THE PORTRAYED OF BRITISH WOMEN IN THE NOVEL PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN
By Abbas
A Lecturer of the Cultural Sciences of Universitas Hasanuddin - Indonesia Email: abbas.fsunhas@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the description of English women in a literary work entitled Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Studies in this novel include the description of social life, mindset, and female character. This description is one form of life of British women in the 19th century as reflected in Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen around 1813.
The research of this paper uses the Structural Approach, a research method of literary works that focuses on the intrinsic elements. These elements also include fictional characters and themes in particular cases, including women's issues as part of the social documentation of 19th century British society on literary works. The method and theories of literary research used by writer is a feminist literary critic that emphasizes the role and position of women as well as their relationship with men in the fictional story.
The results of this study explain that one part of the social life of British women in the 19th century as documented in the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is related to issues of marriage, status, wealth, self-esteem, and obsession. The image of women's social life is prosperous, but the anxiety that arises in her because of the inheritance system of masculinity. Then the mindset of women is oriented towards marriage and happiness. Furthermore, the personality of British women in Pride and Prejudice fiction is a balance between women who recognize their nature in domestic life and women's career in public life.
Keywords: portrayal of women, fictional story, pride and prejudice.
INTRODUCTION
The high literary works are generated through the contemplation and understanding of authors toward important events in the society. The genius of the author absorbs events in society and in the period of time, making literary works become the documentation of human civilization. It causes the literary works always keeping the veiled fact behind the fictional story it displayed. The hidden facts behind fictional stories are related to several aspects, including lifestyle, married life, social status, matchmaking, social stereotypes of men and women, fashion models, speech, domestic life, and so on.
The fact in the literary work is the fact of the author's imagination is adopted from the social reality what he knows. The author plays an important role in creating
reality in the fictional stories so that although the author absorbs the social reality of society to create reality in literary works but these two realities are different. The social reality of society is an event witnessed by people, while reality in literature is an event felt by the reader. Events witnessed by people are facts that cannot be interpreted according to one's wish, but the events felt by the reader can be interpreted according to what each reader perceives. Therefore, readers of literary works have the right to interpret the fictional stories according to what is perceived from the atmosphere or events it reads. This interpretation does not matter if it is different from other readers because what is felt is not the same.
I, as a reader of the Pride and Prejudice novel felt that this literary work is a documentation of Jane Austen as author of the social facts in British society. My guess refers to the physical setting in the story that covers the area in Britain, including London, Brightoh, Longbourn, Nertherfield, and Derbyshire. Then the setting of the time was around the 1800s. I as an academic who has a background the scientific study of gender in literature is interested in describing social facts in British society in the novel Pride and Prejudice. So, the fact that I have described in this paper is a reality in literature, not a description of the social reality analysis of society.
METHODOLOGY
This paper uses a Structural Approach that focuses analysis on the internal elements of literary works, including fictional characters. Literary works are considered autonomous though influenced by a social reality, but the story and its characters are considered a separate reality designed by the author's wish. Judging the issue in the literary work, the reader should first have to free himself from a certain reality in society so that his understanding is purely a reality in the literary work. Therefore, a literary analyst must have a deep understanding of the content of fictional story what he reads. This understanding determines an analyst for a follow-up study, including tracing the genetics of the fictional story in society and the social background of author related to the story. Based on this understanding, the writer emphasizes the study of this paper from the aspect of women's descriptions in fiction as part of the literary intrinsic analysis.
The writer describes English women in the Pride and Prejudice novel using method and theories the feminist literary criticism. This criticism emphasizes the role and position of women and their relationship to men in literary stories. The author
realizes that in a literary story potentials to create conflict or image of the role of women and men related to certain cultures as well as revealed by Sugihastuti (2016: 5) as follows:
... kritik sastra feminis adalah pengkritik memandang sastra dengan kesadaran khusus, kesadaran bahwa ada jenis kelamin yang banyak berhubungan dengan budaya, sastra, dan kehidupan kita. Jenis kelamin inilah yang membuat perbedaan di antara semuanya yang juga membuat perbedaan pada diri pengarang, pembaca, perwatakan, dan pada faktor luar yang mempengaruhi situasi karang-mengarang.
According to Abbas (2006: 239) the application of criticism of feminist literature in the study of literary works has several steps. The whole steps begin with the understanding of the fiction story as a whole and thoroughly so that the critics can recognize the characters of the story closely. Then from the introduction of the characters of the story, the next steps are:
1. Identify female characters in the literary works to be analyzed.
2. Seeking the position of female characters.
3. Seeking the purpose of life, behavior, and the personality of female characters in the social realities of the community.
4. Examining the linkage of male characters to female characters in the literary works.
A literary analyst is able to review the feminist literary criticism if he recognizes the natural character of women in life. According to (Fromm, 2011: 6) that it cannot special treatment in the life of woman is considered as gender discrimination or a gender deviation because there is a natural instinct of woman attached to herself.
For example, the world of a mother has love, care, and responsibility for her children because she loves her children, not because they are her children, nor because she hopes special expectations from them.
Based on the method of feminist literary criticism as described earlier, the writer in analyzing the novel Pride and Prejudice, first read this novel thoroughly and understand its contents well. Then recognize the behavior, thoughts, and ideals of female fictional characters. Next traces the social relationship between female fictional characters with male fictional characters. Finally, the writer makes conclusions about the social life, mindset, and character of English women in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice novels.
DISCUSSION
Novel Pride and Prejudice has the main female characters, namely Elizabeth
Bennet, Jane Bennet, and Mrs. Bennet. On the other hand, the main male characters are Fitzwilliam Darcy, Charles Bingley, and Mr. Bennet. Elizabeth Bennett is the second daughter of the Bennett family, an educated woman, calm, intelligent personality, understanding the social circumstances around her, and sensitive to changing circumstances. Furthermore, Jane Bennet's eldest daughter in the Bennet family, she is a girl of active character, cheerful, agile, and openly friends with men, but she is not easy to fall in love with men. Then Mrs. Bennet is the mother of five daughters, including Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Bennet. Mrs. Bennett is an ambitious, obsessive mother for marriage of her daughters to marry rich men and high social status.
The male character Fitzwilliam Darcy is a 28-year-old who educated, wealthy, noble, and handsome. He is a figure of strong character, full of pride, and very confident. Then the other male character is Charles Bingley, a character with simple character, fun, easy friendship, and romantic. Furthermore, there is a male character named Mr. Bennet, husband of Mrs. Bennet and the father of Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Bennet. He is an educated, intelligent, simple, responsible, and passive man like his daughter Elizabeth Bennet.
The relationship of female characters, namely Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, and Mrs. Bennet with a male character, Mr. Bennet is a family living on Longbourn.
Other male characters, Fitzwilliam Darcy, Charles Bingley, and his two sisters settled in Netherfield, not far from the Bennet family. They are friends and familiar with the Bennet family, including Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet. The interaction of these fictional characters began in the autumn of 1811 in Netherfield Park. The story ended when Jane Bannet and Charles Bingley were married, as did Elizabeth Bennett married by Fitzwilliam Darcy and settled at the Pemberly House. Based on all the events and interactions between female and male characters, the writer can describe the social life, mindset, and character of the nineteenth-century British women in the fictional novel Pride and Prejudice.
A. The Social Life of England Women of the 19th Century
The life of British women is economically categorized as prosperous and not poor as experienced by Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, Lydia, Lady Catherine, and Mrs. Georgina. They are also generally educated women and have a social life in the public world. They are not women who only live at home to be housewives, but they are also active in social interaction. Their family life is happy and
harmony as described in the following fictional story:
The two youngest of the family, Catherine and Lydia, were particularly frequent in these attention; their minds were more vacant than their sisters’, and when nothing better offered, a walk to Meryton was necessary to amuse their morning hours and furnish conversation for the evening; and however bare of news the country in general might be, they always contrived to learn some from their aunt (Austen, 1995: 18).
The problem in the social life of British women is the inheritance of property based on masculinity. A father who has no son, then his possessions can only be passed on to his brother who is male. The married couple Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet has five daughters and no sons so their property must be inherited to Mr. Collins who is a younger brother of Mr. Bennet. The system of inheritance of masculinity is a fact that affects the mindset of British women at that time.
B. The Mindset of British Women of the 19th Century
Marriage life is a reality that must be lived by women and men. There is no opposition to this fact so that the mindset of women is oriented toward marriage and happiness. Women need not be shackled by feelings of love, but the birth of love is common sense and reality. It was experienced by Elizabeth Bennett, she had hated Fitzwilliam Darcy for being arrogant, then liked Wickham, once refused Collins' appeal, sympathized with Charles Bingley, but eventually accepted Fitzwilliam Darcy's love and married him. The love of Elizabeth Bennet, built with Fitzwilliam Darcy, is a sense-based love, not because of feelings that ultimately destroy the life of a woman, as told at the end of the Pride and Prejudice novel.
With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them (Austen, 1995: 262).
The mindset that became an obsession for British women is married by rich men and nobles do not because of poor British women or materialists, but because of the inheritance system of masculinity that made them worry. It is also making Mrs.
Bennet is obsessed with having his daughters marry rich men and high social status to keep their daughters prosperous because of all his inheritance of Bennett will be given to his brother, Mr. Collins.
C. The Character of British Women of the 19th Century
The behavior and personality of British women is natural as well as nature.
Women should not be hostile to men. Women do not need to position themselves as male rivals, but place themselves as partners of male in the social life of community.
They do not deny marriage is part of the process of a woman's life, but what they reject is a ruse wedding. Marriage must be built in common sense, not it is based on an abstract love feeling. Love must be construed and based on common sense as experienced by Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.
The personality of British women in Pride and Prejudice fiction is a balance between women who recognize their nature in domestic life and women's career in public life. Women like Elizabeth Bennet, Lady Catherine, and Mrs. Georgina is a highly educated woman and has economic independence. British English women of 19th-century were disliked arrogant men, playboy, and cunning men, but they were more sympathetic to responsible men, honest men, and open men. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Bennet once hated Fitzwilliam Darcy because he was considered arrogant, but Elizabeth Bennet had finally sympathized with Fitzwilliam Darcy for his honesty, openness, and responsibility.
CONCLUSION
Novel Pride and Prejudice based on all the events and interactions of its characters can be known the social life, mindset, and character of British women. The image of women's social life is prosperous, but the anxiety that arises in her because of the inheritance system of masculinity. Then the mindset of women is oriented towards marriage and happiness. Furthermore, the personality of British women in Pride and Prejudice fiction is a balance between women who recognize their nature in domestic life and women's career in public life.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abbas. 2006. Perbandingan Idealisme Perempuan Indonesia dan Amerika 1920- 1940 dan Refleksinya Dalam Novel Layar Terkembang dan My Mortal Enemy. Makassar: Era Media.
Austen, Jane. 1995. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Dover Publications.
Sugihastuti dan Suharto. 2016. Kritik Sastra Feminis: teori dan aplikasinya.
Yogyakarta: Pustska Pelajar.
Fromm, Erich. 2011. Cinta, Seksualitas, dan Matriarki. Terjemahan oleh Pipiet Maizier. Yogyakarta: Jalasutra.
