Roles, Marriage and Society in "Pride and Prejudice"
• Book Review # 111069 : "Pride and Prejudice"

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