The Writer as Activist

Merit and Gender in Austen's 'Persuasion'

Abstract

While it is difficult to imagine how one might promote positive political change in a democratic setup without even having the right to vote, women activists of the nineteenth century did manage to get their way to a certain extent by organising rallies and conferences, and also by writing for the public. Jane Austen stands out as a novelist of her time in the way she advocated for gender equality and endorsed a more progressive and androgynous outlook, by the definition of Virginia Woolf, by painting male characters who deftly challenged the prevalent norms of masculinity of her time and went against the patriarchal hegemony by allowing a stable space for women to step up and assume responsible roles in a meritocratic society. This essay provides an analysis of Austen's view of merit and how a more gender-inclusive society may be constructed with the help of male allies.