MARRIAGE, MORALITY, AND DEPENDENCY: CONSTRUCTING WOMEN'S SOCIAL IDENTITY IN REGENCY ENGLAND

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.

18世纪末至19世纪初的英国，婚姻与道德意识形态是塑造女性社会身份的核心驱动力量。本文通过考察贞洁、顺从与家庭责任等相互关联的社会期待对女性生活的规训过程，提出婚姻乃是强化性别等级制度的关键社会机制。本研究依托女性主义文学批评与社会史研究视角，分析了法律依附地位、有限的受教育资源以及道德监督如何共同导致女性自主权利受到压缩。通过将这些社会结构置于其历史语境中进行系统性考察，本文证明，摄政时代英国（Regency England）的婚姻绝非仅为私人生活制度，更是一套定义女性价值与社会合法性的文化体系。该分析框架为解读英国文学中的女性形象，尤其是简·奥斯汀（Jane Austen）的小说作品，提供了不可或缺的研究基础。