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Eighteenth-Century Female Conduct in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – An Analysis of Elizabeth Bennet

Taavo, Alexandra LU (2008) ENGK01 20082
English Studies
Abstract
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was written in a time when courtesy literature was a highly popular literary genre. This genre embodied conduct manuals, which conveyed several viewpoints on what was to be regarded as the proper behaviour and manner of a sophisticated young woman. At first glance, the portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet, the main female character in "Pride and Prejudice", may give the impression of someone who shows little interest in adhering to tradition and old-fashioned values. This essay therefore aims at analyzing if Elizabeth’s character can be claimed to represent an unconventional eighteenth century woman. To gain insight into how well she conforms to the writings of the conduct manuals of Austen’s contemporary... (More)
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was written in a time when courtesy literature was a highly popular literary genre. This genre embodied conduct manuals, which conveyed several viewpoints on what was to be regarded as the proper behaviour and manner of a sophisticated young woman. At first glance, the portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet, the main female character in "Pride and Prejudice", may give the impression of someone who shows little interest in adhering to tradition and old-fashioned values. This essay therefore aims at analyzing if Elizabeth’s character can be claimed to represent an unconventional eighteenth century woman. To gain insight into how well she conforms to the writings of the conduct manuals of Austen’s contemporary society, her character is analysed from three, at that time, major aspects of a woman’s life: accomplishments, courtship and marriage. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Taavo, Alexandra LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENGK01 20082
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
conduct manuals, behaviour, eighteenth century, women in literature, virtue
language
English
id
1583859
date added to LUP
2010-06-26 22:28:18
date last changed
2010-06-26 22:28:18
@misc{1583859,
  abstract     = {{Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was written in a time when courtesy literature was a highly popular literary genre. This genre embodied conduct manuals, which conveyed several viewpoints on what was to be regarded as the proper behaviour and manner of a sophisticated young woman. At first glance, the portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet, the main female character in "Pride and Prejudice", may give the impression of someone who shows little interest in adhering to tradition and old-fashioned values. This essay therefore aims at analyzing if Elizabeth’s character can be claimed to represent an unconventional eighteenth century woman. To gain insight into how well she conforms to the writings of the conduct manuals of Austen’s contemporary society, her character is analysed from three, at that time, major aspects of a woman’s life: accomplishments, courtship and marriage.}},
  author       = {{Taavo, Alexandra}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Eighteenth-Century Female Conduct in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice – An Analysis of Elizabeth Bennet}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}