Quote:
Originally Posted by hildea
To me, there's a big difference between an author describing an oppressive society, and an author applauding an oppressive society.
Austen describes a society where women have very few rights, and writes about women who depend on marriage to make a living. But there's quite a lot of quiet fury about women's lack of options in her writing -- at least, that's how I read her.
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Yes!
Mansfield Park & the Crawfords.
IMO the Wikipedia article on it is rubbish. She was attacking the hypocrisy in her own society.
Even reading it today, they come across as I imagine Austen intended.
Or the friend (Charlotte Lucas) that marries the obnoxious toad (William Collins) that sucks up to Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth Bennet rejects him. Elizabeth is appalled, but Charlotte feels it's an escape from penury.