Austen opens the novel Pride and Prejudice with an ironical, offhanded observation about the universal consensus regarding the assumption that all single men with immense wealth must desire a wife (p. 1). One can argue that Austen’s observation, though it does not reflect the actual truth in reality, portrays a common approach employed by conventional critics in analyzing literary works. The novel Pride and Prejudice itself is at best symbolic of this critical phenomenon in the manner it charts the emotional development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist in the book. Bennet is portrayed as having undergone learning enabling them to understand the error of hasty decision-making and judgment, leading to appreciation of the difference between the superficial and the essential. This is an important aspect of the text, given that it was set the era of British Regency. Austen approach is a personal depiction of prevailing socioeconomic factors at the time including education, marriage, manners, and money. Criticism of Pride and Prejudice can best be approached from a similar perspective. However, such is not the case as a significant number of literary critics guilty make false assumptions of depictions in the text. Such assumptions are informed by reliance on insufficient or biased evidence, largely owing to attempts to establish cultural correlations between similar phenomena in different eras. This paper objective is to rectify depiction of Austen’s novel as a successful deconstruction of the male voice and an establishment of feminist narrative authority.
Depiction of Feminism in Critical Appraisal of Pride and Prejudice by Wang and Liu (2011)
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Significant amount of literature exalting women in the traditional contemporary society has been appraised as advocating for women rights and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is no exception. Wang and Liu (2011) depiction of Austen’s novel as pioneering literary feminism is dependent on analysis of the negative and positive character of Elizabeth, which are argued to reveal their feminist value in the Victorian England. The observations lead Wang and Liu (2011) into validating the hypothesis that the novel successfully deconstructs domination of the male voice and the patriarchal perception of female intellectual as inferior. The critics further argue that these attributes contributed to duping regulation of women’s desirable behaviors.
Wang and Liu (2011) argued that Austen’s different narrative approach stamps feminist authority while deconstructing male consciousness. In support of their hypothesis, Wang and Liu (2011) cite the use of a literary style different from the traditional male gaze through centralization of a female in the novel. The approach played an important role in according the female character an opportunity to describe their daily life encounter and transmit the same to the readers. According to Wang and Liu (2011), Austen deviated from the traditional depiction of heroines as traditional angels or monsters, which was dominant in male literary approaches. The critics posited that in Pride and Prejudice, all women are independent and play the role of narrators rather objects as often depicted in traditional literary works.
Wang and Liu (2011) linked Austen’s literary style that contributed towards a new statue for women to life experiences. The assumption is that Austen’s feminist instinct was intrinsic because their own limited world was never influenced by external factors in the society. Austen’s approach was unfounded on realists’ perceptions of the 19th century as there is no evidence of their direct dealings in social problems or revolutions. In addition, Austen’s novels are devoid of heroic passions or astounding adventures, a perspective used by Wang and Liu (2011) to justify the feminist approach as being informed by real experiences. Austen is portrayed to have lived in isolation by the countryside where they developed important attributes of describing people around them. Pride and Prejudice satirizes pride, snobbery, and vanity of the middle class through humor. Wang and Liu (2011) argued that Austen’s daily writing about life was crucial in the discovery of concepts such as feminism that were intended for addressing social problem s disclosed in the novel. The critical appraisal, a view shared in Frost et al. (1991) concludes by depicting Austen as a feminist who cared for the social position of women and advocated for their right to work, views that are reflected in the novel.
Rebuttal of Claims on Perception of the Novel as Advancing Feminism
Evidence form the Novel
The contestations raised in Wang and Liu (2011) in support of the thesis about Austen’s Pride and Prejudice being a feminist novel cannot be disputed if post-modern perceptions of the phenomenon are taken into account. However, of concern in the general approach employed by critics in examining the perceived style Austen employed to deconstruct the male consciousness and establish feminist authority. Wang and Liu (2011) critique of the novel can be faulted for adopting an approach similar to character analysis. The critics employed selective bias evident by the emphasis on Elizabeth while ignoring other women, such as Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Bingley, who expressed opposing views in respect to the concept of feminism. Wang and Liu (2011) acknowledged that Austen had limited exposure to the outside world, implying that the themes advanced in the novel were not inspired by activism, a phenomenon that is inseparable from feminism. Whether Austen intrinsic ideologies that led to documentation of observations of the external world qualify description of the writers literary approach as feminist as depicted in Wang and Liu (2011) is debatable.
The account of Pride and Prejudice opens by portraying contradictions in cultural and societal expectations of a wealthy man and individual views of the same. According to Austen (2018), the universally acknowledged truth that a wealthy man must be in need of a female partner fell short of taking into consideration such a man’s feelings of views. The observation that can be drawn from this is that societal expectations, in some contexts, transcend aspects such as gender and individual interests. The Victorian era in which the novel is based saw Romanticism reach its peak of acceptance and influence. This is evident from Austen’s insistent emphasis on matching of couples as an antecedent to relationships whose proposals were accepted. The concept of ‘matching couples’ is applicable to both men and women. In fact, most men demonstrated unwillingness to propose to women whom they deemed fell short of meeting expectations of their ideal wife. Elizabeth was a victim of such rejection from Darcy, even though the pair eventually married. The developments as portrayed in the novel point towards Romanticism being the driver of relationships. Elizabeth’s persistence with the concept of marrying for love rather than money does not toe the feminist line of material independence. Elizabeth’s eventual decision to accept Darcy’s proposal was not informed by the need for material happiness or equality in marriage, but was based on personal assessment of Darcy’s attributes as a potential partner and husband. The developments are consistent with acceptance and influence of Romanticism at its zenith, implying that both men and women were accorded the opportunity to make relationship decisions based on individual feelings and views despite expectations from family and society. The enlightenment was not an outcome of feminism as posited in Wang and Liu (2011).
Countering portrayal of Pride and Prejudice as purely feminist requires recognition and appreciation of the prevailing socioeconomic trends at the time of writing the novel. It is important to point out that the novel does not depict the unequal, almost grotesque treatment of women by men that dominated the 19th century. It is true that Austen may have faced an era when society embraced and propagated ideologies of male dominance, which may have rendered them in sociological and literary double mind (Frost et al. , 1991). However, Austen’s lack of exposure to the outside world may have limited their perception of the constraints of the patriarchal regimes imposed on women. Therefore, confrontation of self-imposed constraints as depicted in the novel through Elizabeth can be argued to be a natural reaction to one’s stance on what they perceive as right. Advocating for accommodation of individual ideologies does not imply feminist activism; especially where even though some women demonstrated passivity that patriarchal regimes required of them, men also expressed reluctance in conforming to societal and family expectations. The traditional role of a man as the owner of wealth in the society portrayed in Pride and Prejudice is deconstructed. Wickham is portrayed in the novel as an irresponsible man who lives off others, wasted money, and was impoverished. However, the main highlight is in their attempt at eloping with Georgiana, Elizabeth’s 15-year old sister for their immense dowry. It is important to point out that Darcy and Elizabeth are portray in the novel as the enlightenment of the era of Romanticism. The rebellious approaches expressed by the two towards societal and family expectations in matters of relationships can be interpreted as depiction of a paradigm shift from money to love driven relationships - and not feminism as most critics posit.
Evidence from Perception of Feminism as a Complex Concept in Critical Literature
The British gentry in the Victorian English era that the novel is based often receive immense criticism for its treatment of women. However, despite evidence showing that women were pressured into playing specific roles in the society, it cannot be claimed with certainty that feminism was a conscious of dominant concept at the time (Ogle, 2006). Austen is not characterized as a feminist, which leads to the argument that perspectives such as those by Wang and Liu (2011) largely owe to the general approach by critics to examine the authors work from a feminist perspective. However, Ogle (2006) argued that the approach is a consequence of the similarities in literary approach in Pride and Prejudice with that used by radical feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft. Austen did not command influence or receive fame for their supposed feminist approach that founded the doctrines of equality of sexes and women’s movements.
Lau (1999) observed that critics previously faced difficulty in associating Austen’s work with traditions literary periods and movements. The challenge was largely due to what Wang and Liu (2011) describes as the author’s countryside life experiences that were unaffected by outside world experiences. Austen is often not regarded a romantic writer, but their life and work coincided with an era when Romanticism was a dominant movement. According to Lau (1999), Romanticism, traditionally, celebrated emotion, nature, and rights and experiences of individuals in addition to being allied with revolutionary politics and resistance movements against all kinds of hierarchy and authority. Austen’s apolitical and conservative nature evident in Pride and Prejudice, including their perspective of a social world where elaborate manners and decorum regulated individual’s desires, is portrayed from romanticists perspective. Romanticism was far from being feminism.
From the novel, it can be deciphered that Romanticists, depicted by Darcy and Bingley, extolled the power of feeling and abandonment of restraint. On the hand, Elizabeth upheld rational faculty as supreme and staunchly observed neo-classical belief in order and discipline. However, Austen illustrates the compromise reached between the two factions, implying that their decision was founded on understanding of prevailing circumstances and their role in fitting in. As a romanticist, Darcy exalted the ideologies of the movement but their personal attributes were behind Elizabeth’s attraction to them. The contradictions can be argued to be outcomes of the differences in ideologies about what each individual’s expectations were. While typical love and marriage forms that dominate contemporary patriarchal societies occurred in the novel, Austen does not tow this line of thinking. However, their insistence on love rather than materialism as the driving factor in marriage betrays assertions that they advanced the concept of feminism. Understanding love in the context of feminism, which advocates for gender equality, given the context in which the novel is based, is unimaginable. The novel portrays no evidence of tragedy that is often associated with female heroines who are depicted as champions of feminism.
Little evidence exists of Austen’s acquaintance with the developing ideology of feminism in the 18th century. According to Smith (1983), Austen’s examination of the ‘drama of a woman’ concept in Pride and Prejudice is a judgmental view formed on the precipice that the author was sensitive to social and literary environments, notably on their views and those shared by ‘feminist’ authors of the 1790s. Understanding the argument deinking Pride and Prejudice from a feminist perspective as posited in Wang and Liu (2011) requires critical examination of the “feminist” concept itself. Brown (1973) noted that perception of Austen’s work, as a “feminist tradition” is a customary approach adopted by contemporary literary critics. This is founded on universal knowledge about Jane Austen’s novels, including Pride and Prejudice, centralizing on love and marriage, an institution where cultural traditions and expectations play a key role.
Questions need to be asked about the existence of any significant connections between ‘feminist’ themes attributed to Jane Austen in Wang and Liu (2011) and other similar critics, and contemporary feminist viewpoints associated with women liberation movements. The themes in Pride and Prejudice need to be looked at from a non-feminism-liberation through the revolutionary sense. Brown (1973) argues that this approach is plausible because it supports the assertion that English letters by a number of novelists such as Austen are simply lumped together by virtue of authors being female and their themes being similar. Therefore, Wang and Liu (2011) perception of the novel as feminist can be argued to be based on the tradition of the concept that embraces customary analogical thesis that some critics dismiss as collective classification of female novelists (Brown, 1973). Feminism in the novel as depicted in recent developments is based on movements of the 20th and 21st century where the concept evolution has been dramatic.
Conclusion
Perception of Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice as purely feminist in Wang and Liu (2011) can be faulted for a generalist approach that draws its argument, not from the contemporary themes of feminism tradition, but from the collective classification of works by female novelists as feminist. The approach, in the context of the text in the novel can be described as one sided because it fails to capture the important theme of Romanticism. Romanticism movement was at its zenith of influence during Austen’s time, and is depicted in the novel through interactions between different characters. Therefore, it can be argued that the female enlightenment portrayed through Elizabeth was not an outcome of active feminism as Wang and Liu (2011) suggests, but rather that of the dominant movement of Romanticism. This argument is corroborated in the novel through eventual marriage between Darcy and Elizabeth, two characters that were in constant opposition. There is no evidence from the text to suggest that their compromise was informed by Darcy’s subjection and willingness to conform to Elizabeth’s feminist demands. In fact, no such demands were made; implying that quest for the right match for love and marriage was informed by the prevailing elements of Romanticism rather than feminism as portrayed by some critics. Elizabeth’s acceptance of Darcy’s marriage proposal tied them to the confines of romanticism, a development that would otherwise not have occurred if Austen depictions were indeed of a radical feminist.
References
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