Browsing by Author "SAMINA ASHFAQ PhD Research Scholar"

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    Jane Austen’s Novels: A Narrative of Ethical, Social, and Sexual Power Politics
    (Departmentof English & Applied Linguistics, University of Peshawar, 2012) SAMINA ASHFAQ PhD Research Scholar; Supervisor Nasir Jamal Khattak, PhD (Amherst)
    Jane Austen’s Novels: The Narrative of Ethical, Social, and Sexual Power Politics February 2012 MA, University of Peshawar PhD, University of Peshawar Directed by: Nasir Jamal Khattak, PhD (Amherst) Most of Jane Austen’s novels, especially Pride and Prejudice, make readers conscious of the realities of life in an entertaining way. We relate to the experiences of the characters and laugh with them in their moments of absurdities and weaknesses. Their follies and hypocrisies, their worries and sorrows, their limitations and compromises with society and others reflect us and our traits. We see these characters move around us even today. In struggle for survival and living a desirable life, some succumb to the pressures of the social, ethical, and sexual politics. Such people choose on the standards of what the society considers “appropriate,” “desirable,” and “practical.” While others deviate from the social norm. And while they apparently make life difficult for themselves, they end up having a better and productive life. Such is the irony of life. All live it; some with pain and misery in it; others with peace of mind and happiness in it. Pride and Prejudice shows how with the passage of time societies and their denizens undergo a change, but that there are some who are too rigid to keep pace with the changing times. This behaviour on part of these characters makes them the butt of the laughter of others. However, there are others, who through their intelligence and consciousness adjust themselves to the changing times. The problems that her characters confront are our problems and so we live in the novel with them. Like her characters we too are self-centered, proud, and conscious of our persona with such extremity that we forget the existence of others. Wrapped up in the pursuit of IX our desires we trespass the rights of others without any regard for them. In the struggle for “desirable” survival, the characters indulge themselves in social, ethical and sexual dilemmas which are part and parcel of human existence irrespective of time and place. Instead of looking at their partners as their extension, most of the Austen’s characters “otherize” their relatives, friends, and partners.