Austen achieves this purpose through the themes she portrays throughout the novel. Courtship and marriage play major roles in “Emma.” All of the conflicts throughout the novel also revolve around these topics, particularly finding appropriate matches. In this way, Austen presents marriage as a fundamental aspect of society during the time period the novel was written. While marriage does provide romantic purposes, it also upholds the class structure of the community by ensuring that individuals marry appropriately and into the correct social class. In the novel we see that Harriet and Mr Martin would be a suitable match, however Emma guides Harriet against marrying Mr Martin, as she believes that Mr Elton would be better suited.
Women in the 1800’s were dominated by their husbands and expected to be submissive in every way. After Kate’s real life husband died, she decided to voice her opinion on this topic. Sometimes the rules and morals that society or religion teaches us, isn’t really what we want for our own lives. Especially when it comes to sex, romance or love there are a lot of different opinions. Certain cultures may teach that sex (of any form) before marriage is not wrong while others believe that our morals change as society allows it to.
AP English Open-ended Prompt: 1987 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen seems to challenge the traditional order of society in her time and age, where women marry not out of love but rather for wealth and an establishment of a stable household. She presents this progressive stance through the contrasting relationships of couples who had a love marriage such as, Darcy and Elizabeth as well as Jane and Bingley, as opposed to couples who did not - Mr. and Mrs. Bennett as well as Lydia and Wickham. From the very beginning of the novel, it is clear to the readers that Mr. and Mrs. Bennett do not have a very loving nor compatible relationship, despite the frequency to which she addresses him as ‘my dear’. In fact, it is evident that even
Many debates have happened whether or not these women approach feminism for their time period. The answer to that is ambiguous and depends on how the reader takes in their writings. One can say that even though Wollstonecraft is so obviously pining for co-education, and in that way to be equal to men, she is not promoting equality for anything else. By not wanting to be equal in anything else, how can she be approaching feminism? Pizan so obviously from the start of her writing, introduces how women should behave (from the perspective of a princess), so that her actions shall be beneficial to her and her husband.
Weldon contextualises Austen’s world, positioning the contemporary reader to sympathise with the plight of women regards to marriage during the regency period. Weldon creatively reshapes the contemporary responders understanding and appreciation of the value of love in Pride and Prejudice. Weldon informs the responder of employment opportunities in Austen’s time, “a chimney sweep…a butcher….or a prostitute…or you could marry.” The listing of these grim opportunities along with the dichotomy of statistic heightens the responder’s attitude of the social benefits of marriage.
For a 21st century reader it is easy to interpret the two themes as divided as it is what we have been socialised to do, however at the time Austen was writing Pride and Prejudice, in the 18th century, it was socially conditioned that marriage and money were inextricably linked. Women were omitted from the entail system which meant they could not inherit their family’s wealth which left them vulnerable and in need of a husband. For those people who read Jane Austen’s novels for her flare of the romantic it is easy to conclude that Jane Austen championed love as being more important than money. However if this is the case, why do both Jane and Elizabeth Bennett marry suitors that are deemed to be wealthy? To explore the tension between love and money even further the main concern in the other two marriages in the novel revolve around money and fortune.
Austen recognises the individual’s social standing as a significant distinguishing factor affecting acceptance in society through the use of tone. To be of high social class, one must have not only wealth but respectability and the family that they are born into. Emma highlights this value when she is mentoring Harriet and forces her to reject Mr Martin as a suitable husband for the woman of higher class Harriet is to become. Austen ensures Emma’s direct language and firm tone have a heavy impact on Harriet. “Dear Harriet, I give myself joy of this.
As the context is altered from Jane Austen's 19th century novel, Emma to the late 20th century film, Clueless directed by Amy Heckerling, the initial attitudes towards the existence of patriarchy in society remain of concern but adjust to their new backgrounds. Austen’s novel, through Emma’s self-improvement shows the notions of the importance of marriage, as a subjectification of women and also uses the characters of Emma to challenge society’s patriarchy and Mr. Knightley as the male archetype to whom Emma must impress, whereas Heckerling transforms these ideas to the importance of dating, and Cher’s need for Josh’s approval, with the remaining of both their requirement of improving themselves. Emma makes a statement on the notions of female independence, and subtly confronts the values of her 19th century patriarchal context. Women’s roles in society at this time were solely marital and maternal, with writers such as Rousseau stating the idea that women must be subservient, dutiful and devoted to the men in their lives. The book firmly projects the patriarchal society as the context: “A young woman, if she falls into bad hands may be teased…but one cannot comprehend a young man’s being under such restraint.” This language, although satirical reaffirms a main attitude existent in the context of Regency England.
So, there are many examples of not thinking for yourself and thinking for youself in this novel. In the novel the main character is Guy Montag and his wife Mildred Montag, and Mildred is the one who should be thinking for herself. She is letting the government get to her head, and everything they say she believes. Even though she is married to Montag, she thinks that the "parlor walls are her family" (Bradbury 49). Montag is her family, but she doesn't consider him as much as a family compaired to the parlor walls.
If Maupassant’s story “The Necklace” had been poorly written, it could easily have shown Mathilde quickly as only vain and superficial. But all writers must make us feel for their central characters if their stories are to be successful. Analyze Mathilde, her husband and any other secondary characters in the story and develop an argument that explains how Maupassant forces us to care about what happens to Mathilde. Guy de Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" tells of a vain, narcissistic middle-class housewife who longed for the aristocratic lifestyle that she believed she deserved. In describing Mathilde's callous self-centeredness in preparing for the party to which she and her husband were invited, as well as her reaction to losing what she thought was an expensive necklace she borrowed, de Maupassant incorporates a tragic irony that makes this story a timeless classic.