• January to March 2024 Article ID: NSS8558 Impact Factor:7.60 Cite Score:78046 Download: 394 DOI: https://doi.org/ View PDf

    Representation of Women in Jane Austen Pride & Prejudice

      Prof. Swati Sharma
        Department of English, Govt. Holkar (Model Autonomous) Science College, Indore (M.P.)
  • Abstract: "Pride and Prejudice epitomizes the intricacies of societal conduct, delineating the multifaceted circumstances endured by women amidst the backdrop of nineteenth-century England. Jane Austen astutely portrays a woman's felicity as contingent upon marriage, wherein her social standing is inexorably tethered to the selection of a husband. While happiness and affection ostensibly underpin marital unions, material affluence and the possessions of the suitor hold paramount significance. Thus, a woman endeavors to sculpt her identity to meet the exacting standards requisite for matrimonial acceptance, for the stigma of spinsterhood consigns unmarried daughters to the status of familial burdens. Regrettably, women's aspirations and preferences are frequently disregarded within the patriarchal paradigm, wherein authoritative male voices predominate. Subjugated to submissive roles, their voices muted, women are constrained to traverse the paths dictated by their male counterparts. Austen's narrative starkly illustrates the absence of self-made women, ensnared as they are within the constricting confines of societal norms."