The Development of Feminism Thoughts in the 19th Century’s British Literature

Abstract

In ancient times of Western society, men always held the dominating and central status, while women had to bear the discrimination and inequality coming from all aspects of life. They were regarded to be inferior to men both physically and mentally. Men also took priority over women in the course of the development of British literature for a long time. The first prosperous wave of literature containing feminism thoughts did not occur in British history until the 18-19 century, from which appeared the most eminent novelists, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Daphne du Maurier. All of these works changed the traditional male-centered creative mood and highlighted distinct feminist characteristics. This papers mainly focus on the development of feminism thoughts in 19 century British literature and concentrates on the most typical three books as examples to illustrate it.