Competition and Cooperation: Relationships Between Women in Pride And Prejudice, The Mill On The Floss, and Jane Eyre

ABSTRACT\ud COMPETITION AND COOPERATION: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN\ud WOMEN IN PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE MILL\ud ON THE FLOSS, AND JANE EYRE\ud by\ud Brianne P. Epley\ud Master of Arts in English\ud California State University, Chico\ud Spring 2011\ud This thesis will analyze the relationships between female characters in three nineteenth-century novels: Jane Austen???s Pride and Prejudice (1813), George Eliot???s The Mill on the Floss (1860), and Charlotte Bront?????s Jane Eyre (1847). Analysis will focus on the ways that female characters compete with one other, primarily for the purposes of forming romantic relationships with male characters. Because these female characters are so reliant on men for financially secure futures, they tend to view other female characters as competitors. Furthermore, female characters who are related to one another often push each other to conform to gender norms as the reputation of one family remember reflects back upon the whole family. These dynamics, still partially around today, help maintain patriarchal authority by keeping women focused on men and at odds with each other.CSU, Chic