Fairy tales and feminism: Compatible contradictions in Jane Austen's novels

Jane Austen's heroines are independent women who exhibit feminist ideals in their gender-constructed societies. Although some debate Austen's qualifications as a feminist, she espouses the feminist ideals of her time: choice in marriage and the rational female mind. Austen's books relate the real restrictions of the women of her society. She writes of the confinement of her heroines in a patriarchy that said women should be taught only domestic issues and accomplishments, none of which involved her use of reason. Austen criticizes this tradition in her novels through her depiction of weak mother figures who represent the status quo. Some feminist critics say that Austen's feminist idealism is negated by her use of the traditional fairy-tale plot structure. Although this fairy-tale connection can be found in some of her works, Austen uses these familiar archetypes to focus on women's issues to lead her heroines and her readers to longer-lasting changes.