As you know, Jane Austen’s female characters are known for their admirable qualities and strong morals. Although Anne Elliott has been a women with a consistent strength throughout the book, she is often seen as weak because of her demure manner. As opposed to the other heroines of Austen’s works, Anne Elliott is the most submissive. Looking at another work of Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice) the protagonist of this work is far more dominant than Elliott. Elizabeth Bennett, who is the main character of Pride and Prejudice, is infamous for her courage in mind and quick assertions about people. In the book, she frequently speaks her opinion, even if she comes from a poor family, and demonstrates her own authority through witty banter.
Even when she faces strong opposition, she never doubts her own opinion, which is often mistaken for pride. At the time a woman’s ability to hold her opinions true was always considered obstinate. Elliot and Elizabeth’s nature also contrasts because of the different environment they grew up in. Elizabeth came from a poor background, (as mentioned earlier in the blog) and because and she tried to defend herself from being mistreated, she is known for being stubborn and defensive. By being a female and of the lower class, she needs find these strengths to defend herself from society. As a poor woman, she was always thought of as inferior to others. In comparison to Elizabeth, Anne comes from an upper-class. Her background allows her to be less defensive on the outside, but Jane Austen empowered her by giving her a more subtle might. Anne is considered weak in comparison to other characters because she is constantly conforming to her family’s ideals on what a rich woman needs to act like, but she later defies this and gains her own strength through her own desires.
In these two genius works by Jane Austen, women are empowered by their environments, and social classes. If Elizabeth were to be called the “stronger” one of the two, then the reader doesn’t know how ardent Elliott is in the inside.
1 comment:
Good Work Peggy O3,
Format of the Blog:
Readability: Fine no work needed
Clarity: Very Good - just one thing in this post that I found:
“At the time a woman’s ability to hold her opinions true was always considered obstinate.”
That sentence needs a comma: At the time [,] a woman’s ability to hold her opinions true was always considered obstinate.
Sorry Peggy, I don’t mean to be picky on purpose, but, other than that small grammatical error, I think your Blog is great. I especially like your vast vocabulary usage (I had to get a dictionary).
Focus: Peggy O3, this Post is very well done; your focus on exploring the strengths and weaknesses of female protagonists is clearly discussed in this Post.
My Questions to you:
Had society been more accepting of women, what would society think of Elliot?
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