Marriage as the Determinant of Female Class in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park

Abstract

Jane Austen, in Mansfield Park, shows the secondary position of women in the patriarchal society. She has been able to present the contemporary social, economic and political condition of the society that is controlled by the patriarchal authority when women are marginalized and their rights have been curtailed by the conventional authority. By creating different female characters, she has tried to give a perfect picture of her contemporary patriarchal society and its domination over women. In the novel, most of the female characters are dependent. Their only one way to climb the social ladder is their marriage with a rich man so, they always seem in search of wealthy suitor. This proves their submissive position in the society.