A Woman’s Puritism, And the Politics of Dominance in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice, And Emma

This essay demonstrates Austen’s ability to combine two ironical ideologies in her simple romantic stories, using the basic ideological principles to promote her central concern. Austen recreates her cultural society realistically to the extent that it takes her readers into middle class Georgian England characterized by conflicts of dominance, and the question of the woman’s puritism, her worth, and romantically, Austen embellishes her heroine(s) with a renewed mind against what is the norm; and clothes her with virtue, strength and steadiness of character(s) to resolve this conflict. This essay also studies Austen’s pre-occupation with the woman’s individual struggle against men and women, who try to subdue her will to all other interest but hers, and the escape route to the woman’s conquest, which lies in her ability to re-define her identity, challenge the forces, the politics of undue influence, threat and intimidation that constantly seek to dominate her. Other historical perspectives and arguments on the roles of women will be highlighted to establish the socio-cultural and political catalyst that propelled the position of women and their vulnerability to abuse and fuelled the conflicts in Austen’s works.