Jane Austen Feminism

"Anger is not the word that comes to mind when one thinks about Jane Austen. But, as I hope to show, Austen is also a formidable feminist critic. Austen’s voice is, to be sure, a gentler one, softened by end-of-the-book marriages and a wonderful irony and sense of humor. Nonetheless, a staunch feminist stance is there, suggesting Austen, like Wollstonecraft, was tuned into one of the hottest issues of her time: women’s role in society."

This article provided the basis for my argument for Jane Austen as a feminist. Ascarelli argues that Austen promotes the importance of women's ability and opportunity to think for themselves in her novels. She gives them unconventional ideas and actions. By writing in free indirect discourse, she also provides an outlet for their thoughts to be heard, revealing that women are capable of deeper and higher thinking. This was revolutionary at the time because women were just supposed to be caregivers, educators, and domestic figures within their homes.

"the concept that women are rational creatures and the belief that, in order for women to fulfill their potential as human beings, they must learn how to think for themselves."

"Clearly, then, the wedding, while it signals the end of the story, is not that important to Austen. Instead, what matters is the reality of women’s lives, which is very much in sync with Wollstonecraft’s ideas about how a false system of education denies women the skills they need to make good choices for themselves and their families."

"During a time when all social criticism, particularly that which aimed at the institution of the family in general and the place of women in particular, came to be associated with the radical cause, Austen defended and enlarged a progressive middle ground that had been eaten away by the polarizing polemics born of the 1790s."

"I believe that, placed in her historical context, Austen comes across as a realist, someone who knows that life is tough, especially for women. But rather than focus on how society’s restrictions could cause someone to have a nervous breakdown, Austen focuses on the reasoning skills women need to survive, which, to me, is the ultimate feminist statement."

"A close reading of Austen’s work reveals that she, like Wollstonecraft, was very aware of marriage as an economic institution. She also cared passionately about the two issues at the core of Wollstonecraft’s work: the concept that women are rational creatures and the belief that, in order for women to fulfill their potential as human beings, they must learn how to think for themselves."

http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol25no1/ascarelli.html

Ascarelli, Miriam. "A Feminist Connection: Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft." Persuasions, 2004. The Jane Austen Society of North America. Web. 14 March 2015.