Female politics in Pride and Prejudice

Lu+Xuewei

Abstract：Jane Austen expresses her female politics in Pride and Prejudice against the backdrop of the patriarch system.This thesis make an attempt to analysis from three aspects，respectively，discourse，economic right and woman independence and equity.

Key words：gender；politics；female；equity

Pride and Prejudice took place in the regency of Britain which was at a transition from capitalism to capitalist industrialization.Woman is deprived of the right of education and culture and has no rights.Society is dominated by man.Austen conveys gender politics under the patriarch system in this book.

1 Discourse Right

Austen persists changing the passive situation of female，she adopts a narrative rhetoric strategy with talents that not only adapts to the narrative traditions but also shows the female views.In this regard，she takes heroine as a narrator indirectly，thus combines female ideology and discourse right.From the angel of the third person，she creates a inner observation approach without distinctive gender characteristics.According to the feminist narrator named Susan·S·lancer，mastering the discourse right is actually the symbol of power which is the fight amongst men and women，so Elizabeth becomes the narrator.Austen endows her with discourse to embody the position of female.She expresses hidden meanings which contains female views and position.The advantage is that discourse shows ideologies with social gender directly by heroines.In all，Just the indirect narrative way gives woman a discourse right equally.

2 Economic Right

Its not easy to talk about feminism in patriarch system.The only way to get out of it for woman is to get married.Austen depicts the miserable situation.She criticizes the limited inheritance in a unique way to express the female voice and reflect desires for economic equity.

Mr.Benet has no sons，so his nephew has right to get property，which irritates Mrs.Bennett，she abused her nephew and said limited inheritance was the coolest thing.Austen adopts the narrator of the discourse rather than Mrs.Benet in order to hide her hate towards the limited inheritance，in fact，it implies the real intention，exposing the inequality.From angle of woman，Mrs.Benets morbid discourse is a product of patriarchy system.She doesnt talk nonsense，actually，accuses the patriarchal system and desires for economic equality.According to the James Ferren，“Voice is not only a social phenomenon，but a individual imagination.”so author shows the economic discrimination objectively and demands an equal female consciousness in a clever way.endprint

3 Woman Independence and Equity

As the development of capitalism and the expand of rich people，money was getting more important in peoples mind.Author notes the importance of economy to the female status in a keen perspective，but she doesnt seek to get married for property as a relief.She doesnt approve of submitting husband completely.In her eyes，money and benefits are not as important as a sincere marriage that isnt on the basis of the materials merely.Marriage serves both demands of money and moral.

Austen shows Elizabeths love to expose political ideas.Specifically，she expresses position of female，pursues independence and equity via resisting the stereotype of marriage arrangement and old concept of pride and prejudice.The love can be divided into three parts.firstly，Darcys arrogant behaviors cause resentment and hurt self-esteem of Elizabeth who generates prejudice，and Elizabeth refuses marriage arrangement and proposal from her cousin embody her independence.As the development of the plots，their love enters the second stage，Elizabeths attitude towards Darcy has changed gradually，she saw the sincerity and kindness in Darcy and her cousins despicable behaviors.At last，during the visit to Pemberley，Elizabeth found that Darcy was totally different，his arrogance and elegant manners were replaced by courteous and thoughtful behaviors.Finally，they beat the old customs and obstacles and stay forever based on equality and mutual respect.

4 Conclusion

Austin wins the public discourse and political views over the patriarch with clever narrative schemes，even in a patriarch society where woman have no access to economic right and discourse.Her unique views based on the following three points，firstly，strive for equity discourse as man.Secondly，opposing the property system despises the women，she advocates a equitable economic right.Being an vital content of the politics，it is an advanced way of thinking.Thirdly，her objection on the old rules of hierarchy and parent arrangement is a signal of womens sense of independence and she places the equality between women and men on the basis of respecting women through self-education to get the supports and respects of man.

參考文献：

[1]高奋.西方女性独白[M].北京：华中理工大学出版社，2000.

[2]凯特·米利特.性的政治[M].北京：社会科学文献出版社，1999.

[3]康正果.女权主义与文学[M].北京：中国社会科学出版会社，1994.

作者简介：

鲁学微，女，汉族，黑龙江，单位：首都师范大学；学历：研究生；专业：MTI。endprint