In Defense of Lucy Steele

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the role of women in society, and the intense race for a proper marriage in "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen. The author specifically uses the character of Lucy Steele as an example of the desperate measures taken by young women who must secure a good economic future for themselves. The paper pays close attention to the legal and economic roles of women under old English Law.

From the Paper:

"While the character traits of Miss Steele seemingly leave much to be desired in the area of respectability by today's standards, her actions can be clearly understood when the setting and time is examined during which Sense and Sensibility was written. In England during the early 1800s, the economic future of a young woman depended solely upon her entering into a marriage with a man of means. Life for women in the 1800s was completely dictated by male rule, and if a young woman was not successful in "winning" a husband for herself, her future was bleak, indeed."

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