Feminism in Jane Austen's pride and prejudice

الملخص EN

Was Jane Austen a feminist? Very often this question has been asked by many critics.

But before answering this question, let’s define feminism.

Feminism is generally defined as a “philosophy in which women and their contributors are valued.

It's based on social, political and economical equality for women." "Feminism is a movement that seeks to enhance the quality of women's lives by impacting the norms and moves of a society based on male dominance and female sub-ordination.”My aims for writing this paper are to show the problem of feminism is basically concerned with the education and place of women.

Jane Austen was dealing with the issue of her time: women's role in society.

We may examine the element of feminism in one of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, keeping in mind the position of women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

For this purpose, the study is divided into the following sections : First is the Introduction, devoted to acquaint the reader with the meaning of feminism and the position of English woman in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Second section deals with Jane Austen’s feminism and the social milieu in which she was born and bred which affects her novels.

Section three is given to irony.

How Jane Austen employed, irony to address the social and political concerns of the nineteenth- century men and women.

Lastly the conclusion intends to deal with the findings of the preceding sections, and also attempts to answer some of the major charges against Jane Austen's feminis.