Study On The Middle-aged And Old Female Images In Jane Austen's Works Based On Patriarchy

As a famous woman writer in the early 19 th century, Jane Austen was good at describing the small world surrounding her with her nuanced observation and humorous writing style. Jane Austen's novels were usually narrow in the theme and pretty simple in the plot, but she was adept at creating characters with classical images in a rather ordinary context.This thesis aims to investigate the middle-aged and old female images in Jane Austen's novels and to explore the origin of inferior female status in the patriarchal society. The thesis has an intensive study on the discriminations against women on gender roles, marital choice, education and property rights and discusses Jane Austen's progressiveness and limitation in her feminist views. The awakening of Austen's feminist consciousness and self-consciousness are shown in the image-building of the middle-aged and old females.The thesis consists of the following five chapters:The introductory chapter introduces Jane Austen and her novels briefly. With the review of study on Austen at home and abroad,the author shows the significance to study feminist consciousness in Austen's novels from the patriarchal perspective.The second chapter summarizes the feminism and the development of feminist literary criticism and explores the profound influence of patriarchy on the female in domestic sphere and public sphere. The thesis intensively studies the discriminations against the female on family role, social role, marital choice, education and right of inheritance under the domination of the patriarchal system. With the analysis of women's social status in Austen's times, Austen's feminist consciousness is shown in the image-building of the middle-aged and old females in her novels.The third chapter focuses on the typical middle-aged and old female images in Austen's novels and explores the different roles of the female in the patriarchal society and the female characteristics under the oppression of patriarchy in details, including usurper, parasite, victim, aphasiac, angel and rebel. In accordance with the intensive study on the female images, the women were restricted in the domestic sphere for a long time and experienced discrimination on education, property inheritance and marital choice. In Austen's novels, the women who were deprived of discourse power were dependent on the male in the patriarchal society. The women who were discontent of present situation tried to strike off shackles of patriarchy and became the effective manipulators of power. It is worth mentioning that Jane Austen presents us an emancipating Mrs. Croft in Persuasion who challenged and subverted the patriarchal dogmas. The role switching of female in the patriarchal system and the awakening of self-consciousness symbolized the progressiveness of Austen's feminist consciousness.The fourth chapter explores the factors that influence the image-building of the middle-aged and old females in Jane Austen's novels. The image-building of the middle-aged and old females in Austen's works were influenced by social context, Jane Austen's upbringing, educational background and emotional experience. Art is from but beyond life. To some extent the mother-daughter relationship in Jane Austen's family had an impact on the creation of mother images in her novels. The idealized woman in Austen's works was portrayed on the basis of an intimate friend in Austen's personal life. The image-building of the middle-aged and old females in Austen's novels reflected the progressiveness and limitation of Jane Austen's feminist consciousness in British patriarchal society.The fifth chapter is the conclusion. In this part, the thesis probes into the middle-aged and old females in Jane Austen's novels based on the patriarchal system. The origin of discriminations against the female is studied from multiple perspectives. The thesis also analyzes the women's different responses to patriarchy: passive obedience, active resistance and secret rebellion and reveals the progressiveness and limitation of Jane Austen's feminist consciousness. As a woman writer living in a patriarchal society, Jane Austen realized the dilemmas of women and tried to awaken self-consciousness of the female.