【正文】 dedly spinsters. Unexpectedly, in 1802, Austen received a proposal of marriage from Harris BiggWither, an old friend of the family and six years Jane’s junior. She accepted, but changed her mind overnight, retracting her acceptance the next morning and escaping back to Bath in distress. In that era, unmarried women were not highly regarded: women of high social rank were not permitted to work, and thus remained dependent upon their families for financial support. For Austen, turning down a marriage proposal was an important decision indeed at that time, because marriage would have freed her from the embarrassing situation of being a dependent. Austen’s actions revealed her matrimonial value that she could never marry the man of her choice without money, but meanwhile she would never marry without affection. Women’s position in societyBritain, in Jane Austen’s lifetime, was actually at the beginning of the most farreaching social transformation in her history to date, and at the period of transition from the earlier stage of Capitalism to Capitalist Industrialization. But the society developed rather slowly in the countryside. The aristocratic families and feudal hierarchies still possessed privilege and power. As one of the daughters of a middleclass clergyman, Jane Austen’s world was quite confined that not an important world event, as the French Revolution, could affect her life, so that she only portrayed the leisured and carefree life in her world, and reflected the reality in a most extended degree.The inhibition on women was unprecedented in 18th century. They were confined to their houses most of time, doing needlework, gossiping, reading, and drawing, having party or ball on occasion. To marry a disapproved husband or entering into an illicit relationship was always very serious. This was illustrated in Pride and Prejudice, with the panic caused by Lydia’s elopement with Wickham. The restriction on women’s behavior since their girlhood was also embodied by the strict criteria on the conduct and manner. Elizabeth’s action of braving heavy rain and muddy journey to visit her sick sister was deemed inappropriate and unladylike. These social principles actually bind women’s hands and feet. Women’s rights and interests were not ensured by legislation. Before getting married, a woman was protected by her father, but after marriage, she had to be bound to her husband financially and legally. She gave up all her own property and her former family name upon marriage according to law. She remained at the financial mercy of her mate, and if her spouse died, she found herself subject to her husband’s will and to legal codes that privileged a male line of inheritance. If she wanted to be independent by working, there were only a few employment options, just nurse, governess, etc. Since women were given little chance to earn or inherit money, marriage could save them from a life of poverty and despair. For most women, marriage was the only real choice in order to have economic security and a respectable, fulfilling life. A woman was determined to be a wife, legally and economically subservient to her husband. Marriage was a kind of ritual that everyone should go through and a way to normal life. Women were treated as the ones who could give birth to children and serve men. They became poor appendage of their husbands in their life. No matter what kind of family they were born in, rich or poor, they had to depend on marriage to change their way of life or maintain their own relatively good situation. Convention demanded that women were submissive and modest. Their educational opportunities were inferior to men’s and they were not expected to think for themselves. On the surface, Austen’s fiction would appear to perpetuate this. Marriage is deemed the most a woman can hope to achieve, and her novels end happily with this confirmation. Yet Austen heavily criticizes the ignorance endorsed by popular expectation. Mrs Bennet’s ic fickleness and absurd hypochondria result from her narrow mind and mean understanding. Lydia may be spirited but she is also ignorant and idle. Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine may have status and rank, but they reveal their deficiency in failing to appreciate reading and music.However, it is through Elizabeth and her relationship with Darcy that Austen betrays most her resentment at the restraint upon women. Elizabeth is contemptuous of idle small chat, preferring to converse with the gentlemen. She possesses wit and intelligence far removed from the conventional representations of women at the time, and especially those in the romantic novels Austen’s fiction is said to resemble. Critics have drawn out parallels between the portrait of Elizabeth and the views of early feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft. She argued that in order for women to achieve equality they must think independently with reason. Yet for all her spirit and quick wit, Elizabeth still conforms to expectation. She may have been prepared to reject one of the richest men in England, but at the end of the novel she is keen to assume her role as mistress of Pemberley. Indeed, it could be argued that her visit to the great estate marks the change in her feelings for Darcy.The overview of women’s life in 18th century revealed that in malecentered world, women’s rights and interests were always neglected by the society. Austen realized the unfairness between men and women, and then she used realistic writing style to represent it. She thought that women were nothing less than any men in intellect or mentality. She paid much attention to women’s awareness of selfimprovement and selfdevelopment. Only when she was intelligent, witty and selfrespectful enough, could a woman municate with a man equally and only when they can share their opinions, could real love and happiness be possible.5. ConclusionAusten shows us her view of love and marriage: a happy marriage should be around w