Jane Austen was a famous author from the early 1800s best known for writing proto-feminist romances, of which she has six to her name. The virtues of Austen’s heroines and handsome heroes play an important role in how Austen presents gender in her novels. While all her characters are unique, they share some characteristics: the women are kind, innocent, and joyful, while the men are steadfast, responsible, and confident. Two of her novels—Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey—clearly demonstrate this difference in the portrayal of genders. At the time Austen wrote, most women were required to marry for security, and Austen could not stray too far from these standards lest her books become unmarketable. Scholars find that “Instead, Austen worked from within to masterfully weave in and out of the patriarchal framework that she lived in to push the boundaries” (Miller). As such, Austen prioritizes inner virtue over superficial qualities such as class and appearance, highlighting the female gaze on men while simultaneously reinforcing traditional gender roles for women.

Austen uses inner virtues in her young women to make them desirable love interests, often in spite of their appearances. Studies find that traditional stereotypes present men as “assertive” and “emotionally restrained,” and women as “sexually modest” and “emotionally sensitive,” thus informing “men’s and women’s self-presentation and behavior [and] what traits are perceived as attractive in sexual or intimate partners” (Siegel & Meunier). These stereotypes align with the desired virtues Austen presents in her men and women. In Pride and Prejudice, it is made very clear from the start of the novel that Mr. Darcy likes Elizabeth in spite of her appearance: “No sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness” (Austen 18). It is notable here that Darcy is caught by her playful manner, intelligence, and personality; in comparison to her sister, Jane, she is found lacking. Similarly, Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey is described on the very first page as having “a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without color, dark lank hair, and strong features” (Austen 5). However, scholars of Austen have noted that Catherine is a uniquely sweet heroine because “in a world where people deploy the outward signs of such virtue to their own advantage, genuine feeling, when properly expressed, appears intrinsic to Catherine” (Armstrong). Despite Austen’s proto-feminism and focus on intelligence, the heroines ultimately still conform to stereotypical gender presentation.

Not only does Austen use virtue to elevate her women, but she uses inner virtue for men in a manner that highlights the female gaze as it existed at Austen’s time. One of the main characteristics of Austen’s love interests is that they are open and effusive in expressing their desires and love for the heroines; a trait that is still considered unmanly even in the 21st century. In contrast, Darcy literally cannot repress his emotions: “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you” he exclaims (Austen 142). Women want men to be open with their emotions and affections, not closed off, and Austen shows that through her male protagonists. Darcy is respectful, and despite needing to overcome prejudices, once Elizabeth points out his arrogance and pride, he endeavors to better himself before approaching her with his feelings once more. Henry Tilney is the same in Northanger Abbey; when his father turns Catherine away due to her lack of money, he protests this, because “He felt himself bound as much in honour as in affection to Miss Morland, and believing that heart to be his own which he had been directed to gain, no unworthy retraction of a tacit consent, no reversing decree of unjustifiable anger, could shake his fidelity, or influence the resolutions it prompted” (Austen 183-184). It is clear that Henry is not marrying for duty or for Catherine’s dowry, but because of her personality and inner virtue; what more could a woman desire? Austen makes it clear in her writing that the inner virtues of men that are important are most valued by women; Darcy and Tilney are the epitome of men written by women, for women.

The female gaze is not just evident in how Austen writes her men, but in how her heroines view them. When Henry Tilney states that “my sister has often trusted me in the choice of a gown. I bought one for her the other day, and it was pronounced to be a prodigious bargain by every lady who saw it”, Catherine and Mrs. Allen find his unabashed knowledge of fabrics and dresses, both traditionally feminine pursuits, incredibly attractive (Austen 16). In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth rejects Mr. Darcy in spite of his immense wealth, stated in the book to be £10,000 a year, because of “the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others” (Austen 145). Elizabeth only truly falls for him when she learns of his true personality in praise from a servant, who describes him as good-hearted and steadfast in his duties, both of which Elizabeth finds admirable (Austen 184-185). Readers are meant to see themselves in Austen’s heroines and also find her love interests attractive; is it any wonder that with Austen’s mastery of the female gaze, that her love stories hold true for readers to this day?

However, Austen also uses the inner virtues of her heroines to elevate them at the expense of other women in the novel, displaying a latent misogyny in Austen’s writing. Elizabeth Bennet’s closest friend Charlotte accepts a marriage of convenience with Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him and when she states that “considering Mr. Collins character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is fair, as most people can boast on entering the marriage state,” Elizabeth looks down upon this (Austen 95). Her belief in romance and happiness reflect her innocence and Austen’s view that romance was a positive virtue for both women and men. Isabella Thorpe, on the other hand, acts as a foil to Catherine Morland’s innocence and toys with the men around her, ultimately being portrayed in a negative light. Catherine cries out, “Could you have believed there had been such inconstancy and fickleness, and everything that is bad in the world?” (Austen 150). This juxtaposition highlights how Austen picks and chooses with personality traits are considered virtues in line with what society expected of women at the time—Isabella represents a sexually immodest “whore” archetype, which was frowned upon, while Catherine, our innocent ingénue, ultimately marries the rich man. Despite Austen’s proto-feminism, her writing still reflects the patriarchal standards of the 1800s: that there is a right and wrong way to be a woman.

Austen’s proto-feminism becomes prominent, however, when she demonstrates that there is not only an incorrect way to be a woman, but an incorrect way to be a man, punishing both genders according to their values. For example, Wickham, who attempts to seduce Darcy’s younger sister Georgiana and whose chief object was unquestionably [his] sister’s fortune” is punished ultimately with a loveless, penniless marriage to Elizabeth’s younger sister Lydia, who believing herself to be in love with him, runs away with him without getting married, despite the shame it would cast on all of them (Austen 151). If word got out that they were unmarried, none of the Bennet sisters would be marriageable due to the scandal. Both characters, who are written to be selfish and greedy, end up constantly spending all of their money and asking for more; a fitting end for the man whose clear goal throughout the book is wealth. Mr. Collins, who proposes to Elizabeth and is turned down, is an even more insidious example of the type of man Austen punished: men who do not take no for an answer. When Elizabeth turns down his proposal, Collins simply states that “As I must therefore conclude that you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall choose to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females” (Austen 83). Collins simply cannot seem to understand that Elizabeth says no; an idea that when considered by 21st century standards, demonstrates that Austen was far ahead of her time in her understanding of what made men undesirable. Collins is ultimately punished as well, when his constant social-climbing backfires and after the engagement of Elizabeth to Darcy, “Lady Catherine had been rendered so exceedingly angry by the contents of her nephew’s letter, that Charlotte, really rejoicing in the match, was anxious to get away till the storm was blown over” (Austen 286). For a man who had spent his life prostrating himself at the feet of titled wealth, to flee is punishment indeed, in Austen’s novel. Isabella, for her fickle flirting with the men around her, ultimately does not end up married at all by the end of the novel despite her ardent wishes to marry a rich man—a punishment that still reflects society’s gender roles and Isabella’s personal values. Even the punishments for Austen’s characters align with the gendered expectations of Austen’s society, demonstrating that no matter how much she pushed at the patriarchal bounds that limited her by clearly displaying that men could not act as they pleased with no repercussions, in other ways, she conformed.

As we have moved into the 21st century and society has evolved, so too has the presence of the female gaze in Austen adaptations, highlighting the subtle tensions in her novels in a manner more digestible for the average viewer. In this essay, the female gaze encompasses “the ways in which women and girls look at other females, at males, and at things in the world” (Oxford). In Austen’s time period, despite the majority of marriages being about security, Austen made it clear in her writing that she valued inner virtues and a good personality over superficial status symbols such as wealth. Austen herself, despite being incredibly careful with money, seemed to be a romantic: she accepted a man’s proposal before turning it down the very next morning, and never married (PBS). The evolution of the female gaze is most apparent in the 1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice, best known for the lake scene in which Colin Firth emerges from the lake soaking wet in a thin white shirt, displaying his musculature for female audiences to sigh over (Langton). As sexual desires have become more accepted, the female gaze has evolved to include bodily desire—in addition to Austen’s already present, virtue focused gaze. To the modern reader, Mr. Collin’s laughter at Elizabeth’s rejection reads not just as evidence of his desperate social-climbing, but as an archetype of the type of man that women avoid. While the subtleties of Austen’s original novels might be lost on the average reader, it is much harder to ignore when Mr. Darcy is not just attractive to audiences in the 1800s, but to women today, demonstrating that Austen quite clearly understood the female gaze. Further, the fact that she recognizes the improper actions of the men in her novels, who so often go unpunished, highlights the manner in which she pushed at the patriarchal bounds of the society she resided in.

Austen broke ground in literature for the early 1800s when she not only published multiple novels as a woman (though it was not revealed until after her death during the posthumous publishing of Persuasion and Lady Susan) but in her novels themselves, where she prioritized inner virtue over wealth and appearance, both reinforcing traditional gender roles for women and highlighting the impact of the female gaze on men. Ultimately, Austen does present gender as immutable and inherent to the person, with certain characteristics and behaviors to go along with it. There is no doubt that she had a true mastery of the English language, and ultimately, the core message of her texts—that inner virtue should be prioritized over appearance or wealth—remains true today.

Bibliography

Armstrong, Nancy. “The Gothic Austen,” January 2, 2009, 237–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444305968.ch20.

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Austen, Jane. Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Langton, Simon, director. Pride and Prejudice. Season 1, episode 4, “Episode 4.” Aired January 15, 1996, in broadcast syndication. BBC, TV Show. 

Masterpiece. “Jane Austen: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions,” n.d. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/jane-austen-answers-to-the-most-frequently-asked-questions/#.

Miller, Alexis. “Feminism by Proxy: Jane Austen’s Critique of Patriarchal Society in Pride and Prejudice and Emma – ProQuest.” http://www.proquest.com, October 6, 2021. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2635269209?%20Theses&parentSessionId=Ro5fIEFymCREtBgZxtZOeFcnH1g3JAXaetXZtP%2F00yg%3D&sourcetype=Dissertations%20.

Siegel, Karolynn, and Étienne Meunier. “Traditional Sex and Gender Stereotypes in the Relationships of Non-Disclosing Behaviorally Bisexual Men.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 48, no. 1 (June 4, 2018): 333–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1226-3.