A Study Of Jane Austen's Feminist Consciousness Embodied In Marianne's Love And Marriage

As one of the greatest writers in English literature in the nineteenth century, Jane Austen (1775-1817) is known for her astute social and psychological observations of the life of the landed gentry in the nineteenth-century England. Most of her novels highlight the dependence of women on marriage to advance in terms of social and economic status.Sense and Sensibility (1811), Austen's first full-length published novel, revolves around the contrast between Elinor's sense and Marianne's sensibility. Since its publication, it has received much intense attention from many critics and scholars, who adopt various approaches to interpret the novel. Among others, large numbers of critical discussions are focused on its moral didacticism and the artistic methods employed in it. The last few decades saw a proliferation of critics who interpret the novel by placing it in political-historical contexts. However, it is generally acknowledged that the popularity and special appeal among feminist critics mainly contribute to the novel's emergence from its shadowed position among the six novels.Nevertheless, most feminist readings argue that Sense and Sensibility presents a challenging text for a thorough feminist examination, for with a wedding conclusion, Jane Austen fails to sustain her critique of the patriarchal society in which the two heroines live. However, this is not the case if we take a closer examination of Marianne's love and marriage plots, which reveal the inadequate reality that tempts women like Marianne to be internally persuaded by the empowering yet unrealistic fantasies that sensibility provides. The novel's conclusion with a marriage that is not as attractive as the one that sensibility promises, without fail, highlights the inadequate, unsatisfying nature of this real world to women.In this thesis, Jane Austen's feminist consciousness is explored through Marianne's love and marriage plots. The predicament women like Marianne are entangled in and the appealing fantasies she is tempted to dwell in, along with her submission to the conventions of society after her fantasies shatter are elaborated on to illustrate the author's indictment of the inadequate world and her concern for the women lived in such a world. This thesis consists of three chapters apart from introduction and conclusion, which are as follows:The Introduction mainly introduces Jane Austen's literary achievement and her novel Sense and Sensibility, summarizes previous literary studies and criticism on the novel, and demonstrates the significance of my thesis.Chapter One concentrates on the predicament that women like Marianne are caught in. How the patriarchal world leaves the two heroines disempowered and reliant on beneficial marriages to advance in terms of social standing and economic security as well as why the supposed good marriage is hard to form is discussed in this part.Chapter Two mainly probes into the fantasies women like Marianne resort to when they are dissatisfied with the inadequate world. These appealing fantasies sometimes seem to adequately satisfy and empower women when reality cannot, despite its being, unrealistic. All these analyses aim at foregrounding the limitations of the world that tempt women to subscribe to such consoling fantasies.Chapter Three elaborates on Marianne's change and choice after her fantasies are smashed by the formidable hostile reality. Actually, she forsakes her previous fantasies and unwillingly submits to the conventions of the world. What accounts for and what is hidden beneath her submission are examined in detail.The Conclusion summarizes the major findings of this thesis. Through the investigation of Marianne's love and marriage, the thesis reaches the conclusion that Jane Austen's feminist consciousness is instantiated by her indictment of the limitations of the world that leave women like Marianne in need of compensatory fantasies and her serious concern regarding the double-bind situation in which women in both the fictional and extraliterary world are caught.