Journal of Literature, Culture and Media Studies
Women in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility
and Pride and Prejudice
REENA
Abstract: This is an abstract on the article Women in Jane Austen's Sense
and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen has attracted a great
deal of critical attention in recent years. Although deep rooted in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Jane Austen's novels hold universal truth and are still applicable to people today. Jane Austen is a master at revealing the true nature of a character through their interactions
with others. She makes her heroines interact with other characters in order to reveal their difference and unconventional ideas. The Dashwood
sisters are almost as different as night and day. Elinor and Marianne personify the title Sense and Sensibility, the former representing female good
sense and prudence, the later shows that impulsiveness and excess of feeling led into error and difficulty. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet's
independent and questioning character is contrasted with Jane Bennet's
trusting and objective conduct. She is more kind hearted than Elizabeth.
Jane is well aware of the manners of the society in which she exists. Like
Elizabeth she is also ashamed of the actions of her younger sisters, especially Lydia. Jane loves and admires Mr. Bingley not for his yearly allotment, but for his personal character.This paper attempts to study the treatment of women characters in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Pride
and Prejudice.
Keywords: Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice,
women's frustration, fundamental discrepancy, questioning character,
marriage, economic dependence, feminine.
Jane Austen has attracted a great deal of critical attention
in recent years. The resurgence of Jane Austen, almost two centuries
after her death, is partially due to the fact that Jane Austen’s writing
transcends time and place. Although deep rooted in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Jane Austen’s novels hold
universal truth and are still applicable to people today, showing
people struck in a situation and coping with it the best way they
can.
Many critics have spoken out about the strengths and weaknesses
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of Jane Austen’s characters, particularly her heroines. Critics have
described her as a friend as well as a foe to the rights of women. In
reality, Jane Austen cannot accurately be evaluated as a novelist of
feminist subversive without first examining the eighteenth century
English society in which she lived and in which her novels were
set. Jane Austen’s characters cannot be seen clearly until the reader
makes allowances for the social order in which they were rooted.
Jane Austen lived in a society where women were expected
to be accomplished, but not well educated. They were not allowed
to be at the public schools such as Elton, and the universities such
as Oxford and Cambridge. It was not considered necessary for them
to have knowledge of either Greek or Latin. If a woman received
training, it was usually religious or practical training for their
domestic role. The expected accomplishments of a woman at the
time included “a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing,
dancing, and the modern languages (such as Italian or French) to
deserve the word”(2000:28). “Men were conscious of this
educational disparity between the sexes, but often defended it as
essential to the maintenance of wives in proper subjection”
(1989:307-308).
The financial status of women was very important, but there
was little they could do to improve. The only opportunities for
support outside one’s family were work as a governess, or live-in
teacher. Money for women generally came through marriage or the
death of their father, and even then only if they had no brothers or
other male relatives. For women, especially, the idea of growing
old without financial support caused great consternation. Thus, as
illustrated in Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and her
other novels, many married those whom they held in low esteem
but who possessed a great deal of financial stability. Charlotte Lucas
in Pride and Prejudice married Mr. Collins, a man she neither loved
nor respected, saying that “considering Mr. Collins’s character,
connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance
of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering
the marriage state” (2000: 95). In her novels Jane Austen exposes
the fundamental discrepancy in her society between its avowed
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ideology of love and its implicit economic motivation. “ Both Pride
and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility dealt with the standards of
the times and the issues concerning women, including the pressures
of society to marry, female dependency on men, and lack of
individualism” (uah.edu).
Marriage did not guarantee a woman’s happiness ever
after in the late eighteenth century. A married woman could not
own property, even what she herself might have brought as a dowry
or inherited after she was married. Her husband could, and
sometimes did, will his estate - including what had been the woman’s
own inheritance - away from her. Within the marriage partnership,
only the man had the right to petition for divorce (in the case of a
wife’s supposed adultery) and the husband had absolute custodial
rights over their children. S. M. Gilbert and S. Gubar writes: “By
marriage the very being or legal existence of a woman is suspended,
or at least it is incorporated or consolidated into that of the husband,
under whose wing, protection, and cover she performs everything,
and she is therefore called in our law a feme covert” (1985: 292).
These are the realities that Jane Austen’s heroines had to face .Elinor
and Marianne Dashwood’s future prospects of happiness are greatly
diminished when they are forced out of their family manor by their
father’s death with “a thousand pounds a – piece,” (1999: 2) left by
the injudicious will of their great-uncle. Elizabeth Bennet is the
second-oldest daughter in a family with five young women and a
lack of societal recommendations. The heroines navigate a tricky
road toward happiness, sometimes falling into the pitfalls, but it is
the gradual revelation of their character in comparison with others
that displays Jane Austen’s writing at its best.
Jane Austen is a master at revealing the true nature of a
character through their interactions with others. She makes her
heroines interact with other characters in order to reveal their
difference and unconventional ideas. She presents significant foils,
in Lucy Steele and Mrs. Ferrars, against whom Elinor shines; but
the characterizations of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are perhaps
best found in comparison between the two sisters. They are almost
as different as night and day. Elinor and Marianne personify the
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title Sense and Sensibility, the former representing female good
sense and prudence, the later shows that impulsiveness and excess
of feeling lead into error and difficulty.
Elinor is not led by her emotions. She consistently tries to
relate her imagination and her feelings to her judgement and to the
moral and social tradition on which her society is based. She never
tells Edward that she loves him even though it is obvious that a
mutual attraction exists. Even when she learns that Edward is
engaged to Lucy Steele, she calmly talks to her about their
engagement and upcoming marriage. Instead of breaking down like
Marianne, Jane Austen Elinor is able to keep her grief under control.
She struggles to control the anguish of disappointed love so that
she can fulfill her obligations as a daughter, a sister, and a member
of the society.
Marianne is quite different from her sister. Her greatest
problem is her deficiency of self- knowledge. She lacks in selfcommand, self - restraint, and in the capacity to keep her emotions
under control. She gives undue stress on her feelings and is blinded
to reality by her overwhelming tide of emotions. She allows her
feelings to control her so much that she becomes ill. She follows
her sensibilities to the extreme and embarrasses herself and her
family in the process. Marianne needs to calm down her emotions,
and Elinor needs to gain some emotion. Although neither of the
women is perfect, Jane Austen shows that both sisters have superior
abilities. It is in their interaction and mutual influence on each other
that Elinor and Marianne discover the answer to what makes a good
woman: a combination of both sense and sensibility. Elinor’s poise
can be shaken, as illustrated when Marianne is publicly humiliated
by Willoughby in London. She realizes that there are things for
which one should disregard perceived social expectations. This new
understanding of the proper place for emotion enables her to sob in
front of Edward when he tells her that his brother, Robert, has
married Lucy Steele and that he was now free from the imprudent
engagement. Marianne’s sensibility softens while she is sick and
she can observe the way how Elinor intensely loves Edward without
the tears and anguish she has wasted on Willoughby. Her marriage
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to Colonel Brandon symbolizes the growth of herself. She now
understands the balance between the head and heart. Her marriage
allows her to remain close to her family and ensures that she and
her family will be covered financially, while enjoying the whims
of a man she greatly admires and who loves her deeply.
Jane Austen again compares her heroines with other women
for giving a detailed account of their behaviours. In Pride and
Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet’s independent and questioning
character is contrasted with Jane Bennet’s trusting and objective
conduct. She is more kind- hearted than Elizabeth. Jane is well
aware of the manners of the society in which she exists. She knows
that she has reached the age where it is beyond proper, rather
necessary, for her to marry. Their Longbourn estate is entailed to
the nearest male heir, so she will be penniless after the death of
their father. Also, as she is the eldest, she must be the first to marry
if the Bennets are to obey the pattern of the social customs. Like
Elizabeth she is also ashamed of the actions of her younger sisters,
especially Lydia. She is also mortified to ride over to Netherfield
in the rain and even more distressed, although only on the level of
propriety, that she must remain there because of her illness. Jane
loves and admires Mr. Bingley not for his yearly allotment, but for
his person and character. Therefore, Jane Austen shows that the
eldest Bennet sister is unimpressed by social status alone.
Jane is a bit naive in certain ways of the social world. She
does not pay heed to Elizabeth’s warnings concerning the intentions
of the Bingley sisters. Jane refuses to see the biggest obstacle to
her goal of marrying the man she loves is his sisters. Jane Austen
makes it very obvious that Jane loves Bingley and that Jane believes
that he feels the same about her. When she learns of his departure,
her countenance change as she read the letter but she recollects
herself soon and tries to join with her usual cheerfulness in the
general conversation concealing her pain. She does eventually deny
the intensity of her feelings and promises to be over him soon. She
successfully hides the stabbing pain that she feels deeply from
becoming public. Jane’s long-term reaction, her steady mildness
and tolerable tranquillity to Bingley’s departure reminds the reader
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of Elinor’s denial of her true feelings concerning Edward.
Another woman that Elizabeth can be compared is her friend
Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte finds herself with little to recommend
her and even fewer options on the marriage front. When Elizabeth
rejects Mr. Collins, Charlotte sees it as an opportunity. Even Jane
sees the wisdom in the marriage. She explains to Elizabeth:
“remember that she is one of a large family; that as to fortune, it is
a most eligible match; and be ready to believe, for everybody’s
sake, that she may feel something like regard and esteem for our
cousin (2000: 102).
Charlotte married Mr. Collins out of practicality and not of
love. She knows that marriage is the only honourable provision for
a well- educated woman of twenty- seven who is neither handsome
nor had any dowry. Her husband has a house and a benefactress.
She is rising to a respectable level in society. But Charlotte does
pay a price for her prudent choice. Though she has the comfort and
command of all the usual facilities, she is deprived of the one basic
delight marriage should offer anyone: the delight arising out of
emotional harmony. She becomes her husband’s servant and in the
end becomes a reflection of her pompous, yet cowering husband the worst possible fate.
Elizabeth stands out against these women. Jane almost pales
into insignificance in comparison with Elizabeth. Her passive
suffering can evoke sympathy but not admiration. She is too
undemonstrative in Bingley’s presence, and quietly hides her pain
at the loss of Bingley; Elizabeth displays her emotions openly and
proudly, sometimes to her own detriment. “By contrasting Elizabeth
with her sister, Jane Bennet, Austen showed the advantages of
asserting one’s freedom” (uah.edu).
Although Charlotte Lucas cannot be blamed for her choice
of marriage, she proves Elizabeth to be correct in the rejection of
Mr. Collins. Mrs. Bennet is furious that Elizabeth rejects the heir
of Longbourn, because society recommends that all women accept
the marriage proposals they receive. She reminds her daughter that
there is no guarantee that another proposal will ever follow.
Ironically, another proposal shortly follows, and Elizabeth rejects
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that one also. Elizabeth already knows what Charlotte and her
mother and the rest of society cannot see. She knows that if she
married Mr. Collins she would be provided for, but she would be
miserable. She would be unable to breathe or function as herself.
Elizabeth sees that a loss of her personality in the name of security
is worse than penniless spinster.
Elizabeth stands her ground even when faced with the
formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh. She emphatically refuses to
promise that she will not marry her nephew. She is really a spirited
and independent girl, capable of holding her own and asserting her
individuality in the clearest manner. Jane Austen has masterfully
prepared the reader for Elizabeth’s change of perception and revised
estimate of Darcy. She soon recognizes that Darcy regards her
differently leading to the change of sentiment toward him. She is
confident enough in herself to know that happiness will come to
her and that she should not sell out to anyone. Thus, she ends up
with Darcy.
Jane Austen is a keen observer of human nature and a creator
of convincing characters. She realized that characters could only
truly be convincing to the reader if they were placed within a context
and given positive and negative foils. Her novels unquestionably
reflect her justified frustration with women’s economic dependence,
the negligence of their education, and the unfair inheritance laws
of her day. Jane Austen confidently predicts her heroines’ happiness
at the end of her novels because their happiness depends not only
to the character, disposition, or continued affection of their husbands
but more to their own characters. “While most of Austen’s characters
did want to marry, they always wanted to choose their own suitors
and marry for love which is something that was unheard of during
Austen’s lifetime” (suit101.com).
Elinor and Marianne learn from each other that a real
woman must possess a balance of both sense and sensibility.
Elizabeth Bennet sees that both her pride and her prejudice have
prevented her from loving her only equal. Whether or not Jane
Austen was trying to be an early writer for women’s rights is really
unimportant. Instead of exalting the value of tradition and virtue in
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Journal of Literature, Culture and Media Studies
her novel, Jane Austen defies it and makes a case for feminine rights.
Her works are about women discovering who they are and this
discovery is the most essential for a woman to truly live and love,
regardless of her social position or the century in which she is born
and brought up.
REFERENCES
Austen, Jane. 2000. Pride and Prejudice. New Delhi: Surjeet
Publications.
—. 1999. Sense and Sensibility. New Delhi: Peacock Books.
Dean, Jenny. 1998. “Jane Austen and the Female Condition: Eighteenth
and Nineteenth Century England” <http:///www.uah.edu/colleges/
liberal/education.com>. pp.1-5.
Gilbert, Sandra M and Susan Gubar. 1985. Literature by Women: The
Traditions in English. New York: Norton.
Gleason, Jessica. 2008. “Jane Austen and Feminism: Subtle FeminismBold Female Characters” <http://www.suit101.com>. pp.1-3.
Riencourt, Amaury De. 1989. Woman and Power in History.
New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd.
Research Scholar, Department of English, Manipur University, Imphal.
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