Female Education in the 19th century and its role in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

The 19th century was an age of change. Industrialism and the French revolution confronted European societies with major turnabouts that couldn’t have been deeper. The changing image of the human being as well as the shifting gender ratio were soon followed by new forms of female education. In England, a huge educational reform was implemented at mid century. However, it took another decade to equate girl’s schooling with the one of boys.

Pride and Prejudice was written and plays in this time of major social and political changes. This work presents in what way Jane Austen shares or conflicts with the predominating opinions of her time, regarding female designation and women’s education leading to fulfill this task. During my research I concentrated on middle- and upper-class-women’s upbringing since the discourse of the novel takes only this social environment into account.