Jane Austen's vision of Marriage and the role of Women in society: How different are things now?

The vision of marriage presented in Jane Austen's books -and especially in 'Pride and Prejudice'- is a representation of the vision that English society had on marriage during the 18th and 19th century, mainly. Marrying to a wealthy, well-positioned man was the best thing that women could opt to.

The best jobs and careers, the main political and social positions were saved for men, and men only. Just the idea of seeing a woman at the parliament, for instance, was unthinkable. Women were mere objects for decoration, overshadowed by their husbands. 

More than a century later, living in a different context and age, Miguel de Unamuno -a well-known Spanish author of the 20th century- addressed this point in one of his most famous novels 'Nada menos que todo un hombre'. One of the main themes in the novel is that the female character felt unloved by his husband, especially because he would give a lot of importance to her wife's appearance just to show others that he had married a beautiful woman. 

One could think that after many years, things should have changed radically. But the truth is that the society in which we are immersed (Chilean context plus the standards adapted from Europe and U.S.) is still struggling with these problems. Even though our vision of female and male role has changed, things appear to be kind of the same.

It is true that women are no longer considered unprepared or not eligible for socially-relevant roles or a specific career, but we cannot deny that some horrible social stereotypes built around women have strengthened. Yes, women are not forced to get married anymore (at least in this part of the world), but those who never get married are called 'spinsters', and live mortified by society -especially by the ones around them-. Yes, women don't use those fancy large dresses that made them look like part of the house's furniture anymore, but the beauty standards imposed by society still seem to force women to dress and look 'beautiful' to be considered attractive to others. Yes, women can choose their own jobs and careers, and live independently today, but society keeps pushing women to fulfill their 'natural' role in the world: Marriage and Motherhood. 

The only question left is: What would Jane Austen say or write if she could see that the only thing that has changed after 300 years is the clothing?