Gender 2/14

Question addressed: Gender- how do you understand it better now?

This chapter was not as clear cut to me as some of the other chapters were. I realize that in marriage there are gender roles and in this society the gender roles were very different than what we expect today. However this chapter talked about how Austen discussed romance and how she incorporated romance into her plots rather than gender. Austen made it clear that PDA was not a very common gesture made in this time period and that alone time was looked down upon. Lydia and Wickham riding in the same carriage shows this perfectly; her family thought their reputation was going to be ruined if Lydia did not marry him. They were worried because they had gotten in the same carriage. This is very very different from what we are used to now.

I was just not very clear on the new gender aspect of this chapter. The only part of the chapter that stood out to me being solely about gender was the section highlighted Austen and the dream of equality. This section explained how Austen wanted the genders to become equal and for women to be given a chance within the career world. She also wanted women to be given a chance to fairly pick their marriages. Austen just overall wanted class barriers to be dropped and for genders to be considered equal.