Explain the social changes in Britain …

The most exciting element of the novels of the 18th century was the involvement of women. The 18th century saw the middle classes become more prosperous. Women got more leisure to read as well as write novels. And novels began exploring the world of women—their emotions and identities, their experiences and problems. Many novels were about domestic life- a theme about which women were allowed to speak with authority. They drew upon their experiences, wrote about family life, and earned public recognition.The novels of Jane Austen give us a glimpse of the world of women in rural society in early 19th century Britain. They make us think about a society which encouraged women to look for ‘good’ marriages and find wealthy or propertied husbands. The first sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice states, ‘it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.