International Journal of English Research

Authors
Golnaz Ghasemi. M.A, Farzane Haratyan

Abstract
The following research aims to study the concept of homosexuality in Jane Austen’s novels Emma and Pride and Prejudice. Two leading heroines, who have associations with power, are selected from the novels. In Emma, Emma herself is empowered. She, after the death of her mother, is the mistress of the house and in control of states, other lower social levels, and even some in upper social level. Such control and power are bizarre for a woman of her age, experience, and class. By some critics, she is addressed as homosexual for her behavior. In Pride and Prejudice Elizabeth is empowered. Her concerns and morals are, as high as she sees herself, higher than others. What differs in the case studies is the presence or absence of the biological mother in association with power as a binary. The analysis interprets the sexual orientation and rejects the concept of homosexuality according to Richter’s Queer Theory.