Social, Historical and Cultural Contexts of Pride and Prejudice

A hastily drawn conclusion one might make about Pride and Prejudice is that it appears to reinforce the sexist stereotypes of women during the 18th century. The first sentence of the book reads “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1). Dorothy Van Ghent described this opening sentence as being “read as the opposite-a single woman must be in want of a man with a good fortune” (Van Ghent 301). This also introduces one of the central themes of the novel and that is Mrs. Bennet’s desire to see her daughters married “Her mind was less difficult to develop she was a woman of mean understanding little information and uncertain temper when she was discontented she fancied herself nervous the business of her life was to get her daughters married” (Austen 3). Marriage was crucial to ensure a woman’s

The roles of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice are contrasted between a father who cares about what’s inside of people and a mother who only worries about vanity and appearance. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s parental guidance is unique to their personalities. Because of their two opposing personas, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet’s ideas of marriage are contradictory for their daughters; Mr. Bennet believes in a loving respectful marriage whereas Mrs. Bennet values a marriage which concerns wealth and social status. Their aspirations for Lydia, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Elizabeth mirror their conflicting ideologies. Mr. Bennet seems to have a quiet deep love

In Pride and Prejudice the main character Elizabeth Bennet is known for being different than the other Bennet girls, she is more intelligent and picky in terms of who he wishes to marry. In the book Elizabeth always tries to seek for true love, this is evidenced by the fact that she turns down Mr. Collins, despite the fact that if she were to marry him she would have been able to live a carefree life with no financial worries whatsoever much like Charlotte Lucas who ended up marrying Mr. Collins instead. Elizabeth’s reasoning for turning down Mr. Collins is simply the fact that she does not love him which is a shock to the other characters of the story, who know that in this society it is not normal for a woman to pick a husband, quite the

During the time period of the 1800s in England, not only was the economic situation different but the social norms were differently. Jane Austen depicts this greatly in her novel pride and prejudice, not only was the social classes a big deal, but the marriage between families was a bigger deal. Throughout the novel many of the characters encounter this problem of, love in marriage or money in marriage, and many of the families and females within this time period choice money in marriage. The author Jane Austen feels that the idea of marring for money rather than love is preposterous and expresses this through the character Elizabeth

“... [N]o sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, then he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing; and in spite of his asserting that her manners were not those of the fashionable world, he was caught by their easy playfulness” (Ch. 6). In the early nineteenth century, women were seen as objects of marriage to their male counterparts, only if they were considered wealthy and agreeable to society’s standards. In the novel Pride and Prejudice, the reader sees the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, as a paradox to this concept of how women were supposed to be. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Jane Austen portrays early nineteenth century ideals that society standardized in a satirical manner through Elizabeth’s defiance of them.

“Maybe that was Candice’s Burden . . . No one took her seriously, so she had to take everything seriously.” When the readers first meet Candice,she is crying her eyes out after she thinks that she has offended an Indian Louis by placing a dot on her head. Once Candice gets criticized by a white girl, (whose dot is right on her breast), Candice just walks right back into the party, claiming that she was native American and he people have suffered enough.That is just a little taste of the awesomeness Candice brings. I feel that Candice represents a strong female character, in the sense that she is willing to fight for what she thinks is right in this world without Gender boundaries getting in her way. At the same time, Candice is faulted, she

In literature, films, and even in the times today, relationships and communication have drastically changed for better and for worse. In the movie Clueless, based on the highly acclaimed novel Emma by Jane Austin, and in the book Pride and Prejudice, women’s affairs in a relationship were formal in face to face interaction and their attitudes and conversations were quick witted. Relationships today have lost their touch, as hardly being based off face to face interaction, rather a form of communication like texting, twitter, or online dating sites like eHarmony or match. Granted our world has expanded its technologies and reaching new heights in communication has greatly advanced our society and our economy, is it too much to base a relationship solely on the internet then on face-to-face interaction? I believe that the way women handled communication with men in the past compared to the our present has been much more effective.

The importance of social class is introduced in volume one of Pride and Prejudice through the treatment and expectations of Elizabeth. Mrs.Bennet is the first character to express the importance of social class when she talks about the marriage of her daughters. While talking to Mr.Bennet she refers to Mr.Bingley as “a fine thing for our girls” because of his wealth (Austen 6). Mr.Bennet’s obsession with marrying her daughters to someone of wealth shows her obsession with social class and social climbing. At the assembly, Mr.Darcy’s prejudices towards the lower classes are exposed through what he says about Elizabeth. He does not view Elizabeth as good enough for him and calls her “tolerable, but not handsome enough” (13). Elizabeth’s annoyance with Mr.Darcy is caused by her overhearing his uncomplimentary remark. Elizabeth

In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet, the mother of the protagonist, Elizabeth, is generally portrayed as a buffoon who is an adversary for he daughter that is trying to force her into a marriage she does not want. One may wonder how she can be justified in any way, considering that she is known to embarrass her family members and behave idiotically. However, in the time period they live in, a marriage is necessary for all of the family to avoid a terrible fate. Mrs. Bennet, while often behaving improperly, does try to do the best for her daughters based on the world she lives in.

Pride and Prejudice is a love story that was pointing out the inequality that rules the connections between men and women and particularly how it affects women 's choices about marriage. Austen in her novel goes on to describe the character’s prideful toward each other, “ I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine” (Ch. 3) Pride shades both Elizabeth and Darcy toward their real feelings about each other. Darcy 's pride in his social class makes him look down on individuals that are out of his group. Elizabeth, on the other hand, takes pleasure in her ability that is linked to her

Similarly, Mary's awkward and reclusive actions promote her as an agreeable suitor; this makes her the only Bennett sister to not have the opportunity to be married. The two oldest sisters contain the most agreeable and independent personalities among the Bennett sisters, which foreshadows their successful relationships. Jane’s positive attitude causes Bingley to be attracted to her, but Darcy questions Bingley’s choice. By the end of the novel, Bingley realizes that he made a mistake to leave Jane. Jane’s marriage is the first marriage bring prestige to the Bennetts. As for Elizabeth, her personality first comes across unagreeable to suitors, but suitors realize that she is the next respectful Bennett sister besides Jane. Darcy's entitled personality clashes with Elizabeth's prideful attitude; eventually, Darcy discovers that Elizabeth's odd behaviors results from taking care of her family. He admires her commitment; like Elizabeth, Darcy values his sister more than anyone. Darcy and Elizabeth family values cause them to find common ground away from their previous views of each other. Austen wrote the Bennetts' family dynamics to foreshadow the success of the sisters’ future marriage; they also demonstrate the importance of family values in a relationship.

The importance of social class is introduced in Volume the First of Pride and Prejudice through the treatment and expectations of Elizabeth. Mrs.Bennet is the first character to express the importance of social class when she talks about the marriage of her daughters. While talking to Mr.Bennet she refers to Mr.Bingley as “a fine thing for our girls” because of his wealth (Austen 6). Mrs.Bennet’s obsession with marrying her daughters to someone of wealth shows her obsession with social class and social climbing. It also shows the importance of finding good husbands for her daughters..At the assembly, Mr.Darcy’s prejudices towards the lower classes are exposed through what he says about Elizabeth. He does not view Elizabeth as good enough for him and calls her “tolerable, but not handsome enough” (13). Elizabeth’s annoyance with Mr.Darcy is caused by her

From the beginning it is seen that the question of marriage is very important to the Bennet family. Upon not marrying, the girls ' cousin Mr. Collins will inherit Longbourn due to the absence of a male heir. This means that the family will become destitute since they won 't have any support or a place to live. The only solution for them would be marriage. During this era, since women had to pay dowry, they had to find men who would marry them either for love or to have a good wife.

Jane Austen’s well-known novel, Pride and Prejudice, discussed multiple social themes in the 19th century. Austen mainly criticized marriage during her era, when she says that, “it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3). As she explains that it was valuable to women since it provided them with security and a social title. The author explored the diverse motives behind matrimony in her time period by using a humorous and romantic plot to discuss the social issues. For instance, Charlotte Lucas’s unreasonable marriage to Mr. Collins is a vital example of how women needed to secure a future and attain social status. To conclude, Lydia Bennet’s meaningless marriage to George Wickham shows that entering the marriage estate could have also been for mainly financial purposes. Contrastingly, Jane Bennet, the heroine’s older sister, marries Charles Bingley for love, security, and a social ranking. On the other hand, Elizabeth Bennet marries Fitzwilliam Darcy after months of misunderstandings and romantic drama for none other than true love. Thus, Austen uses her leading characters’ marriages in Pride and Prejudice to exhibit the various attitudes and reasons for marrying in the 19th century. (Lane 2015)

Darcy’s conception of Elizabeth was established on the fact that her family is embarrassing and discourteous, making her promptly inferior to him. However, Elizabeth’s strong-willed and independent character attracted Darcy’s difficult attention, proving to him her true and unique reeling personality. Particular plot twists throughout the novel have occurred that helped Darcy and Elizabeth reveal their true identities. Darcy’s boastful attitude backfires when he first proposed to Elizabeth, who immediately refuses his offer due to his unintentional insults concerning her class and familial relations. However, Elizabeth’s reason for rejecting Darcy was not only for his abusive remarks, but also because of his interference with Jane’s happiness owing to the fact of his belief that her social class and emotional status were not good enough for his dear companion. After the incident, Darcy and Elizabeth did coincidentally meet when Elizabeth and the Gardiners were visiting Darcy’s estate thinking he would be out of town. Darcy got to see the other half of Elizabeth’s family, who were well mannered and delightful. While Darcy and Elizabeth explored other sides of each other, Wickham was taking advantage of Lydia’s ignorance and ran away with her. When Darcy receives the news about what Lydia and Wickham have done, instead of just mocking how reckless the Bennet’s are he decides to help them. Having a