The Harm Principle Essays - Philosophy, Ethics, Classical Liberalism

The Harm Principle The Harm Principle was first expressed by John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty, which sought to explain the circumstances in which the government should be able to administer punishment, and enforce the law. The principle seems very simple and attractive at first, however it may be this simplicity which is the principle's downfall. As a Utilitarian, Mill thought that through the freedom of expression and personal liberty that accompany the Harm Principle, we can produce the most happiness for the most number of people. However, because of its oversimplification and ambiguous themes, the Harm Principle can easily be used to sidestepped many actions most of us would assume to be immoral. It is because of these reasons that I will argue the Harm Principle does not properly account for the limits of the law without some crucial restrictions being placed on how it can be applied. The Harm Principle, in its most basic form, states that it is only permissible for the government to interfere in the actions of individuals when those actions cause harm to other individuals. This is a very brief explanation however; the principle becomes much more complicated when we start asking questions like "how do we define harm?", or "how should we enforce laws surrounding potential harm?" Mill includes some exceptions to the principle, for example, it does not apply to anyone who does not have "mature faculties," as Mill puts it. This group would include children, the mentally disabled, and any "non-civilized" societies. Mill also describes a few other conditions to the harm principle. He states that we are able to consent to harm, to a certain extent, with activities like boxing or dangerous professions. This consent to harm only extends to a certain degree however; if we consent to having our liberty taken away (i.e. slavery), Mill thinks that this deprivation of freedom would inhibit people from living as they wish. This freedom to live life however one pleases, so long as it does not interfere with anyone else, would lead to different ways of living, different ways of thinking, and ultimately, the production of the most good for the most amount of people. This individuality is what makes us humans; it is what compels us to try new and different things and allows us to broaden our horizons of the world. Aside from actions, Mill also argues that individuals should be free to think however they choose to, and believe whatever they wish to believe. He maintains that the truth itself is "living" or dynamic, and that by allowing people to question things and have right or wrong opinions, we can better hone in on the absolute truth. According to Mill, by allowing for multiple competing opinions, we can debate, reason, and modify the truth in order to produce the most happiness. By learning which ideas are correct and which are incorrect, we can better understand the issue in question. Mill believed humans are not infallible, and that the truth and human error go hand-in-hand. Mill also discussed the harm that can be caused by inaction and claimed, "[a] person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury." Mill believed that it is our duty to save other's lives and protect those who cannot protect themselves. He argued that we should be held responsible by society for not doing so, even though we are not directly harming them. This idea sheds light on the ambiguity of the Harm Principle. To what extent can we say that individuals have a duty to prevent others from harm? Is someone who spends their dollar on a coffee rather than donating it to a trustworthy charity causing indirect harm? This is a problem for the principle and seems to suggest that Mill favours a version of the theory that prevents harm, rather than one that prevents someone from doing harm. Most people agree, excluding Devlin, that there are principled and substantive limits to the law. The law can only extend so far before it becomes counterproductive. According to Mill, the law should be limited to cases

Queering Heterosexuality Essay Example

Queering Heterosexuality Essay Example Queering Heterosexuality Essay Queering Heterosexuality Essay Women Gender and Sexuality Studies Course title: Queer Gender paper subject/title: ‘Queering’ Heterosexuality Heterosexuality is universally described as having a desire or sexual contact with someone of the opposite sex from ones own. This particular definition of heterosexuality for the most part, has remained relatively unquestioned. In turn, this has allowed heteronormative cultures and beliefs to assume heterosexuality as the norm. Marginalizing people who do not fit within heterosexual norms perpetuates the exclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual individuals, as well as, heterosexual individuals that participate in sexual practices that are not in alliance with commonly held notion of heterosexuality. The focus of this paper will be to use Nikki Sullivan’s writing, A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory in order to identify the ways in which Lizzie Borden’s 1986 film Working Girls, ‘queers’ heterosexuality. Analyzing heterosexuality through Sullivan’s writings and Borden’s film, allows for the universal understanding of heterosexuality to be challenged. Heterosexuality is consistent with dominant group membership and with beliefs, values, and institutions that support and are supported by that group. Therefore, the institution of heterosexuality constructs restrictions and allows for little element of real choice. Within heterosexuality, males are the only ones that are given the ability to choose. Males are in the dominant, profiting, and controlling position in heterosexual relationships, whereas females are understood to serve, pleasure, and assume females to abide by the decisions that males make for them. Following the lives of a group of female sex workers, Lizzie Borden’s 1986 film,  Working Girls  juxtaposes paid â€Å"straight† sexuality with lesbianism. Molly, the main character in the film, is the only female who is known to be a lesbian. However, even though Molly is  a lesbian and has sex with men, what she is doing is engaging in a performance of heterosexuality. This is just the same as her engaging in a performance of sexual service for money. Since money is being exchanged in response to sexual practices, this already ‘queers’ the notion of heterosexuality. The concept of sex as a commodity that is sold by women and consumed by men is something that bears further feminist analysis. In her film, Borden illustrates that there is nothing straight about sex work. Selling sex is believed to be quite outside the normative codes of heterosexual conduct, whereby sex is privileged as something you do for love or reproduction. So therefore, the exchange of money for a sexual service is a defining characteristic that is believed to be a queer act. This means that any sexual practices that are not done out of love or for reproduction are only done for pleasure, which is not in congruence with heterosexual practices. In the film Working Girls Borden illustrates that within the sex work industry, certain women come up with complex and provocative theories of femininity and sexuality when describing their jobs. Due to the jobs they have and the position they are placed in relevance to men, these women are given the ability to have real choice and choose their sexual partners. These women make their own personal choices to engage or not engage in certain sexual acts with their clients. An example of this is seen in the film when a client of Molly’s commands her to suck his penis and she responds back to him that she will not do anything she does not want to do. Molly’s response challenges the social and sexual power of men dominating women, therefore deconstructing the heterosexual knowledge that men are in control. In heterosexuality, the male is always the victor, however in Borden’s film the females are the ones in the position of the victor because they are the ones in control of the men. This can be seen in the film by having a woman, Lucy deal with all the money the women make. Lucy is in the dominant controlling position, which threatens the traditional understanding that the man is in charge of the house. Not to mention that, in the sex work industry females, sex workers and pimps, financially profiting from the sexual interactions they have with males, their clients. Christine Overall, a feminist theorist Sullivan refers to in her writings, aims to envision a more compatible relationship between heterosexuality and feminism. By making a conscious and informed choice to partake in heterosexual practices without agreeing to endorse the heterosexual institution, this could be identified as a form of feminist praxis (Sullivan, 126). The sex workers in the film, may not voice that they are feminists, however they still make conscious and informed choices to participate or not in sexual practices with their cliental. Overall outlines a number of reasons as to why the choice to participate in heterosexual practices need to be observed as a justifiable option for feminists. Furthermore, Sullivan relates Overall’s thesis to a statement made by Segal, All feminists could, and strategically should, participate in attempting to subvert the meaning of ‘heterosexuality’, rather than simply trying to abolish its practice†¦to acknowledge that there are many ‘heterosexualities’†¦We need to explore them, both to affirm those which are based on safety, trust, and affection†¦a nd which therefore empower women† (Sullivan, 127). Both Overall and Segal, challenge the notion that there is only one definition of heterosexuality, by introducing the belief that there are various different forms of heterosexuality among us. But rather than simply encouraging women to choose to participate in heterosexual practices on their own terms, Segal invites women to play an active role in subverting heterosexual norms by ‘queering’ traditional understanding of gender and sexuality. Throughout the film, sex workers interact in heterosexual practices that differ from commonly held notions of heterosexuality. At one point in the film, Molly must deal with a man that gets turned on by wearing women’s panties and getting smacked in the ass with a paddle. Sexual practices that are executed this way go outside of the box of what heterosexuality is widely described to be. Pleasures produced by practices such as fisting, anonymous sex, bondage, and so on, functions to ‘shatter identity and dissolve the subject’ (Sullivan, 156). This is because such practices work against the logic of heteronormative sex, a practice that ultimately serves as an act of reproduction. These types of practices are non-reproductive and open up a sort of polymorphous perversity, enabling us to rethink pleasure and sexuality. After analyzing Nikki Sullivan’s writing, A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory in order to identify the ways in which Lizzie Borden’s 1986 film Working Girls, ‘queers’ heterosexuality. Using Lizzie Borden’s film to analyze the sex work industry, has placed it at the crossroads of feminism and queer theory; thus, providing a unique vantage point to critique the regime of heterosexuality from various aspects. Various activists in a variety of social groups have fought to, and continue to challenge heteronormative behaviors and beliefs. Heterosexuality continues to be challenged daily in many different ways, some of which were previously discussed.

Definition and Examples of Kennings in English

Definition and Examples of Kennings in English A kenning is a  figurative expression, usually compound in form, that is used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English. Kenning as Metaphor The kenning has been described as a kind of compressed metaphor with the referent suppressed. Commonly used kennings in Old English and Norse poetry include whale-road (for sea), sea-horse (for ship), and iron-shower (for the rain of spears or arrows during a battle). Examples Old English poetry used a special poetic vocabulary. . . . [The word] ban-cofa (n) had a special meaning: its two elements were bone-den, but it meant body. Such an expression is a paraphrase, a reference to a thing by concentration on one of its attributes. A person could be called a reord-berend (speech-bearer) because speech is uniquely human. This device of paraphrase was frequent in Old English poetry, and it goes now by the name (borrowed from Old Norse) of kenning.(W.F. Bolton, A Living Language: The History and Structure of English. Random House, 1982)The poets loved kennings because they were opportunities to vary their descriptions when they told long stories of heroes and battles. . . .So, what could a ship be? A wave floater, sea goer, sea-house or sea steed. And the sea? A seal bath, fish home, swan road or whale way. Anything could be described using a kenning. A woman is a peace-weaver, a traveller is an earth-walker, a sword is a wolf of wounds, the sun is a sky candl e, the sky is the curtain of the gods, blood is battle sweat or battle icicle. There are hundreds more. (David Crystal, The Story of English in 100 Words. St. Martins Press, 2012) Circumlocutions The poets of medieval Scandinavia developed a system of naming by circumlocution, or kennings, which they could expand to a dizzying degree of complexity. They might call the sea earth of the fish. Next, they could replace the word fish by the expression snake of the fjord. Then, they might substitute for fjord the phrase bench of the ship. The result was a strange, prolix thing: earth of the snake of the bench of the shipwhich, of course, simply meant sea. But only those familiar with the conceits of poetry would know it.(Daniel Heller-Roazen, Learn to Talk in Beggars’ Cant. The New York Times, August 18, 2013) Contemporary Kennings We clearly see kenning variation . . . in the seventh of the sequence Glanmore Sonnets in [Seamus] Heaneys next volume, Field Work [1979], when names of the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast (itself possessing the sonority of a formulaic catalogue from early heroic poetry) prompt the poet to expand on the metaphor in the Old English kenning for the sea hronrad (whale-road, Beowulf, l. 10): Sirens of the tundra,Of eel-road, seal-road, keel-road, whale-road, raiseTheir wind-compounded keen behind the baizeAnd drive the trawlers to the lee of Wicklow. . . . Heaney performs variation not just on the concept signified, but on the signifier itself, echoing the hypnotic chant of the shipping forecast. (Chris Jones, Strange Likeness: The Use of Old English in Twentieth-Century Poetry. Oxford University Press, 2006) Etymologyfrom the Old Norse, to know Pronunciation: KEN-ing

Paper6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Paper6 - Essay Example The ddI experiment should have been allowed to continue albeit with changes in the experiment design. The pre-trial data for ddI lead to the formulation of three arms of the trial. The second arm of the trial received ddI only, despite the awareness amongst the investigators of the inferiority of the drug (risk of death) as compared to zidovudine. Analyzing the above dilemma on the principle of equipoise - as stated by C. Fried "a state of genuine uncertainty on the part of the clinical investigator regarding the comparative therapeutic merits of each arm of a trial" (Tnnsj 530), - would lead to the conclusion that the second arm of the trial does not satisfy this condition. Even while making this theoretical principle more practical, by accepting Freedman's version of clinical equipoise (Freedman 516), it can be argued that there was not a major difference of opinion amongst investigators regarding the inferiority of the drug or the expected benefit arising from it in the case of the second arm of the trial (Tnnsj 530). Thus it is wrong that some doctors were willing to take a risk in the face of a threat which had no clear benefits in terms of a positive outcome. The second arm of the trial should have been eliminated and the drug should have been tested for its superiority over zidovudine alone, when administered in alteration with the latter.

Educational Goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Educational Goals - Essay Example Through the education, I got exposure to relevant criminal justice literature and materials, which I applied throughout my work-life. Through the education, I developed vital capabilities like critical thinking, problem solving, effective communication, collaborative working and information utilization. I want to continue my education at University of Phoenix, so as to develop the knowledge and the skills that will increase my career success as a justice and security officer. Through the Master’s degree program, I will increase my capacity for career development and delivering innovative change proposals, which can revolutionize the field of justice and security. The Masters program will enable me to attain recertification, endorsement and higher credit as a justice professional. Through the additional Master’s degree, I will acquiring knowledge and the skills required to face new challenges. That will form learning experiences in support of educational and professional growth. Through the program, I expect to gain more real-world experiences of state-of-the-art justice issues, which will distinguish my performance. My degree has helped me become one of the best employees in the department: through the Master’s program, I will be recognized by the LAPD as a highly knowledgeable employee, which will help me gain a promotion to a managerial position: the police department awards promotions on the basis of competency and educational levels. Achievements University of Phoenix candidates lead by example, which I have demonstrated through the development of exceptional leadership capacity in my personal life, work and school environments. During my work at the LAPD, I am viewed as a role model for the skills and the values that make differences at my work place as well as in my community. For instance, in my role as a polygraph examination officer, I am viewed as the number one critical thinker, especially when dealing with complicated cases. As a Phoenix graduate, I am revered as a life-long learner, which has enabled me to gain more useful information in my field, which enables me to share valuable insights in any critical case. Therefore, at the workplace, I am viewed as the best polygraph examiner, which is confessed by superiors and junior co-workers. At school, I was viewed as a leader, a role model in life-learning, and an informed student who helped others when they had trouble with courses. Upon the completion of the degree course, I graduated with honors, and a GPA of 3.85 which distinguished me as among the best candidates. The exceptional performance and the values I was identified with are among the leadership characteristics that I continue to be revered about. At the family level, I was the first to attain four-year degree education; therefore, I am viewed as a knowledgeable person who leads the family in all critical decision-making. At the larger community, I am viewed as an exceptional person who gained ed ucation against all odds, and one that has remained successful in all areas, therefore, I am viewed as a leader who can empower community members. During the Master’s program, I also plan to become a leader in values, skills-development and leadership, which makes a positive impact on other people. Personal Reflection During my work as a polygraph examiner with the Los Angeles Police Department, I have developed a mastery of uncovering the tricks of criminals. However, this exceptional perfo

Essay --

Immanuel Kant addresses a question often asked in political theory: the relationship between practical political behavior and morality -- how people do behave in politics and how they ought to behave. Observers of political action recognize that political action is often a morally questionable business. Yet many of us, whether involved heavily in political action or not, have a sense that political behavior could and should be better than this. In Appendix 1 of Perpetual Peace, Kant explicates that conflict does not exist between politics and morality, because politics is an application of morality. Objectively, he argues that morality and politics are reconcilable. In this essay, I will argue two potential problems with Kant’s position on the compatibility of moral and politics: his denial of moral importance in emotion and particular situations when an action seems both politically legitimate and yet almost immoral; if by ‘politics’, regarded as a set of princip les of political prudence, and ‘morals’, as a system of laws that bind us unconditionally. In Perpetual Peace, Kant writes, â€Å"all politics must bend the knee before right† (Kant, PP pg. 125). He claims that morals, in the sense of the doctrine of right, should demand more significance in political decisions, or even be the predominant consideration. To emphasize the lack of between morals and politics, Kant cites Matthew 10:16: â€Å"Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves† (Kant, PP pg.116). Wisdom is not sufficient if it is not conducted towards a consistent purpose with an application towards morality. Kant considers the wisdom of the serpent to be used for the betterment of morality. Not only should politics be congruent with morals, but also properly conceived poli... ...metimes it is the mechanisms that keep the political wheels in motion. If politics were absolutely subservient to morality and honesty, it would seem not only rather unrealistic but also undesirable. In the face of this problem, a challenge for Kant would be to defend the practicality and intuitive desirability of ‘honesty is better than any policy’. Kant’s claim in Perpetual Peace supplies an inspiring vision of a just, peaceful and flourishing cosmopolitan world. It is true that morality and justice demand truthfulness, civil obedience and a full suite of basic rights and liberties; however, because human nature and emotion subsists of more than duty to moral law and there exists circumstances that demand lying, civil disobedience such as revolutions and the temporary restriction of rights and liberties, there does exist a conflict between morality and politics.

Feminist Undertones in Pride and Prejudice

FEMINIST UNDERTONES IN ‘PRIDE AND PREJUDICE’ Introduction Jane Austen authored the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ in 1813, a period in the social history of England that saw most women as best equipped for the private and domestic realm. An ideal woman was the picture of chastity, innocence and compliancy. Even women authors in this period were expected to adhere to genres that were considered to be solely their domain- the refined arts, household management, love, courtship, family life and fidelity in the face of temptation.Although ‘Pride and Prejudice’ was primarily a romance between two free-thinking individuals, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, it has grave feminist undercurrents that are displayed to the reader in many incidents and conversations that ensue between the characters. The nineteenth century was one of progressive transience, especially for women who forged a new identity for themselves. Literature was a vital mouthpiece f or their miseries. Jane Austen takes a strong jibe at the existing patriarchy under the more dulcet tones of feminine affairs like love, courtships, gossip and bitchery.Austen’s protagonist Elizabeth Bennet is the second of five sisters in the Bennet family. Out of all her sisters, Elizabeth is the only one who exhibits a bent of mind that was rational and somewhat gumptious. Her principal concerns in life were not winning the affections of wealthy men in order to find herself a suitable match. Austen penned ‘Pride and Prejudice’ much prior to the time referred to as the age of New Woman Fiction and yet her writing is a powerful satire on the position of women in society and how this position limited their viewpoint to petty affairs.A good instance of this is the character of Mrs. Bennet or even Lady Catherine De Bourgh. Jane Austen explores various facets of the middle class society of nineteenth century England, successfully giving a panoptic view of the preval ent social mores and mindsets, especially those pertaining to the status of women. The different characters in her novel render a variegated purview of feminist notions. The Character of Mrs. Bennet and Austen’s Satirical Critique From the opening lines of the story Mrs. Bennet is put forth as a dominating, albeit directing, force in the Bennet household.Her very first dialogue with Mr. Bennet, wherein she tries to convince him to meet Mr. Bingley, a man of a fortune as handsome as his appearance, to try and fix a match for one of their daughters, is evident of her mindset. Her scope of interests in life is limited only to the stable marital settlement of her five daughters. Her husband is not of much interest to the reader because of his almost insipid outlook of affairs. Mrs. Bennet inspite of her condescending and parochial behavior is a multi dimensional character, interesting readers very much.Her outragous schemes to send Jane on horseback to Netherfield so as to make h er contract a cold to extend her stay at the Bingleys’ home, manage to shock those who believe in subtlety. Some critics have also referred to Mrs. Bennet as vulgar, a term too extreme for our times. However back then it probably had the connotation of something that was socially hideous. Mrs Bennet is also a prototype of how the women, repressed by society, had stopped striving for social and intellectual advancement. Mrs Bennet’s mental horizons are extremely narrow and she is not ashamed of this fact. Rather she is voluble, to an annoying extent.Mrs Bennet is unable to meet the parameters of decent conduct and behaviour as illustrated in many instances throughout the story. Mr. Bingley’s sisters are extremely repelled by her brash outspokenness, so much so that they use it as a means to break off Mr. Bingley’s association with Jane. Mrs. Bennet also displays an almost obnoxious double standard towards Charlotte Lucas, a very close friend of Elizabeth, by demeaning her appearance in front of her daughters and also Mr. Bingley. However Mrs. Bennet also exhibits some positively feminine inclinations in the course of the novel.One such instance can be her complete disdain for the fact that despite having five daughters, their estate should be inherited by Mr Collins, a complete stranger. Austen makes remarkable use of wit and sarcasm to impersonate Mrs. Bennet. Her novels use comic fiction as a chief means of exploring the individualisation of women’s lives and the revolution in the relation of the sexes at the beginning of the 19th century. Heroine Centric Novels Almost all of Jane Austen’s works feature a female protagonist and most of the other characters are women with a miscellenia of personalities.Austen’s heroines are free spirited young women who have a wide horizon of interests, be it Emma Woodhouse (Emma), Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey), Marianne (Sense and Sensibility) or Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice). In all of these novels the heroine is shown to have her own subjectivity and opinions of life, rather than play a restricted role in the background of the plot. Austen’s stories portray women and the problems faced by them in their daily life through a union of comic and moral indignation. Robert M Polhemus writes, Austen was disposed through comic license to ridicule the inadequacies and constraints of her society. † Through a lens of satire, Austen gave a candid view of the existing social, financial and sexual hierarchies in the middle class landed gentry of eighteenth century England. Women are a prime focus in all her stories and their methods of dealing with situations relating to love, marriage, family, inheritance and courtships. Virginia Woolf once said, â€Å"Austen’s characters are so rounded and substantial that people treat them as if they are ‘living people’. † The heroines in the novels had enough agency to exerc ise their will.They overcame obstacles very modernisitically. In the novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’, the social world of Elizabeth, is scrupulously described, but within these limitations, the heroine as well as the hero, Mr. Darcy are allowed to achieve self expression. Love and marriage for them signify the control of egoism and misperception and the regenerative merging of the self with the ongoing community. With their earnest tone, clear narrative line, contemporary settings, drama and pathos, Jane Austen’s writings become a persuasive communicator of significant beliefs and values.Elizabeth Bennet is a vivacious young woman who, inspite of living in a society that curtailed the thoughts and actions of the fairer sex, lived freely and almost on her own terms. Her opinions of people and situations are rational and her sense of judgement is almost always sound. She possesses not only intelligence but is also sharp and has a great presence of mind. She reads books , plays the piano and loves walking in the outdoors, an act deeply condemned by Mrs Bennet as well as the Bingley sisters as not ladylike. However these attributes endear her even more to Mr. Darcy.Rachel Trickett, in her essay ‘Manners and Society’, writes â€Å"Jane Austen singles out the snobbery and limitation to censure it. She is the enemy of any kind of distinction that fails to take into account personal merit, worth and intelligence. † Elizabeth has clarity of thought and farsightedness that helps her to see things in the right perspective. Early in the novel she is depicted as being arrogant of her wit and her accuracy in judging the social behaviour and intentions. She believes not in a marriage of economic convenience, but in a marriage that is a result of love.Her acuity and sharpness is much admired by her friends, acquaintances and men who look to court her. However Elizabeth’s quickness also sometimes leads her to misunderstand the actions of others, like in the case of Mr. Wickham’s opnions of Mr. Darcy which are dispelled after she receives Darcy’s self explainatory letter, following his first proposal of marriage to her. Through Elizabeth, Austen tries to promote the image of a sovereign identity of a woman who is as subjective as her male counterparts. Narrative style used to convey feminist themeThe novel in some instances does objectify men, though in obvious humour. This is hinted in the opening lines of the story, â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrouding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. † The author gives an exhaustive overview of each character’s mindset, adhering to no stereotypes. The man and the woman are treated equally, the description of their human psyche not influenced by any sexual convention. Their characteristic virtues and shortfalls are viewed through an objective lens. Mr. Darcy’s disposition isn’t perfect, nor is Elizabeth’s. If Mrs. Bennet is shown to be an annoying, domineering figure then Mr. Bennet’s sarcasm and witty remarks are equated with almost indifference. Jane’s kindness is sometimes over-the-top and in many instances harms her own situation rather than helping her. Charlotte Lucas’ marriage of convenience to Mr. Collins doesn’t turn out to be exactly as comfortable as she had imagined.From the above examples, one may say that Austen’s narrative style is lucidly analytical of personal psyches, interpersonal relationships and social mores. The heroine is a woman of substance, not bowing to set patterns of society. The strings of relationships are drawn and managed by her while the men, though attractive in their characterization are usually arranged in the backdrop. Jane Austen cannot be called a feminist openly, because she never ventured into this foray directly. Rather, her works contain her feminist recollections running collateral to the story, which can be easily enough interpreted.Austen’s writings cannot be termed as a feminist rhetoric because they positively lean towards a humourous critical overview of the prevalent attitude towards women in the middle classes of England and the usual perception one had of them. Austen’s representation of the characters and incidents in familiar context to the readers made their acquaintance with her feminist impartations more intimate. One could connect and emapathise with the characters due to their individuality and familiar spirit. Elizabeth Bennet could easily be imagined as one’s own sister, friend or neighbour.Thorugh the novel, Austen doesn’t disgrace any character for cutting t hrough conventions. For instance, frivoulous Lydia is finally honourably united to Wickham. By the mores of her own society, Lydia must, and it turns out to be no great embarrassment or humiliation to either party. Their fate is that they deserve each other and are completely unabashed by their mutual unworthiness (a very different conclusion from the conventional fate of the ruined girl in the late- eighteenth-century novel and a comic reversal of the expected and entirely typical of Jane Austen’s realism.Jane Austen’s own childhood and upbringing indicates that despite rigid codes of manners in the conduct of everyday life, the education and sphere of action of a young woman of the time was considerably less restricted. Her writings denounce the objectification of women for social dissection and analysis. Arnold Kettle, in his 1951 essay on ‘Emma’, saw Jane Austen’s highly critical concern over the fate of women in her society as a â€Å"positive vibration†. Austen showed a clear and commitment to the rational principle on which women of the Enlightenment based their case.Many parallels have been drawn between Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Austen herself, illustrating the positively feminine and rational side of the author. In a Victorian social structure that had incorporated an idealized version of femininity, repressing the woman figure into the margins, Austen’s fresh approach to regarding women in a progressive light, through literature has been widely acknowledged and appreciated. She is very often referred to as the most loved feminists of all time. In Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth Bennet breathes life into a new perception of a New Woman.BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Grey, J. David ed. The Jane Austen Handbook ( London, 1986) 2. Southam, B. C. ed Jane Austen- The Critical Heritage (London and New York, 1968) 3. Watt, Ian â€Å"Introduction to Jane Austen- A Collection of critical essays† (Englewood Cliffs. N. J. , 1963) 4. Luria, Gina The Feminist Controversy in England (New York, 1972) 5. Kirkham, Margaret Jane Austen, Feminism and Fiction (London, 1982) 6. Harman, Clare Jane’s Fame, How Jane Austen Conquered the World (Edinburgh, 2009)