Jane Austen’s Novels: A Study from Feminist Perspective

To bring changes in the society, the role of courageous women and their sacrifices are always to be recognised though many a times, it is seen that they are deprived of it and are rather exploited. Jane Austen is alleged to be such a woman. Six of her novels, concerned basically with the themes of love, marriage and wealth show many progressive notes here and there in the respective texts. They vividly depict the life led by and psychology revealed by women in that age. Apart from that, these texts also reveal the author’s feminine realization and thoughtful propositions. Feminist policy of the Victorian Era is shown in novels like Pride and Prejudice and Emma. In first half of the nineteenth century, also known as the Romantic Age, Jane Austen is acclaimed as one of the most reasonable and artistically perfect writers of narratives as her novels are acknowledged by readers world-wide. She has produced diverse woman characters with unlike individualities and knowledge in her work. Her stories show that women protagonists start to follow their true love despite various challenges from society, public stigma and differences in class, strata, social and monetary status which symbolize female self-awareness and sense of self-dignity. The present paper puts forth a critical analysis of Austen’s work in the context of feminist ideology.