The Modern Victorian Woman

2054 Words9 Pages
Introduction In a time where women were expected to be docile, domestic, and inferior to men, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte created two characters that challenged the stereotypical notions of what a woman was like. Instead, they presented strong, independent women who lived in an era where women were majorly dependent on men. Bronte and Austen write of an unfamiliar society with strange rules, customs, and prejudices that no longer exist. However, they both view this society in a negative light and this therefore allowed them to create Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre who would be remembered as independent and inspiring women in the fictional and feminist worlds. Elizabeth and Jane contradict the common woman of the time and therefore are known as modern Victorian women, or rather, their mindsets were ahead of their time. Aside from these characters, almost all the other women in Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre are similar in their silly ventures of marriage and entertainment. Women had virtually no rights and they had little to no control over their own lives which is why their dependency on men is emphasized in the novels. Apart from Jane and Elizabeth, Austen and Bronte present women as dependent, docile, and an item to their husbands that belonged at home. Elizabeth as a Modern Woman Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest of five daughters, was like a fish-out-of-water. She held her own values and morals and had her own opinion about marriage and what she wanted in her life. Most women, at the time, would accept marriage proposals especially if it entitled them to a comfortable home and life alongside a good man of honorable status. Marriages would be arranged for material reasons. For example, Elizabeth’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas, marries Mr. Collins, who Elizabeth previously rejects. “I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable
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