Abstract

Jane Austen is one of the distinguished female novelists in British literature. Although living in the romantic period, the works of Austen are of great significance in the history of British literature, which mark the transition from the romanticism to realism. Austen pays much attention to female problems in the surrounding. Her works mainly describe daily life of “Three or four families in the countryside”. The major theme of her works is love and marriage, and the main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships.

Pride and Prejudice, as Jane Austen’s most well-known work, is mainly about young couples’ marriage affairs. Mainly through depicting heroine Elizabeth’s attitudes towards love and marriage, Austen’s feminism consciousness is vividly unfolded. The thesis is going to research the awakening and limitation of feminism in Pride and Prejudice. In the work, Austen’s awakening of feminism is mainly showed in pursuit of gender equality, heroine’s attitudes towards marriage through her two rejections of marriage proposals and her contempt for the secular world. Constrained by social background and personal experiences of the author, the feminism idea is limited in two aspects-- women’ s destiny to marry and women’s passive status.

Keywords: Jane Austen; Pride and Prejudice; feminism; awakening; limitation 

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 The Introduction of Jane Austen-1

1.2 The Significance of Pride and Prejudice-2

1.3 A Feminist Perspective of Jane Austen’s Works-2

1.3.1 Definition of Feminism-2

1.3.2 Feminism in the 18th century-3

1.3.3 Feminism Studies of Pride and Prejudice at Home and Abroad-3

2. Awakening of Feminism in Characterization-6

 2.1  Challenges to Gender Inequality-6

2.1.1 Contrast between Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet-6

2.1.2 Characterization of Elizabeth-7

2.2 Two Rejections of Marriage Proposals-9

2.3  Contempt for Secular World-10

3. Limitations of Feminism in Women’s Predicaments-12

3.1  The Destiny of Marriage-12

3.2  Women’s Passive Status-13

3.3 Some Discussions about the Study-14

Conclusion-15

References-16