Mean Girls:
Female Rivalry in
Jane Austen and her Contemporaries
Jane Austen and her contemporaries
explored the intricacies that governed 19th century British society. In doing
so, their novels exposed the issues that were at the forefront of social discourse
and consequently added to their progress. These issues included education,
status, class politics, Jacobinism, male professionalism, and female agency,
among a multitude of others. Yet, the issue that was most shockingly ubiquitous
and remained decidedly unresolved was the female position in society. In all of
the novels we have read, every female character is restricted by the society in
which she lives. Whether it is by the confines of propriety, social class,
financial status, or simply the men around her, the average female character is
limited in her self-determination. The innate stringency of the female position
in these novels is enhanced by the complexities of the relationships between
female characters. Austen and her contemporaries show how that in this
constrained environment, an immense degree of conflict is born among women.
With so few options available to them, women had to marry for both social
acceptance and economic security. In this capacity – competing with one another
to establish themselves in society – self-interests fostered further
restrictive conflict in female relations. The very nature of the constraints
set upon women’s economic and social agency made it so that women, in being
restricted by society, consequently restricted their fellow women. That is, not
only were women hindered by society, but also by each other. This theme, both
shocking and sad, is apparent in the novels we have read by Austen and her
contemporaries. We see numerous female relationships that are founded on
rivalries and competitions; in a male dominated world, women prove to be their
own worst enemies. These suppressive female relationships manifest themselves
in three categories. First, the most conspicuous episode of unconstructive
female relationships is rooted in the competitive business of husband hunting. Female
characters in pursuit of marriage demonstrate an unmistakable rivalry in their
relationships that amount to petty meanness. The next, more understated
demonstration of the problematic nature of female relationships is rooted in
the relationships between older and younger women. Older female characters, to
some degree demonstrate more agency than the younger generation. Given this
advantage, they use their limited power to control the agency of their younger
counterparts. Female relationships are also strained by jealousy and suspicions
of infidelity. In these situations, female characters’ restrict themselves by
ending relationships, perhaps unnecessarily. Ultimately, Austen and her
contemporary novelists show that the constraints on women in 19th
century society bred rivalry and conflict in relationships between women, which
only further limited female agency.
The women in Austen and her
contemporaries demonstrate the shallow nature of female relationships in the
face of the competitive marriage mart. The limits of the society are such that
the females must marry, and there fore competition abounds; in this capacity,
“Austen explores hostility between young women who feel they have no alternative
but to compete in the marriage market” (Bloom, 74). Then, relationships between
women exhibit a remarkable amount of petty meanness in their pursuit of
marriage. In Sense and Sensibility,
the relationship between Elinor Dashwood and Lucy Steele is based on their mutual
partiality for Edward Ferrars, making them unmistakable rivals. Lucy – secretly
engaged to Edward –and Elinor – secretly in love with him – appear to be “great
friends.” In reality, Lucy, jealous of the affection between Edward and Elinor,
confides in her rival about a secret engagement and systematically uses this
information to torment her. Lucy never misses an opportunity to remind Elinor,
her only confidante, of the engagement and tirelessly conveys her happiness
whenever she receives a letter from Edward. At Fanny Dashwood’s dinner party,
Mrs. Ferrars favors Lucy, and afterwards she can only brag to Elinor about the
“extreme affability” that was shown to her. Elinor, given her nature and the
necessities of propriety, indulges Lucy with her own dose of backhandedness.
When Lucy brags about the special attention shown to her by Mrs. Ferrars,
Elinor points out that given the secrecy of Lucy’s relation to Edward, his
mother’s partiality actually means little (“Undoubtedly, if they had known your
engagement,” said she [Elinor], “nothing could be more flattering than their
treatment of you; but as that was not the case – ”). The combination of the
insincerity of Lucy and Elinor’s relationship, and both of their underhanded
meanness speaks to the problem of women’s relationships in a society that
limits female agency to the marriage mart.
This image shows two regency women fighting over a man. Suppose Elinor and Lucy had resorted to such melodramatic means...
source: http://www.fscclub.com/history/images/draka-ball.jpg
Other female relationships show an
even simpler, more petty rivalry. In Mansfield
Park, the Bertram sisters shamelessly compete for Mr. Crawford’s attentions
in everything ranging from sitting next to him in a curricle, to playing the
part opposite him in the play. Likewise, in Persuasion,
Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove vie for the attention of Captain Wentworth. In Lady Susan, the duplicitous widow pays
attention to Sir James Martin, but only to spitefully detach him from her
rival, Miss Manwaring. Theese rivalries, between Lucy and Elinor, Julia and
Maria Bertram, the Musgrove sisters, Lady Susan and everyone else, are examples
of “fierce female competition where female anger is deflected…to powerless
females” (Bloom, 75). Therefore, as the women treat each other as rivals, they
further add to their societal constrictions.
This image shows one bachelor and seven regency ladies on the marriage market. Given these odds, it was no surprise women developed petty rivalries. source: http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2011/11/regemcy-era-ladys-prodigious-layers-of.html
A further exploration of female
relationships shows that women continued to suppress one another beyond the competitive
marriage mart. This introduces the relationships between women removed from the
husband hunt and those still in need of a groom. Consequently, there is also a
generational aspect to these relationships. The women in these relationships no
longer in pursuit of a husband are equipped with a degree of agency; they are
either married or widowed, and economically and socially established. But,
since women’s social and economic situation was rooted in marriage, it remains
the source of the inter-female conflict. However, the generational divide makes
it so that the female rivalries are not born from competition over choosing a
husband, but rather, from a desire on the part of the older women to control
marriage within their social circle. This theme is most clearly seen in Sense and Sensibility in the manner in
which Fanny Dashwood and Mrs. Ferrars treat, Elinor (first), and then Lucy. Fanny
and Mrs. Ferrars are preoccupied with securing Edward a socially and
financially fortuitous marriage. An obvious fondness between Edward and Elinor
prompts Fanny and Mrs. Ferrars to be overtly rude and unkind to their
in-law. At Fanny’s dinner party, Mrs.
Ferrars eyes Elinor “with the spirited determination of disliking her.” Fanny
even more blatantly eschews her husband’s sister; she neglects to visit them
and dissuades John from inviting Elinor to stay. Elinor, already limited by the
misfortunes of her deceased father’s will, is further restricted in her hopes
for happiness. Fanny, who has the means and resources to help Elinor, simply
does her best to impede her.
Another manifestation of the
unforgiving relationship between older, established women, and younger females
is seen in Amelia Opie’s Adelaide Mowbray.
In this novel, the relationship between Adeline and her mother, rather
indirectly, exemplifies how women can suppress one another. Adeline’s
unorthodox and theoretical education prompts her to attempt to pursue a
scandalous relationship with Glenmurray – Bath’s public sponsor for anti-institutional
marriage. Adeline, demonstrating a degree of female agency, decides to live a
romantic life with Glenmurray beyond the social constructs of marriage. Mrs.
Mowbray, although a liberal theoretical enthusiast, is appalled by her
daughter’s proclamation never to marry. And when Adeline actually lives with
Glenmurray, Mrs. Mowbray, like the rest of society, ostracizes her daughter. In
this effect, it is not just an older woman hurting a younger one, but a mother
refusing to accept her daughter’s attempt at happiness. This further adds to
the generational aspects of conflicts in female relationships and their
subsequent unconstructive effect of women’s social agency.
Finally, the last manifestation of
the conflict among women lies in the tenet of jealousy. Female characters, even
after they are settled in marriage, succumb to jealousy of other women whose
attentions may, or may not distract their husbands. Whether their suspicions
are unfounded or not, the female characters sever their relationships with the
sources of their jealousy, consequently isolating these women, innocent or not.
This can first be seen in Lady Susan,
when Mrs. Manwaring, correctly discerns a partiality between her husband and
Lady Susan, she has the “Females of the Family” unite against the offending
widow and Lady Susan is driven from Langford. In this situation, the conflict,
although justified, still limits Lady Susan’s self-determination.
Jealousy as a source of female
conflict is also seen in Ann Radcliffe’s Romance
of the Forest. In Kathryn’s post, “Radcliffe, mentor to Disney?” she
characterizes Madame La Motte as an “evil stepmother” who sees Adeline as a
threat to her marriage. Jealous of Adeline’s beauty, and suspicious of Monsieur
La Motte’s behavior towards the girl, Madame La Motte spurns Adeline. Unlike
Mrs. Manwaring, Madame La Motte’s jealousy is relatively unfounded. Adeline is
not a threat to the La Motte’s marriage, and so Madame La Motte’s unkind regard
for her only leaves her more alone and lost in her hopeless situation. This
shows how the conflicts between women can cause isolation and further
displacement.
Additional Information:
http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol30no1/dabundo.html
(interesting contrast)
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold.
"Shut Up in Prose: Gender and Genre in Austen's Juvenilia." Jane Austen. New York: Bloom's Literary
Criticism, 2008. 57-95. Web.
Brodie, Laura F.
"Society and the Superfluous Female: Jane Austen's Treatment of
Widowhood." Studies in English
Literature, 1500-1900 34.4 (1994): 697-718. JSTOR. Web. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/450866>.
Frost, Cy.
"Autocracy and the Matrix of Power: Issues of Propriety and Economics in
the Work of Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, and Harriet Martineau." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 10.2
(1991): 253-71. JSTOR. Web.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/464017>.
Myers, Sylvia H.
"Womanhood in Jane Austen's Novels." NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 3.3 (1970): 225-32. JSTOR. Web. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1344915>.
Strasser, Mary O.
"Sisterly Affection, Sisterly Competition: Sibling Rivalry in Jane
Austen's Novels." Persuasions On-Line
(2006). JASNA. Web.
<http://www.jasna.org/publications/index.html>.
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