Austen & the Female Gaze: Success or Defeat?.
The presence of the male gaze is/has been dominant in society, and is therefore reflected in much literature. Sometimes the presence of the gaze is overwhelming, and other times it is so subtle in a text that it is not until the written words are presented on stage or through film that the dominance of the gaze is revealed. Laura Mulvey, in her article, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," describes the many components of the male gaze found in film. However, she fails to note the implied existence of these elements within a written text. .
Cinema is a simple means by which the gaze can be introduced because as viewers, we are also participating in the scopophilic behavior. Therefore, there are at least two levels of scopophilia present in narrative cinema: the pleasure in looking among the characters within the film and the audience's pleasure in watching the film. Nevertheless, the first signs of the gaze's existence are found within a text. .
Jane Austen is a popular author who is frequently seen as promoting the existence of a female gaze. While many literary theorists may disagree with the possibility that a female gaze does exist, this argument is often supported by the interaction between the male and female characters in many of Austen's novels. Deciding whether or not Austen was exhibiting a female gaze can best be determined by comparing the role of the gaze in Austen's most widely known novel, Pride and Prejudice, and the novel that stands out among her others, Northanger Abbey.
Before attempting to determine if a female gaze does exist, it is necessary to examine and define the concept of a male gaze. Mulvey's article is extremely helpful in identifying the male and female roles in within this gaze. The male is an active participant who "projects [his] fantasy onto the female figure" (589). Men find power and pleasure in looking, Mulvey argues, and they need to objectify women to maintain their feeling of power.
