Throughout the novel, Pride and Prejudice, there are many instances in which characters are faced with challenges because of their class limitations which is something that many people have no control over. Jane Austen writes of a variety of characters that are faced with issues of wealth, and how they are affected by it, specifically from marriage and relationships to how people are treated based on their economic position in society. The novel focuses on the life of Elizabeth Bennet, and how her position of wealth has determined many aspects of her life and the lives of many female characters that she interacts with throughout the story, with emphasis on their class defining their appeal to be wed. Elizabeth Bennet watches and even experiences as she and other female characters are faced with the trials and tribulations of being regarded as middle class, and how those around them treat them differently because of it. Elizabeth is faced with conflict when her position of wealth skews the opinion of her in the eyes of Mr. Darcy, a wealthy bachelor with whom she meets time and time again throughout the book. Jane Bennet, Elizabeth’s sister, is also faced with conflict when she feels the pressure of class restraints looming over her, and how women during this time experienced how class determines their eligibility to get married. As Mr. Darcy convinces Jane’s proprietor, Mr. Bingley, to not pursue her because he looked down on the Bennet family for their class, she is left to deal with being abandoned by Mr. Bingley because of the opinion of contempt from Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth also has to watch her friend Charlotte be faced with the conflicts of being an older, unmarried spinster, marrying the undesirable Mr. Collins as to not end up alone. Charlotte feels the pressure of this society, and exemplifies the desire to be taken care of by a man with some degree of wealth that would allow her to live comfortably. Her lower level of class is to blame in this situation, as she may have been given the chance to marry for genuine love if she had the wealth to support herself, rather than what she does, which is marrying for wealth In Charlotte’s case, she is the one treating herself differently based on the pressures of society, following the ideals of this society that she has been taught. Throughout the story, Jane Austen exhibits why emphasis on class and wealth are especially detrimental to the lives of women looking to get married.
When Elizabeth first meets Mr. Darcy, she is faced with a handsome and wealthy bachelor, too prideful to dance with her; he considers her to be “not handsome enough” to be graced with his company. The second ball in which they interact, some time has passed since their first meeting, and Mr. Darcy is viewing the actions and behaviors of the Bennet family, and deems them unruly in nature. As they are from a lower class than he, Darcy views Elizabeth with disdain, and even in his first marriage proposal, expresses how he thought skewing the opinion of Jane was a favor to his friend Mr. Bingeley. “I have no wish of denying that I did everything in my power to separate my friend from your sister, or that I rejoice in my success. Towards him I have been kinder than towards myself.” Even as Elizabeth explains how heartbroken her sister is, Darcy believes that he has done his friend a favor in sparing him the embarrassment of being with a girl that has a family that acts in the nature in which they have acted. The Bennet family indulged in the splendors of a ball, jumping at every opportunity to gain status through marriage or attention from guests. Darcy deems this unnatural, and regards them in the lowest denomination of class. Even though Bingley and Jane were getting along fine, he felt the need to step in and protect his friend from the preconceived notion of being from a lower class, further encouraging the idea that the lack of wealth the Bennet family faces deems the daughters to be unfit for marriage.
Mr. Darcy’s younger sister Georgina is also affected by the greed that is bred with the emphasis of social class and wealth, as demonstrated through the backstory of she, her brother, and Colonel Wickham. Georgina is another young woman in this story that is hopeful to be wed, and falls for the charming nature of Colonel Wickham, overlooking any indication of wickedness to achieve the ideals and goals of this society. After Elizabeth rejects Darcy in marriage, he delivers a note to her explaining why he holds Wickham at such a disregard. When Mr. Darcy’s father passed away, it is stated in his will that he is leaving Wickham with the inheritance, which Wickham was not satisfied with. He asked Darcy for more money, to which he refused to provide. Wickham then sets his eyes on Georgiana, Darcy’s younger sister, and convinces her that they are in love, just so he can prey upon her naivety at the age of fifteen, to gain her dowry of money. Darcy intervenes, and stops Wickham before he can fully exhibit the greed that has been bred within this society, the yearning and scheming for wealth. “She was then but fifteen, which must be her excuse; and after stating her imprudence, I am happy to add, that I owed the knowledge of it to herself. I joined them unexpectedly a day or two before the intended elopement, and then Georgiana, unable to support the idea of grieving and offending a brother whom she almost looked up to as a father, acknowledged the whole to me. You may imagine what I felt and how I acted. Regard for my sister’s credit and feelings prevented any public exposure; but I wrote to Mr. Wickham, who left the place immediately, and Mrs. Younge was of course removed from her charge. Mr. Wickham’s chief object was unquestionably my sister’s fortune, which is thirty thousand pounds; but I cannot help supposing that the hope of revenging himself on me was a strong inducement. His revenge would have been complete indeed.” Darcy had explained this conflict between he and Wickham, and it is revealed why they hold so much disdain for each other, Wickham tried to prey upon Darcy’s young sister to further his wealth, and Darcy got in the way of Wickham furthering himself in society. Because the prospect of wealth and class is present, Wickham acts in a greedy and wicked nature, attempting to ruin the innocence of a young girl just to further his own status. Because Georgina has been raised to follow the rules and ideals of this society, she allows herself to fall victim to Wickham’s schemes, only because she had been hoping to fulfill the ideal that she would be married to a wealthy man. Georgina plays into the idea that this society disregards the true and genuine feelings of women, teaching them to get married only to secure wealth and class.
Wickham’s story does not end with Georgiana, as he is later caught enacting a similarly wicked plan with Lydia Bennet, one of the younger sisters Elizabeth and Jane share. While Elizabeth is staying with Darcy, after finding ground to which they could both communicate in a polite manner with each other, she receives news that her sister Lydia has run off with Wickham. However, it appears that Wickham keeps promising Lydia with the prospect of marriage but has no genuine plans to marry her, which if that were to occur, the already slightly tarnished reputation of the Bennet family would be even more ruined. Because Lydia is another young woman that has been raised in this society, she follows everything that Wickham says, believing everything that he tells her so she can one day wed him and fulfill the ideals of this society. She completely disregards the fact that Wickham is much older than she is, and overlooks the idea that a union between the two would result in a life lacking love, all so she can live up to the image of women in this society. Darcy intervenes and prevents Wickham from leading Lydia to social exile and disgrace by paying him to marry her and save what remains of the reputation the Bennet family carries. In another instance of class and wealth influencing the the decisions made by female characters, Lydia is now in a loveless marriage with a man many years her senior, and although she flaunts this idea to her sisters, she is exhibiting a character of selfishness and greed, exchanging her youth for the opportunity to rise in rank in terms of social class standing. Because of the emphasis placed on wealth and class, Lydia is raised to believe that marriage that improves her standing is the only thing that she should strive for, unlike her sister Elizabeth, who has opinions and fundamentals that she follows closely. Where Lydia sold her character for wealth and social standing, Elizabeth acts as the voice of reason and concern, seeing the issues and dangers of the situation that Lydia is blindsided by. “I have just had a letter from Jane, with such dreadful news. It cannot be concealed from anyone. My younger sister has left all her friends—has eloped; has thrown herself into the power of—of Mr. Wickham. They are gone off together from Brighton. You know him too well to doubt the rest. She has no money, no connections, nothing that can tempt him to—she is lost for ever.” Having spoken to Darcy about it, Elizabeth alludes to the situation with Georgiana, drawing the similarities between her and Lydia, and the wickedness of Wickham and his endeavors. During this time period, the necessity of marriage was more common than it is now, but it's so far in its favor that people act as marriage extremists, as if a relationship with Wickham is bad because they have no intention to get married, when the real issue here is that there is a large age difference and an imbalance of power between the two. Because of the rules that this society has taught its women, Lydia just abides by whatever Wickham says to hopefully achieve to be married to him one day, allowing for him to take advantage of her young and naive character.
During the course of the story, Elizabeth is proposed to by numerous suitors, one of which being her father’s distantly related cousin, Mr. Collins. The girls are not impressed with his abilities and behaviors, he appears to be manipulative and scheming to do anything to improve his own social standing. While already being bestowed some money, to achieve the requirements of having a fulfilling life during this time period was for him to get married and improve his social class. So much so that he looks to Elizabeth to help him achieve this venture, but upon being rejected, he looks to her friend Charlotte. When Elizabeth rejects him however, her mother is infuriated and demands for Mr. Bennet to order her daughter to accept Mr. Collins’ proposal. Mrs. Bennet is just as affected by the society that prioritizes wealth and social class as the characters who act wickedly, going as far as to tell Elizabeth that she will refuse to see her if she does not accept the proposal. Throughout the story, Elizabeth is constantly dismantling the ideals of this society that she has grown up in, and she explains to Mr. Collins that she does not consider herself an elegant lady, but a rational creature. If Elizabeth were to be conforming to the ideals this society has set for women such as herself, she would have accepted the proposal from Mr. Collins, but she recognizes the worth of marrying for genuine love and connection, marrying someone that can provide mutual respect, in comparison to wealth and riches. To the dismay of Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth not only rejects Mr. Collins and his security of wealth, but also the expectations that this society has cultivated. “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins...” Going to the lengths of cutting off contact with her own daughter is the epitome of what this society emphasizes and prioritizes, not caring for Elizabeth’s feelings or needs, Mrs. Bennet is obsessed with selling her off in marriage to climb the ranks of class and wealth.
Upon being rejected by Elizabeth, Mr. Collins sets his eyes on Charlotte, a close friend to Elizabeth. Charlotte is considered a spinster-like woman, being older in age while lacking a husband was frowned upon during this time period. Because of this, Charlotte marries Mr.Collins, and explains to Elizabeth that she married for security, and not for romance. Marriage is a thing that should be based upon the romance between people, not about what will be safe and secure for a person in their life. “You must be surprised, very much surprised—so lately as Mr. Collins was wishing to marry you. But when you have had time to think it over, I hope you will be satisfied with what I have done. I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state.” She marries Mr. Collins to be safe but also to maintain her standing in the social class system, as she would have been disregarded and looked down on for not being married sooner. The effects of this society and its ideals are evident here as well, as Charlotte disregards her feelings of romance in exchange for security with a man who has been described as materialistic and advantageous, similarly to the other women who have been affected by these ideals. Although she states she has never been a romantic person, she should at least be able to have the choice of who to marry, rather than the first man that proposes to her. It an unfair idea, Charlotte has to sacrifice the opportunity to be happy just to be safe and secure with her life, showing how the emphasis of social class and wealth negatively impacts Charlotte, and presumably other female characters in her position, indulge in a loveless, unhappy marriage to be secure in her life and social class standing.
Throughout the novel of Pride and Prejudice, the idea of there being a certain model enforced by society that women must follow and abide by is evident, as almost every female character is affected and somehow changed as the story progresses. Although not every character is ruined by its effects, almost every character, female or not, upholds these societal standards for women, either by enforcing it upon themselves or enforcing it on those around them. In a modern sense, there no longer is an extreme need for the gaining of wealth through marriage like there was during the nineteenth century, however the pedestal of wealth and class is something that still exists, even though it is considered and experienced differently than it was during that time period. Considering how far women have developed from the nineteenth century to the modern day is astronomical, from having to depend on marriage to gain wealth to being able to gain one’s own wealth through working independently from a man is clear when compared to the context and details that the era of Pride and Prejudice demonstrates. As Jane Austen warns against following the status quo, especially one that is so harmfully geared towards hindering the development of the individual woman, her idea of marrying for love and acting as one’s own person can be applied to today. Through each relationship and interaction that these characters of the novel go through, Jane Austen exemplifies the ideas of abiding by societal expectations for women and marrying for wealth are ones that should not be followed, as Elizabeth Bennet is content with marrying Mr. Darcy, a man who provides mutual respect and merits, the characters who married to fulfill the societal standard for women are considered unfulfilled in comparison. Through the words and sentiments of Austen, the warning she provides is that the reader should avoid conforming to standards that inhibit women, and in turn choose to live genuinely by marrying for genuine love and connection, abandoning the standards that were one favored by those within the nineteenth century.
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