MARRIAGE, MORALITY, AND DEPENDENCY: CONSTRUCTING WOMEN'S SOCIAL IDENTITY IN REGENCY ENGLAND
Abstract
Marriage and moral ideology were central forces shaping women’s social identity in late eighteenth–early nineteenth century England. This article examines how women’s lives were regulated through interconnected expectations of virtue, obedience, and domestic responsibility, arguing that marriage functioned as a key social mechanism reinforcing gender hierarchy. Drawing on feminist literary criticism and social history, the study analyzes how legal dependency, limited education, and moral surveillance contributed to women’s restricted autonomy. By situating these structures within their historical context, the article demonstrates that marriage in Regency England was not merely a personal institution but a cultural system that defined women’s value and social legitimacy. This framework provides an essential background for interpreting women’s representation in English literature, particularly in the novels of Jane Austen.