Female Consciousness in Pride and Prejudice
作者：弋茜
来源：《新农村》2011年第19期
        Abstract：Influenced by Rationalism in the 18th century, and Romanticism in the next century, Jane Austen's works have complex profound themes. The author illustrated the ideological conflict and contradiction in females' minds toward love and marriage in that day, by analyzing the image of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Feminine Consciousness.
        Key words：Consciousness Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth
        ⅠThe Emergence of Female Consciousness
        In 19th century the Feminine Literature in Britain bloomed, and the prosperity of Feminine Literature emerged never happened before. Female consciousness refers to wome
n' realization and experience of the value of being a human, especially a woman. For patriarchal society, it refuses to accept their traditional definition of a woman in society, and questions, even subverts the male authority. Meanwhile, it displays the attention to woman's living condition, examines woman's mentalities and feelings, and expresses the experience of woman's lives.
uneventful        ⅡPride and Prejudice
        Jane Austen is a female novelist who had received an education superior to other common girls of her time. Her life was a singularly uneventful one, tranquil and happy, despite a disappointment in love,.
        Pride and Prejudice, tells love and marriage disputes of a country gentleman' five daughters. The whole story describes the second of the five daughters, Elizabeth Bennet' life, how she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England.
        ⅢElizabeth, a Pioneer of
        sness
        Elizabeth Bennet, a young girl who is intelligent, lively, attractive, sensible and witty, but with a tendency to judge at the first sight. She is well read and educated, with a tongue that occasionally proved too sharp for her own good. Her realization of Darcy's goodness eventually triumphs over her initial prejudice against him. Elizabeth has many traits, such as being independent, romantic, firm and self-knowing.
        When Elizabeth met Darcy first time, Darcy thought she looked ordinary. This kind of pride hurt Elizabeth's self-respect a lot. And later on Darcy showed some contempt for her family members, which again made her irate. So, she had a bad impression of him and often retaliated him for pleasure. According to the diagnose below we can find how independent she is.
        “ `That is very true,' replied Elizabeth, `and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.' ” Elizabeth's words expressed her strong independence consciousness. Although she born in a middle-class family with not so beautiful appearance, she was educ
ated and thought herself as an independent and excellent person. Every one's mind was equal and should receive the same treatment. The materials and money could not represent one's identity or one's thought.
        Owe to Elizabeth's misunderstanding and prejudice on Darcy, she was disgusted with him for a long time. Later to her surprise that Wickham was a base person, and Darcy had done lots of great things for them silently, she felt pretty shamed and sorry for Darcy. This reflected that Elizabeth had a sense of self-examination and a spirit of admitting her fault. From this moment, she began to find the merits of Darcy, and viewed things through rational eyes and just attitude.
        Although Elizabeth knew herself a lot, but as mentioned above, sometime she might be deceived. It's a touching words she told her father when she determined her mind loving Darcy. Her self-knowing and sincere saved her love.
        ⅣConclusion
        Elizabeth is a woman who has feminine consciousness, and numerous admirable qualities. Her honesty, virtue, lively wit, and brilliant converse enable her to rise above the nonsense. Nevertheless, her sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgments often lead her astray. As she gradually comes to recognize the nobility of Darcy’s character, she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him. By rejecting Lady Catherine's intervention, she reattained her true love.
        As described above, Elizabeth not only has respectable qualities and consciousness as a sensible woman, but also she is influenced by the patriarchal ideology in her day. Although she could insist in her dream of romantic and love, she still bears the common sense that "A woman should wait for a man's proposal, unless the man confesses his mind". Ideas like this limites her advanced feminine consciousness. But her sensible perspectives has already represented the gradually high level of feminine consciousness in the early 19th century .
        Reference:
        [1]Luo Jingguo, 2010, the Newly Selected Readings in English Literature, Peking University Press.
        [2]Zhu Lei, 2010, Four Different Marriages in Pride and Prejudice, Science & Technology Information, 2010, vol 36.
        [5]Zhou Hanyan, 2010, The Feminist View of Love in The Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre，Movie Literature, 2010, vol 10.