Female language in Austen's novels is heavily dictated by the whims of her male characters, and although "female language is never entirely repressed in Austen, [it] is dictated to mirror or otherwise reassure male desire" (Johnson 37). However, there are times when women deviate from gendered rules of discourse and, in expressing their opinions, threaten male control over discourse. In these situations men resort to intentional misinterpretation or forced silence to bring women back into verbal control. Mary Crawford and Elizabeth Bennet are two of Austen's most dynamic threats to male control over discourse, but even the meek and modest Fanny Price can become a threat by straying from the rules of gender discourse. When she rejects Henry's proposal, Sir Thomas is stunned, having "[expected] from Fanny [a] cheerful willingness to be guided? Her resistance involves an assumption of self-responsibility that challenges her authority" (Johnson 104). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Mary and Elizabeth are atypical of Austen's female characters in that their freedom of speech means they do not need men to educate them or form their opinions. Other heroines, like Catherine Morland, are lost without a man to guide them. Without Henry Tilney to point out the natural beauty of Northanger Abbey, Catherine "should not have known what was picturesque when she saw it" (NA 141). But Mary and Elizabeth are firm in forming their own opinions and then expressing them. They are aware and comfortable with their freedom of speech. Mary, faced with Edmund's disapproval of his flagrant talk of morality and the church, retorts: "I am matter-of-fact, being a plain-spoken being, and can make blunders bordering on a joke for half an hour together without strikes ". out" (MP 84). Mrs. Bennet attempts to rebuke Elizabeth for expressing her disapproval of Darcy, but Elizabeth refuses to be silenced: "What is it to me Mr. Darcy, I pray you, if I should to be afraid of him, I am sure that we do not owe him such a particular civility "that he is obliged not to say anything that he does not like to hear" (PP 76). However, men find ways to force women like Mary and Elizabeth to fit into the structure of female speech. One way men overcome the threat of verbal rebellion is by willfully misinterpreting what women say. This allows men to co-opt women's voices and transform them into modest, flexible companions. Although critic Claudia Johnson argues that women retain “the right to refuse” despite other limitations on their words and actions (36), men can invalidate that right simply by refusing to accept it. The two most salient examples of men undermining women's right to rejection are present in the marriage proposals of Mr. Collins and Henry Crawford. Collins insists on viewing Elizabeth's refusal as a kind of marital foreplay, and he dismisses Elizabeth's refusal by asserting his profound understanding of the female sex. He explains Elizabeth's behavior to her as typical of those "young ladies [who] refuse the addresses of the man they secretly intend to accept, when he first asks for their favor" (PP 82). Collins believes that Elizabeth has no choice but to accept his proposal; after all, he is at her mercy once his father dies and the Bennet estate becomes his. Collins supports theI also point to what she considers the quintessence of female anxiety: never being lucky enough to receive another marriage proposal. (Unfortunately, Charlotte Lucas proves the validity of this argument by marrying Collins because she sees this marriage as the only alternative to spinsterhood.) With all this evidence, Collins says, "I must therefore conclude that you are not serious in your rejection of me, I will choose to attribute it to your desire to increase my love with suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant women" (PP 83). Elizabeth's protests mean nothing because Collins cannot conceive of a woman who would act outside the rules of gender discourse. He interprets her words as a "mirror" reflecting his desire for marriage back onto him, and projecting his feelings onto Elizabeth. Henry Crawford accepts Fanny's refusal in much the same way, although he does not attribute her refusal to flirtation but rather to an excess of modesty that prevents her from accepting him until he has applied. for Sir Thomas Crawford then becomes a background figure while Sir Thomas attempts to convince Fanny that she, like Elizabeth, is simply playing the role of the enamored and (unlike Elizabeth) modest woman by rejecting Crawford: "I know he spoke to you yesterday. , and (as far as I understand), received as much encouragement to proceed as a well-judging young woman could afford to give" (MP 284). Sir Thomas acts on Crawford's interpretation of Fanny's rejection. Rather than accept the blow to his ego, Crawford projects his feelings onto Fanny in the same way Collins does to Elizabeth. Fanny, he reasons, is hindered from accepting his proposal only because she has allowed her excessive modesty to overcome her true desires. And even once Sir Thomas accepts that Fanny has, or rather believes she has, reservations about marrying Crawford, he insists that she "[does] not quite know [her own] feelings" (MP 286). From both cases one gets the distinct sense that what these men are doing is trying to prove that men are better women than women - just as Henry Tilney does by flaunting his knowledge of novels and fabrics - because only men can truly understand what women want. But men are often not content to simply misinterpret what women say; there is a “dependence of certain types of male speech on female silence” (Johnson 112). Edmund is horrified by Mary Crawford's "blunt delicacy" (MP 416) and her lack of almost masculine restraint when it comes to the subject of sex and relationships. She has "no reluctance, no horror, no femininity, I say, no modest disgust!" (MP415). Mary's willingness to speak her mind is very similar to Elizabeth's, however Mary is punished with banishment from Mansfield Park, while Elizabeth is rewarded with Darcy's love. But Mansfield Park is the emblem of female imprisonment, where female speech is limited from childhood. Indeed, the Bertram sisters' education consists of learning "[to repress] the whole flow of their spirits before [Sir Thomas]" (MP 16). Elizabeth, although free to say what she wants in front of her father and Jane, still feels the pressure of forced silence towards her family. Her family's senseless talk strays so far from acceptable discourse that she shudders when Darcy converses with them. She knows how ridiculous her mother and sisters are and wants, if not their silence, then at least a sensible conversation that will prove her family worthy of Darcy's approval. Elizabeth wants their speech to conform to Darcy's aristocratic desires, like other speeches that "mirror orhowever they reassure male desire" (Johnson 37), and she feels "consoled" when Darcy meets the Gardiners and realizes that "she had relatives for whom there was no need to blush" (PP 193). But with an interesting twist, Elizabeth, in one of the freer moments with Darcy at the end of the novel, takes it upon herself to explain to Darcy why he fell in love with her. This situation is unique in that it is a moment in which the woman co-opts the. the man's opportunity to speak and uses it to show his desires. Elizabeth's behavior in this situation is analogous to General Tilney's behavior with both Eleanor and Catherine. General Tilney orders Eleanor to "speak [her] opinion , since women can better distinguish the taste of women" (NA 139), and then proceeds to explain the "taste of women" himself. Elizabeth asks Darcy to explain his attraction to her and, without waiting for a detailed answer, he she explains herself, concluding with: "Behold, I have saved you the trouble of realizing it; and indeed, all things considered, I begin to think it perfectly reasonable" (PP 291). Like Collins and Crawford, Elizabeth interprets Darcy's behavior to suit her needs. Darcy, however, manages to exercise a kind of power in the conversation by correcting the Elizabeth's statement that he liked her "impertinence" (PP 291) Darcy calls it "the liveliness of [her] mind" (PP 291), and while this is only a minor difference, it is still noteworthy as a moment. of intentional misunderstanding on Darcy's part. Darcy's correction makes Elizabeth seem more feminine. It alters her self-definition to match the definition of acceptable feminine behavior, thus putting a positive spin on the behavior that some people, like the Bingley sisters, like. , they might object. Darcy is one of Austen's few heroes who does not use speech to influence and change the woman he loves. (Another exception is Edward Ferrars, but he lacks Darcy's charisma, Marianne notes that "it's there something missing" [SS 14], and his character is so different from Elinor's that his power to change her, if at all, would be minimal.) Darcy disapproves of Elizabeth's family, but does not disapprove of her personality, even if it includes her unfeminine talkativeness. Edmund becomes disappointed in Mary because he has been unable to change her, and his attraction to Fanny is a "look founded on the tenderest assertions of innocence and helplessness, his mind formed so greatly by her care, and her comfort employee". on his goodness" (MP 429). Fanny's silence throughout the novel allows Edmund to shape her speech into something to his liking; it teaches her, in effect, what she as a "modest" woman can and cannot say. This master-student relationship is at the heart of most of Austen's relationships. Austen's novels show ambivalence towards the respective roles of men and women. While Elizabeth is the charismatic heroine of her story, Mary, who shares many of her traits, is an anti-heroine. Mary cannot compete with Fanny's model of feminine modesty and must suffer for it. Despite Mary's fate, Johnson argues that women still have the opportunity to express their opinion, even if they risk being reduced to a "mirror" to reaffirm both their subordination and the masculinity of the men they address (37) . According to Johnson, even when their ability to speak is impaired, women still have the right to refuse (36). However, Mr. Collins and Henry Crawford make (unsuccessful) attempts to deny Elizabeth and Fanny this right as well. Circumstances save both Elizabeth and Fanny from the two men, Elizabeth's in the form of Charlotte's marriage to Collins and Fanny's in the form of Crawford's escape., 1990.