Introduction
Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen (1775 - 1817) in 1813. Jane Austen was an English novelist who wrote many of what are considered classics of English literature. Some of her most famous work includes Sense and Sensibility (1811), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). In Pride and Prejudice she shares her views on what a "Perfect Lady" should be, but also on marriage and the relationship between men and women.
We should keep in mind that in the English country life at the end of the 18th century women were aiming at some basic "accomplishments" which were usually limited to acquiring skills in drawing, singing, playing music and speaking a modern language. Their main objective being to attract a husband with the immediate effect to often neglect those skills after marriage.
In this book which she initially wrote between 1796 and 1797 Jane Austen describes well some of the stereotypes and behaviors of women living during the Victorian era, though she died before the Queen acceded to the throne and was even born.
When analyzing Pride and Prejudice, it is important to remember that most of Jane Austen's romantic fiction novels had a common central topic, describing the dependency of women on marriage with the purpose of achieving economic and social stability.
In this context the story focuses on the Bennett family, including Mr and Mrs Bennett and their five daughters whom they desperately want to see married. The main character being Elizabeth Bennet who manages to achieve that goal.
This extended essay will be looking at how the author of Pride and Prejudice portrays the limited status of women through three various angles: women in marriage and their role in the family, their actual social status and then how difficult it was for women to access knowledge and education.
Marriage and family - vision of the author (1202)
In the 1800s in Great Britain, the life of women was that of obligations towards society and few personal choices. The lives of women was entirely controlled by men; starting with their fathers who were giving the final word on who they were to marry, deciding how to manage the estate and having control over all decisions linked to the management of family. Their brothers would then take over these decisions at the death of the father. Husbands, would take control of these things in marriage. Both men and women had the pressure of society on getting married as soon as possible. Men had to get married because in most cases their work required them to do so, in order to be seen as a good example. Having a family was part of the normality that society was used to. In this context motherhood was considered as a great contribution to the family and in a certain extent to the nation.
A number of books were written on this topic during that period or right after Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice. In his Manual of Social and Business Forms Thos. E. Hill wrote in 1888 we can read "Whatever have been the cares of the day, greet your husband with a smile when he returns. Make your personal appearance just as beautiful as possible."
In the popular American "women's magazine" in 1867 we can even see women described as martyrs : "About every true mother there is a sancity of martyrdom- and when she is no more in the body, her children see her with the ring of light around her head."
Having set the historical context the story of Pride and Prejudice features Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and their five daughters whom they definitely want to see married. For them clearly women are judged on the kind of marriage they make before and above the skills they have.
Jane Austen describes a wide variety of marriages, each of them being inspired and driven by all sorts of feelings: from passion with Mr. and Mrs to lack of sentiment with Mr. Collins and Charlotte Lucas or Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, from simple affection with Bingley and Jane or Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. The ideal marriage being the one between Darcy and Lizzy.
We are quickly introduced to this idea that marriage is an essential piece in life in the first lines of the book "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife". In the very beginning of the novel we see that the Bennett sisters are eager to know if their father has managed to meet Mr. Bingley their new neighbor. Mrs. Bennett herself pushes her husband to see him before any other mothers. She wants to marry her daughters in the first place. One of the dangers being that as soon as Mr. Bennet dies, the daughters would have no one to take care of them, since they don't have a brother. This concept of men power in marriage is called "male primogeniture" and Jane Austen tries to present it in a negative angle. Since the Bennet family doesn't have a son, their property is to be transmitted to the closest relative (Mr. Collins), which is an additional reason why they are in a rush to get married.
On the other hand in the England of the late 18th century, beginning of 19th century Men are also their own views of marriage. They had to marry women of certain status, it was a disgrace to the family to marry a woman of a very inferior rank than theirs, as mentioned in the novel: "younger sons cannot marry where they like" (Pride and Prejudice p.125 - chapter XXXIII). This is challenged by the fact that Mr. Darcy and Mr.Bingley end up marrying the Bennet sisters, which was unusual at the time.
In fact in her novel Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen addresses this issue of marriage obligations in a way that was uncommon at the time. She goes around that idea of women getting married only in arranged marriage conditions. She does this through different events of the book. One example of this is when the heroine of the novel, (Elizabeth) refuses the proposal of Mr. Collins, which is a necessary marriage for her family, since Mr. Collins is to inherit their estate and there are five girls to marry. This marriage was arranged by her mother and Mr. Collins himself. When she refuses it, she not only goes against the expectations of society, but she also goes against her mother's opinion even though she tells her she won't speak to her again if she refuses the proposal. She then refuses another proposal from Mr. Darcy, who is a man of immense fortune and rank.
Doing this makes her personality seem even stronger, which is something that scares men away. Being a woman and having a strong personality, expressing her opinion was controversial, since a woman should know her place was only to support her husband. Mr. Collins supports that idea when he says "Pardon for interrupting you, Madam, but if she is really headstrong and foolish, I know not whether she would altogether be a very desirable wife to a man in my situation, who naturally looks for happiness in the marriage state. […] because if liable to such defects of temper, she could not contribute much to my felicity." (p. 76 - chapter XX)
This is important because by realizing that she doesn't want to marry Mr. Collins and is going against the better judgment of her family, she ends up making her own decisions about marriage. The fact that Jane Austen gives that decision have a good ending, of happy couple is essential because it proves that the idea of women submission is marriage is wrong.
We see that Jane Austen portrays quite well the limited status of women I marriage but how she also paves the way for some of the modern and feminist views on emancipation which slowly started in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century. Such ideas against usual conventions were questioned by other English authors like Mary Wollstonecraft in chap II of Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792). "Do passive indolent women make the best wives? … Do the women, who, by the attainment of a few superficial accomplishments, have strengthened the prevailing prejudice, merely contribute to the happiness of their husbands? … So far from it, that, after surveying the history of woman, I cannot help agreeing with the severest satirist, considering the sex as the weakest as well as the most oppressed half of the species.".
Pride and Prejudice is therefore a complex mix of what the society in Great Briatin wa: gradually moving from Romantism to a more modern Victorian era.
Social status of women - vision of the author (1025)
As a background the general vision of women's social status in Great Britain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was that women were physically and intellectually weaker. They were considered as the 'weaker' sex and that the social status of men was prevailing. Men were indeed driving political and economic decisions. Women did not have the right to vote and could not own land and properties since the eldest son was the one who inherited, Married women could not own any property till 1882 and the adoption of the Married Women's Property Act which gave equal legal rights to married women.
This situation significantly limited women's social status and economic power. Men could then keep control over women as they usually were the only ones at work, bringing financial resources to the family.
The social role of women was strictly restrained to finding a husband, having children, taking care of the home in a broad sense.
The right of men on women did not stop at her belongings, it also included her body; a man had the right to do anything to his wife. She was his "property". This was supported by the marriage act which mentioned that "women must obey their husbands". Till the 20th century that promise was included in the wedding ceremony.
When they worked in factories women were also considered as inferior by employers and given less rewarding jobs. Such situation began to change only in the late 1800s were women started fighting for their rights. Harriet Taylor was then a strong advocate of women's rights and wrote a lot on women's rights which was influencing the mindsets. Those new ideas were fueled by the industrial revolution with changes in the world of production and huge consequences on the social environment and their dissemination was facilitated by the revolution in means of communication in Great Britain. Those social influences are very present in the novel.
With that in mind Jane Austen is portraying a pretty negative status of women in comparaison to men. She attempts to show how women's power is defined in relation to their status in society. Throughout the novel, she provides us with examples of how this is done, starting with the fact that Mr.Darcy's arrogant personality is linked to his high status in society. When Elizabth meets Mr.Darcy, she not only talks about his bad personality but also mentions his wealth which influences his personality.
Ms. Lucas also goes over that idea of linkage between the two. But to her, it seems like an acceptable and justified thing to be proud of (p. 12 chapter V). This is how Elizabeth's mind is different than the other character's in the book. Her opinion about social status. All that goes with it is closed up on the fact that it is unfair to be treated a certain way depending on what your rank is.
One of the ways she expresses it is that to her, love should count more than what society has planned for you. She is a romantic and her sister is too. As her sister falls in love with Mr.Bingley, with no interest for his wealth, they are both happy to see that his feelings are reflected back.
Mr. Darcys opinion about the matter is similar to the two eldest Bennet sisters. He realises that social status and power is not as strong as love. He goes against the better judgment of his entourage in order to achieve what he truly wants; getting married to Elizabeth. Caroline Bingley, on the other hand has a divergent view about the issue of social status. It appears to her that her brothers' wealth is not worth him marrying Jane, due to her lower status and wealth.
The fact that Jane Austen shows that two men (Mr,Darcy and Mr. Bingley), of high power and status can change their mind about the issue proves that the rules of social castes can be sidetracked. Mindsets are obviously ready to change in the English society.
Jane Austen presents the concept of social casts in a way that ridiculies it. When looking at the situation between Ms. De Bourgh and Elizabeth, we can see the hypocrisy that it leads to. When the woman meets Elizabeth Bennet, their relation is good and Ms.De Bourgh is interested in Elizabeth despite the inferiority of her social rank, which is unusual. But Ms.De Bourghs comportement radically changes, as soon as she learns that her nephew has decided to marry someone else than her daughter.The reason why she is so upset is because the arranged marriage between the two of the same social class was a way of increasing the wealth of both parties. By creating this change of personality in the character of Ms.De Bourgh, Jane Austen tries to convey the idea that the social cast system can cause the loss of a potential nice friendship.
The author also ridiculies the idea of social casts through the mother of the Bennet family, who despises Mr.Darcys personality. But as soon as it gets to her ear that her daughter will be united to him, more precisely to his wealth, she begins to idolate the man. The hypocrisy of Ms.Bennet and her drastic opinion change makes the situation comic, which is through what Jane Ausen makes the reader undertand the ridicule of the concept of social status differences. This sort of actions would be very frequent at the time, but Jane Austen was able to talk about it in a funny way, in order to show the defaults of it; which helped the reader, being woman or man, to realize the different impacts it can have.
As I said previously in Jane Austen English Society feminism started growing and she uses her novel and her characters to express her feminist views that women status is ready to change and is actually changing. While a woman was expected to be a certain type of person to be respected Jane Austen uses this fight for perfection to portray a society that actually oppressed women. It pushes us to have a preference for Elizabeth who is fighting against such social conformism.
Education & acces to knowledge - vision of the author (1069)
At the time the novel was written, it was a common assumption that because men and women were physically different, they both had to accept the fact that they had different pathways for life. It seemed normal that women would not have the right to access education, since they would be incapable of working in comparison to the abilities of men. It was also clear that there was no need for formal education of women as they would not have any professional career. Such opportunities were often limited to becoming Governess or Lady's companion such as Mrs Kenkinson, who is Miss de Bourgh's companion in Pride and Prejudice. Interesting to note indeed that having no governess seemed unusual to people in the high society. In chapter 29 of Pride and Prejudice Catherine de Bourgh is deeply surprised to know that the Bennet sisters have governess.
"Why did not you all learn? You ought all to have learned. The Miss Webbs all play, and their father has not so good an income as yours. Do you draw?" "No, not at all." ... "That is very strange. But I suppose you had no opportunity. Your mother should have taken you to town every spring for the benefit of masters." …"Has your governess left you?" "We never had any governess." "No governess! How was that possible? Five daughters brought up at home without a governess! I never heard of such a thing. Your mother must have been quite a slave to your education."
In the English society of that time education was considered to shape womens' knoweledge and essentially aiming at acquiring some "accomplishements". Besides that women were seen as pure, quiet, domesticated creatures, who would follow the saying of men. No need then to have further formal academic education.
Such accomplishments formed the basis of a non-domestic education which women were expected to acquire. A womans accomplishement level was determined by her natural talents and what she would do to improve them and other activites; this included painting, playing music instruments, reading, dancing, and the way she acted around people.
In Jane Austen English society it was clear that men were expecting to find such basic education in women when discussing marriage. In this context it's curious to see in Pride and Prejudice that Elizabeth has a somewhat detached and unconventional attitude towards her "accomplishment".
Indeed the novel talks about this notion of accomplishments from Jane Austen's point of view. Elizabeth thinks that a womans accomplishements does not require to be successful in all these activities, whearas Mr.Darcy and Caroline Bingley think very highly of the word.
In page 26 (chapter VIII) Bingley says "It's amazing to me how young ladies can have patience to be so very accomplished."
Another aspect of education in Pride and Prejudice is the pure intellectual pleasure of reading though it is not shared equally by all characters in Jane Austen's book. In chapter 15 we see how Mr Bennett likes it and is "always sure of tranquility" in his library. Miss Bingley also shares her love for books and her wish to have her own library in chapter 11 of the novel : "I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.".
Even on books Elizabeth has no conventional views and expresses that clearly in chapter 18 while dancing with Mr Darcy: "What think you of books?" said he, smiling. "Books-oh! no. I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same feelings." "I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least be no want of subject. We may compare our different opinions." "No-I cannot talk of books in a ball-room; my head is always full of something else.". She actually reads a lot but does not seem keen to consider it as a topic for discussion in all circumstances.
By always giving her different perception on education and intellectual pleasures, Jane Austen plays around with the meaning of it. As the book goes on, we can see that Elizabeth is a lively character, full of curiosity. She enjoys nature, dancing and all sorts of activities.Through these things, the reader starts to question if the usual idea of accomplishements really shows if a woman is accomplished or not. Elizabeth Bennet is not ashamed of not playing instuments well, of not painting etc… this concept does not seem important to her, as the personality is what really matters.
This behavior seems a lack of education for people living with her as we can see in chapter XVIII page 67 when Mr Collins says to Elizabeth: "My dear Miss Elizabeth, I have the highest opinion in the world of your excellence judgement in all matters within the scope of your undersanding…I consider myself more fitted by education and habitual study to decide on what is right than a young lady like yourself."
A number of authors questioned this approach, like Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) who strongly advocated for intellectual womens' equality through equal access to education. She wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792 which was influential in changing the mindsets on the equality of the sexes. At that time ideas spread in Great Britain that the culture and social environment had indeed created this idea of inequality while men and women were all born equal. Giving education to young girls and further training when they grow up would be indeed a way of fighting against this inequality and giving them the same opportunities.
Such feminist ideas were slowly growing in the intellectual spheres in the late 18th century. They were fueled by the significant changes in the economic and social sectors in Europe and more so in North America. Socially, the expansion of education raised expectations for access to further knowledge across the society. Those changes often challenged the authority of religion while formal female education at Jane Austen's time was done by church run schools.
All in all Jane Austen portrays an English Society that has limited expectations for women when in comes to education. She well describes how it keeps women in a very limited social role while Jane has higher hopes which she shares throughout Pride and Prejudice.
Conclusion (500)
Elizabeth goes directly in contradiction with the concept of arranged marriage, since she married Mr.Darcy, who is to be married with the daughter of Ms.Catherine De Bourgh, an event planned since their infancy. This is a way for Jane Austen to get closure on the story, by proving to us that i
Jane Austen is one of the very few othors who started to reveal this truth to the world in order for women to really take a step back and realise what was going on around them. It is sometimes necessary for people to be told something, in order for them to realize the cituation they are in, even if they are surrounded by it all the time. The outside perspective of Jane Austen on the cituation was the trigger of a wake-up call for women. Reading Pride and Prejudice, women were able to realize the way they were seen by society, in terms of the role they held in the marriage, the impacts of social rank differences on their social environment and on their education.
