Category: Jane Austen

In Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice, she presents Elizabeth Bennett as a modern woman that rejects the 19th Century’s societal. The author has shown three fundamental aspects throughout the book and movie which are- Love, Reputation and Class. And all the three aspects are connected to conceptualizing Jane Austen’s views on love and Marriage in the 19th century era.

In the book Pride and Prejudice, the author Jane Austen presents one of the concepts which is Love. Love can teach important lessons, change life forever, and nurture meaningful relationships. In the book, the courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth has shown different sides of a society and how society has perspectives towards love that also has been presented. In the beginning, Darcy’s pride makes him misjudge Elizabeth. For example, in the book Darcy says to Mr. Bingley when he asks Mr. Darcy to dance with one of the daughters, Elizabeth, of Mr. Bennet, Mr. Darcy says “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men” (Volume 1 chapter 3). Here, Mr. Darcy has shown his pride towards Elizabeth which he could have easily ignored and created a good impression. On the other hand, Elizabeth also misjudges Mr. Darcy on the first impression which leaves a point that both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are the victim of pride.

Meanwhile, Jane Austen has shown that between love and affection there will be many obstacles which realizes Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy that society has other side of the story where love always does not take place. For instances, society has shown us that not every time it is necessary to have social connections; such as, Lady Catherine tries to control her nephew, Miss Bingley elopes, and Mrs. Bennet’s stupidity. Austen has viewed that love is something independent of these social forces where if anyone is able to go beyond the social expectations.

On the other hand, in the end of the novel, when Elizabeth accepts the proposal of Mr. Darcy’s to marry, Elizabeth goes to her father, Mr. Bennet, to ask permission. Austen has depicted that Mr. Bennet cares for her daughter’s life as he always thinks Elizabeth is intelligent one among his other daughters. Throughout the book, Austen has viewed that Mr. Bennet is not quite happy with his own marriage which makes him feel that his daughters should not feel the same way. Mr. Bennet wants his daughter’s life as she wants to have which separates his thought from the society where his own wife Mrs. Bennet thinks the other way.

Austen has also shown some realistic views of the society that love does not always dictate marriage. One the character has faced the situation is Elizabeth’s friend, Charlotte Lucas who marries the buffoon Mr. Collins only for his money. When Elizabeth finds out that Charlotte is marrying Mr. Collins, she was shocked with the match and she believes marriage should be a union of two loving people and a lasting emotional situation. But Charlotte’s point of view is different. She says to Elizabeth in that book, “I see what you are feeling, replied Charlotte, – “you must be surprised, very much surprised, – so lately as Mr. Collins was wishing to marry you. But when you have hard time to think it all 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. Collin’s character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is fair, as most people can boast on entering the marriage state” (Volume 1 chapter 22). Charlotte’s view is that she will marry Collins because she needs to hold her situation financially and socially, and not because of any mutual feeling of love between them. She thinks that it is neither necessary nor beneficial to know some one well or to particularly like some one before you marry them.

In the book Pride and Prejudice, it depicts that a society in which a woman’s reputation is of the utmost importance which is one of the themes that Austen has presented. A woman is expected to behave in certain ways. This theme appears in the novel, when Elizabeth walks to Netherfield and arrives with muddy skirts, Miss Bingley and her friends get a shock of the reputation as Elizabeth doesn’t follow the social norms. Another example from the book where class and society norms are tied together is “she was shewn into the breakfast-parlour, where all but Jane were assembled, and where appearance created a great deal of surprise. – That she should have walked three miles so early in the day, in such dirty weather, and by herself, was almost incredible to Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley; and Elizabeth was convinced that they held her in contempt for it. She was received, however, very politely by them; and in their bother’s manners there was better than politeness; there was good humor and kindness. – Mr. Darcy said very little, and Mr. Hurst nothing at all. The former was divided between admiration of brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion and doubt as to the occasion’s justifying her coming so far alone” (volume I chapter 7). This following explains that Elizabeth is worried about Jane has no carriage, she was walking alone to muddy fields through Netherfield. And this such behaviour is considered to the society “not a lady like”. Bingley sisters describe Elizabeth as dirty and unbelievable. On the other hand, Bingley women treated Elizabeth very politely despite knowing she was not following the social norm. Mr. Darcy was having mixed reaction which was well described in the book as well as in the movie his feeling towards Elizabeth. His doubt was showing that Elizabeth should not fit in the social expectations. He could not feel it but help admiring for Elizabeth as a person.

Class is the target of Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice which is a criticism of society in general. Austen makes it clear that people like Lady Catherine who are overly invested in their social position, are guilty of mistreating other people. The theme of class is related to reputation where the lines of class are strictly drawn. While the Bennets, who are middle class, may socialize with the upper-class Bingleys and Darcys, they are clearly their social inferiors and are treated as such. Though Mr. Collins offers an extreme example, he is not the only one to hold such views. Austen does seem to respect the class system in a few ways, especially when it operates not as a dividing power in society, but as a force for virtue and decency. Mr. Darcy is the primary example of Austen’s ideal high-class gentleman. Though originally, he seems to be an arrogant and selfish snob, as the novel progresses it becomes clear that he is capable of change. Through the Darcy-Elizabeth and Bingley-Jane marriages, Austen shows the power of love and happiness to overcome class boundaries and prejudices, but what if the marriages did not happen. On the other hand, Mr. Darcy helps Wickham when he elopes with Lydia. With the help of money from Mr. Darcy, Wickham has agreed to marry Lydia which has surprised Elizabeth and changed her perspective towards Mr. Darcy. If Mr. Darcy does not help them, will Elizabeth’s perspective change? Austen has shown a very happy ending but what if Elizabeth has chosen not to marry Mr. Darcy and choose to stay alone. How Mrs. Bennet will react? Will Mr. Bennet accept that? What about the society’s expectation? Jane Austen has ended the novel with questions.

Pride and Prejudice is a love story written by English writer Jane Austen. Although it was written between 1796 and 1797, it could only be published on 28 January 1813. Since it was considered that writing profession coincides with the duties of womanhood, Austen had trouble finding publishers. Eventually, she had to bring her works out anonymously.

In Pride and Prejudice, Austen examines the misinterpretations caused by judging people by first impressions, and how people can break down those judgments and change for the sake of love as they know each other. Therefore, it is not a surprise for anybody to learn that this book was initially titled as First Impressions. Moreover, the writer criticizes the concept of matrimony of her time. The book is opened with a statement that “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife” (9). While Austen introduces us to different kind of marriages, she emphasizes that a prosperous union should depend on love and compatibility, not wealth and status. The writer, who aspires to make people think while laughing, manages successfully to blend social issues with irony, and convey them to the reader in a realistic manner at a very young age.

Jane Austen takes us through a magnificent journey to England in the Regency era. The story centers on a middle-class family with five single daughters, the Bennets whose possessions will bequeath to Cousin Collins because the family has no male heir. Therefore, the daughters have to marry rich and high-status men to maintain their prosperity. At a ball, a wealthy and single gentleman, Charles Bingley, is instantly charmed by Jane, the most beautiful Bennet sister. His close friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, looking distant and cold, hurts feelings of Elizabeth (Lizzy), the most intelligent Bennet, by saying “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me…” (15). Our protagonist, Lizzy, quickly judges and dislikes Mr. Darcy. In the meantime, Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth who declines him, as she wants to marry for love, not logic. After a while, Elizabeth meets a charismatic soldier named George Wickham who claims that Fitzwilliam has mistreated him. Elizabeth’s bias against Mr. Darcy grows stronger, while Jane and Mr. Bingley are getting closer. Conflicting with his principles, Mr. Darcy starts to be interested in Elizabeth. Mr. Bingley’s sudden leaving upsets Jane deeply. Lizzy knows that Darcy must have something to do with this decision.

Trapped between his heart and mind, Mr. Darcy cannot restrain his feelings anymore. He proposes to Elizabeth who declines his offer by accusing him of being the reason for Jane’s and Wickham’s misery. Heartbroken Darcy apologizes with a letter for distrusting Jane’s feelings. He also reveals that Mr. Wickham deceived his 15-year-old sister to get her possessions. Lizzy questions her feelings and judgments after this letter. In a journey, Elizabeth comes by Mr. Darcy’s enchanting estate. Cleansed of his pride, Mr. Darcy behaves so sincerely that Elizabeth’s feelings blossom. Meanwhile, Lydia, the youngest Bennet, dishonors the family by running away with Wickham who is later convinced about marriage by Darcy’s large bribe. Soon after, with Darcy’s emboldening, Mr. Bingley proposes to Jane who says yes with great joy. Finally, Mr. Darcy asks for Lizzy’s hand one more time by apologizing for his redundant pride, and Elizabeth accepts gladly by expressing her regret about her prejudice.

Jane Austen tells her story from a third person’s viewpoint which usually traces our protagonist, Lizzy. The reader sees events through her eyes. With the aid of free indirect speech technique, the narrator makes us skillfully witness not only the characters’ conversations but also their hearts and minds. Her portrayal of places, events, and individuals are so elaborate that it is impossible for the readers not to visualize them. Although not all of the characters are likable, they are exceptionally well-drawn thanks to Austen’s incredible observation capability. Every word they speak or every behavior they perform is in perfect harmony with their personalities. Whether you are fond of them or not, you cannot help but care about what will happen to them.

Jane Austen rejected the Romantic Movement of her time. She used a realistic sense while writing. Therefore, the romance in her novel is not slushy. Main characters do not fall in love at first sight as we are used to. After each obstacle, they undergo a series of changes. The chemistry between those two is so well conceived and externalized that, when they finally come together, we shed tears with them. The story is well-written and quite engaging. It flows exquisitely thanks to Austen’s sarcastic and fluent expression.

The novel was written more than 220 years ago. Therefore, the language may seem to be outdated. There are some words such as “genteel” that are not in use nowadays (38). Sentences are sometimes exceptionally long for today’s readers. There are also some punctuation and formatting flaws that contradict with our current grammar rules. Nevertheless, it is possible for literature lovers to discover the elegant vocabulary of Georgian Era English. The irony is a dominant style throughout the novel. Austen slyly makes social criticism through her caricatured characters like Mrs. Bennet. In doing so, she chooses to be funny, rather than being offensive. Consequently, reading this book is such an entertaining ride.

Jane Austen has been criticized for constantly writing regular events of a constricted area and specific people. Apart from the issues surrounding her, she isolated herself from the problems England had undergone. She wrote only about familiar matters, for she fueled from realism. Despite that, she has succeeded in transforming the ordinary into unforgettable with her intelligence and ability. Occasionally, she diverges from the realistic manner she aims. At such times, the novel can be extra romantic. There are a few unnatural, forced encounters between the characters. This leads the reader away from the story and hurts the reality of the book.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of the most beloved British classics. Although it did not receive enough attention at the time of its publication, it didn’t take long to gain the value it deserves. There are many books such as Bridget Jones’ Diary inspired by and many literary studies on this precious novel. In this book, the writer blends romantic and realistic movements together, and she successfully demonstrates her unique style. Being one of the first female writers to use comedy factor, Austen was able to combine the observations of her genius mind with a sarcastic expression, and shined in a male-dominated world.

Pride and Prejudice hosts the readers in the early 19th century with dexterity by exposing social hierarchy, manners, courteous language, and gimmickry of the period. While its intended audience was wealthy middle-class, I recommend this book, which has succeeded in touching my soul, to all the literature lovers, especially those who are interested in the Regency England.

Introduction

The studies that approach texts of literary with corpus linguistic methods is developing and The use of corpus (corpora) in stylistics has become increasingly in recent years and the term of corpus stylistics is substantially popular. The latin word corpus (corpora) refers to a collection of texts means “ body”. The texts are saved in an electronic database. Baker, Hardie & MacEnery argue that “althought a corpus does not contain new information about language by using software packages which process data, we can obtain a new perspective on the familiar”(48-49).

Corpus stylistics is a branch of computational linguistics as Wales (1989) points out. It was developed in the late 1960s. It helps to investigate certain characteristics of the data like the length of words and sentences based on statistical and computer-aided tools to study a number of issues related to style (85).

Corpus stylistics is simply corpus linguistics with a different object of study (literature as opposed to non-literary language)’. Besides, he demonstrates that the difference between them is that corpus stylistics is not only borrowing tools from corpus linguistics but it makes itself unique by using qualitative tools and techniques of stylistics to analyze texts with the help of computational methods (McIntyre 60).

This paper presents a corpus stylistics analysis of Jane Austen novel’s “pride and prejudice”. The novel will be analysed according to a corpus stylistic approach. In general, a corpus is a collection of written and spoken texts. News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events.

The current papper focuses only on one novel electronic form. The analysis is based on the recurrent word combinations found in the text by the corpus software. Mahlbergsees corpus stylistics as “a way of bringing the study of language and literature closer together”(2007: 3).

Research Methodologies

The methodology of the study follows Mahlberg & McIntyre’s (2012) method. This model focuses on one literary text by one autor. They explain that studying one text may be considered as a ‘small sample of data’ but then they assert that this text is still regarded as part of a corpus (206).

The majority of stylistic studies including articles, books and other works use qualitative methodologies in order to analyze literary texts. The writer taken the data from the electronic book “pride and prejudice’ by Jane Austin and continued by change the electronic book to be a text to analyze by software to deal with large texts with relatively short time. In addition, it can achieve the objectivity that stylisticians seek for. It can reveal crucial features that can be missed in the manual analysis. corpus stylistics is not only borrowing tools from corpus linguistics but it makes itself unique by using qualitative tools and techniques of stylistics to analyze texts with the help of computational methods (McIntyre).

This work aims at examining keywords, key semantic domains as well as clusters. Firstly, keywords can be defined as the most frequent or repeated words in a single text or group of texts in comparison to a reference corpus. Words are the crucial part of any corpus study. There are three groups of words in general: proper nouns, content and function words. Mahlberg & McIntyre point out that the most common words are function words. They work as the constituents of any text. However, content words are the carriers of meaning and writers’ messages. For this reason, they are important for studying (384).

Gliozzo &Strapparava define semantic domains as ‘fields characterized by lexically coherent words. The lexical coherence assumption can be exploited for computational purposes because it allows us to define automatic acquisition'(5).

Discussion

Corpus stylistics brings the methods of corpus linguistics to the practice of stylistics. The term ‘corpus stylistics’ specifically to refer to the study of literary texts. Some researchers in this field use ‘corpus stylistics’ to refer to literary criticism only; Mahlberg characterises it as a methodology which combines different approaches but is fundamental ‘a way of bringing the study of language and literature closer together’ (Mahlberg, 2007, p. 219). Wynne (2006) also implicitly assumes that corpus stylistics is a stylistic inquiry into literary language. Others use the term more generally; Semino and Short include news reports and autobiographies in their book, Corpus Stylistics (2004).

Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen published on January 28, 1813. This novel tells the story of the upper-middle-class love in England in the late 19th century. This novel contains a description of the events surrounding the story of the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, who lives in Longbourn, England. Elizabeth is described as a cheerful, and polite woman, and also she has a sharp intelligence and refused to be intimidated by anyone.

The Bennet family has five single daughters. This family is a family that is quite prosperous but because of this family there are no sons, so they must be forced to give all their property to the uncle of the five daughters of Mr. Bennet, Mr.Collins. All of that applies if their father has passed away. The case made Mrs. Bennet worried. Then Mrs. Bennet has the ambition to marry her children to rich men.

The reasons for choosing this particular novel Pride and Prejudice are Pride and Prejudice has long fascinated readers, consistently appearing near the top of lists of ‘most-loved books’ among literary scholars and the general public. It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million copies sold and paved the way for many archetypes that abound in modern literature There are certain words used to indicate in a direct or indirect way the main theme of the text, these are called ‘thematic signals’. These words have importance over others. They are simply the carriers of meaning or the clues to the hidden codes in the text. The novel has the following thematic events; romantic, film thriller and psychological themes. The novel achieve 122,007 words.

The word ‘merried’ for example, occurs (57) times throughout the text. It leads to the basic theme in the novel. As mentioned before, the story is about the upper middle class love in England in the late 19th century. Similarly, the word ‘trust’ with (28) occurrences has a noticeable thematic value. The word ‘pride’ occurs (56) times, indicating also to the theme of love in the novel. The word “The occurrences or the concordances of this word in the text lead the reader to this interpretation.

Here are examples of the associations of the word within the context:

Screenshot (3) Thirty Three Examples of Successive Concordances of the Word “merried.”

From the above screenshot, it is clear from the right context that the words “advantageously” is associated with the reason why Mr. Bennet family desire to marry their daughter to a man from a wealthy family . This cooccurrence of words has an important significance. In line (4), point of being most advantageously is mentioned to refer to the benefit of them towards their daughter married. In lines (6) there is one textual phrases: “delightful thing” takes the indication of the Mrs. Bennet desire.

Fictional world and thematic signal keywords with examples of subgroup based on Mahlberg and McIntyre’s (2012, 210).

Category Example keywords

Fictional world

Characters:

Names

Body parts

Clothes and accessories

Settings and props:

Places

Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, Bennet Family, Mr.Collins

Face, eyes, mouth

Gown, wedding clothes, coat, stocking

House, Netherfield, Pemberly House, longbourn

Thematic signals Pride, admiration, prejudice, trust, married

Keywords in Pride and Prejudice

The following table contains the top 22 keywords produced by the Wmatrix3 tool comparing the selected novel with BNC (British National Corpus sampler Written. In addition, the table illustrates the frequency of keywords in the novel.

Table ( 2 ) The Top 22 keywords of Pride and Prejudice Compared to BNC Sampler Written.

Apparently, Table (2) shows that words such as (the, to, of, and, etc) are dominant in terms of frequency. Nevertheless, this does not mean that researchers neglect a word like ‘advantage’, which is illustrated previously. Computational retrieval of keyness should be checked and interpreted by manual examination to get a reasonable and a subtle way of reading the text by means of corpus stylistics study.

It is worth mentioning that Mahlberg and McIntyre maintain that the analysis of the concordance lines is necessary to point out keywords related to the ”thematic signals” and ”fictional world” in order to search for the meaning within the context (209).

Conclussion

The study of corpus stylistics can be very important for researchers. it connects both quantitative and qualitative methods, also helps bring the attention of the reader / literary text. In addition, computing tools are used to perform analytical tasks novels not only save time and time get fast results with one click, but this tool also calculates possible words passed by humans. However, handled will not be significant without study manual. Thus, supported quantitative methods are encouraged analysis. This is done by explaining important items, learning them, and link the importance of text. There must be some kind of a sorting techniques that replace guide words (directed to themes) from words that are often less important and provide little information about literary text.

References

1. Eman Adil Jaafar. 2017. Corpus Stylistic Analysis of Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lamb’ University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
2. Kristina Bujanova .2013. A Corpus-Stylistic Analysis of Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind and Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. UNIVERSITY OF OSLO
3. http://abidin.lecturer.uin-malang.ac.id/2013/10/dasar-dasar-korpus-dalam-ilmu-bahasa/
4. https://allaboutcorpora.com/corpus-software-2
5. https://aisaidluv.wordpress.com/2018/08/13/review-buku-pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen/
6. Wordsmith tools 7.0 software

The drama of Pride and Prejudice focuses not on action, but on observation. Thus, the portrayed plot is secondary to the interaction of characters through dialogue and the gaze. Such significance of the evolving perceptions of the characters is undoubtedly emphasized by the original title of the novel, First Impressions. Jane Austen depicts the existent equality of power between the two main protagonists. Laura Mulvey’s male and female gaze theory is utilized but it is modified from her original belief. Instead of demonstrating the traditional dynamic where usually a male character has more power over the other through his gaze, it is noticed that both the male and the female have a gaze and direct it at each other. Through the gaze, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are transformed in a manner of who they think the other one is and how it evolves, leading to their ultimate relationship.

Mr. Darcy is introduced at a dance that takes place in the neighborhood of Hertfordshire, where the five Bennet sisters were required to assist with the promise of marrying an eligible bachelor. Immediately Mr. Darcy is assessed as “a fine figure of a man, ladies declaring he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and… looked at with great admiration for about half the evening.” (Austen, 205). The gaze of both Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam develops. As Mr. Bingley urges Mr. Darcy to dance with Elizabeth Bennet, his rejection of her beauty is encouraged by the fear of her gaze. Darcy looks “for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.” (Austen, 205) It is shown how Elizabeth challenges his gaze signaling this through the use of diction ‘eye’. Once her gaze demonstrates her rejection as an object, Mr. Darcy ‘withdrew’ his own gaze and instead delivered a rejection of her beauty. He is initially threatened by her resistance. As a response, Elizabeth, unlike Darcy, does not insult his appearance but criticizes his behavior, thus, gesturing in “no very cordial feelings towards him.” (Austen 205) Darcy continues to gaze at Elizabeth and she eventually becomes “an object of some interest in [his] eyes,” (Austen 18) This illustrates that her resistance begins to “attract him more than he liked” so “he adhered most conscientiously to his book, and would not even look at her” (Austen 50-51). It can be noticed that Mr. Darcy avoids at all costs looking at Elizabeth in order to not be influenced by her gaze, revealing his initial fear. Douglas Murray designates, “Austen mentions Elizabeth’s eyes with almost predictable frequency, every ten pages or so. Elizabeth’s abilities to attract more than a cursory gaze and to return others’ gazes indicate her resistance and independence of mind amid powerful forces of conformity.” (Murray 45) Murray sheds some light on the interactions between these two protagonists. Thus, Elizabeth Bennet’s “eyes are representative of her ability to both attract Darcy’s gaze and resist his gaze, despite the ‘powerful forces of conformity’ inherent in the male gaze.” (Grate 103) Subconsciously, it can be determined that Mr. Darcy is appreciating Elizabeth’s gaze since he later reflects on “the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.” Because Elizabeth has ‘fine eyes’ she looks at him and interrupts his schemes.

Eventually, Darcy begins controlling his gaze by looking without admiration and only to criticize Elizabeth. This male personae asserts his gaze only to his friends and himself to demonstrate him using his gaze to alter other character’s opinion. Mr. Darcy’s gaze serves for him to make him believe that Ms. Bennet is not attractive, rather than to accept it as true. Ultimately, he cannot withstand her resistance and tries to “detect with a critical eye” (Austen 18) but he is forced to find Elizabeth pretty and change his gaze, not able to regain his perspective of disdain. This demonstrates Elizabeth Bennet’s power as object of his gaze.

A shift of perception is denoted when Mr. Darcy feels pleasure being an object of Elizabeth’s gaze. He surrenders, “on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow.” (Austen, 22) The syntax in this quote empowers Elizabeth while he phrases her eyes as responsible for her desirable beauty. Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy admires Ms. Elizabeth Bennet’s refusal to surrender to his gaze, thus, he sees it mutual resistance. Elizabeth laughs at his description of her, “we neither of us perform to strangers,” (Austen 151) suggesting that due to her, once again, lack of performance to cave into his gaze, Darcy’s desire increased. At the end of the novel, when Elizabeth questions Darcy about his initial admiration for her, she remarks “my beauty you had early withstood… did you admire me for my impertinence?” Darcy responds, “for the liveliness of your mind, I did.” (Austen 327) He equates his admiration for her with her mind, not her beauty. It can be perceived how the word ‘impertinence’ defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “not appertaining or belonging to” or “incongruous,” means how Darcy has incorporated Elizabeth’s perspective.

To what extent might we use the term ‘Feminist’ to describe women’s writing of the 18th Century? How might we define the term ‘feminist’? It is an idea that is constantly developing, even today. The Oxford English Dictionary defines feminism as the “Advocacy for equality of the sexes and the establishment of the political, social and economic rights of the female sex”. Seeing as the term was not cited until 1897 by The Daily News, is it appropriate to call women’s writing of the 18th century feminist literature? The writings of Mary Wollstonecraft undoubtedly still resonate with our modern idea of feminism today and yet her novel ​’The Wrongs of Woman’ ​and her other works can be read as problematic and so do not fit with the modern day definition. The same can be said for Jane Austen, another prolific woman writer of the period. Whilst there is not the same advocacy for women’s rights that can be seen with Wollstonecraft, there is the use of subversive satire and humour that evokes her own kind of rebellion. Neither of these writers can be held to the same standard of feminism as we know it today and it is for this reason that I shall adapt the term ‘Proto-feminism’ when dealing with their literature. I will acknowledge both of the writers’ contribution to modern feminism but I shall also argue that there are places in which their literature remains problematic.

Mary Wollstonecraft is inarguably one of the founding mothers of modern day feminism. Her advocacy for women is made apparent in her work ‘​A Vindication for the Rights of Woman’. ​She states in the introduction, “I wish to show that elegance is inferior to virtue, that the first object of laudable ambition is to obtain a character as a human being, regardless of the distinction of sex”. This statement in and of itself almost fits our modern definition of feminism perfectly. “Regardless of sex”, she wishes women to be treated as human beings and not just children focussed entirely on ideas of elegance and frivolity. However, the rest of this work is highly problematic in regards to modern feminism. In the same introduction, she states repeatedly that by the very laws of nature, women are inferior to men. The introduction alone carries an underlying idea that it is the fault of her fellow woman that they are oppressed. She states, “My own sex will forgive me, I hope, if I treat them like rational creatures instead of flattering their ​fascinating ​graces” (10). The biting sarcasm of this remark is particularly condescending and does not conform to the idea of “sisterhood” that has become a staple of modern day feminism. This highlights the rather toxic trait of this work, that only some women are deserving of equality, but not ones who put stock in their appearance or have frivolous tendencies. However, Wollstonecraft does discuss many important issues pertaining to her period that are very relevant to a proto-feminist cause. She discusses education for women, “the tyranny of man” and the institution of marriage. All of which have their place in her unfinished novel, ‘Maria: Or, The Wrongs of Woman’​. By looking at the heroine of the story, Maria, we can see the views that Wollstonecraft puts forward in ​’A Vindication for the Rights of Woman’​. She is, at the beginning of the novel, wallowing in her emotions, distraught because of her imprisonment and the loss of her daughter. Here, Wollstonecraft is presenting Maria as a victim of her own emotions. Wollstonecraft encouraged women to exercise their minds and bodies, to be enlightened and sensible in the face of a society obsessed with sensibility (Kelly, 11). Gary Kelly states that Wollstonecraft felt that the ideas of sensibility encouraged women to feel excessive emotions, ultimately leading them to fall victim to “romantic fantasies” and have them dependant on men. I believe that it is this fashion that Wollstonecraft presents Maria at the beginning of the novel.

Maria is described as feeling, “Surprise, astonishment, that bordered on distraction seemed to have suspended her faculties… anguish, a whirlwind of rage and indignation” (69). All of the emotions listed are very powerful, so much so that they have “suspended” Maria’s mind. She is presented as almost in a deranged like state, portraying just how far Wollstonecraft believed that the female weakness to sensibility was the cause of their oppression. What should be emphasised also is the is the descriptions used for Maria’s fellow inmates in the asylum. Phrases such as “Melancholy and imbecility marked their features” and “relentless passions” demonstrate once again Wollstonecraft’s opposal to extreme sensibility in women (76-77). It is no coincidence then, that once Maria receives the books from Jemima as a means for distraction does her character become more proactive. This reflects again Wollstonecraft’s narrative. She herself decided from a young age that she would achieve her own independence from men by reading, writing and educating herself. In this way she allowed herself to think on her situation and the situation of her fellow women more critically (Kelly 10). She gave herself the tools to speak out against oppression. This is reflected in Maria’s readings of the books she is given. Her narrative becomes less reflective and wallowing and even when she catches herself imagining the character of Darnford from his marginalia, she “snapt the chain of the theory to read Dryden’s Guiscard and Sigismunda” (79). This story mentioned tells the story of a daughter defying her father and is ardently for the rights of women. This is significant as it is a story that pulls Maria away, indeed, physically snaps her away from the idea of fantasy and romance, suggesting once again that it is a woman’s duty to educate herself in order to find independence from men. This demonstrates Wollstonecraft’s proto-feminist stance as she recognises the wrongs done to her heroine, she demonstrates her own beliefs that self education and self enlightenment is key to independence and an escape from so called weakness. However, it cannot be considered a feminist stance. Wollstonecraft completely disregards labouring class women of the period. Jennifer Batt states in her article that education for the labouring class “was often brought to an abrupt end at a young age.” Women were trained for the world of work and would not often have access to books or have time for reflective and critical thinking. It demonstrates an ignorance to their plight by focussing solely on the middling class.

There are contradictions with regards to the narrator’s empathy for labouring class women in “Maria: Or, ​The Wrongs of Women. ​Jemima’s narrative is matter of fact and clear and the story is dealt with sensitvely. The use of first person narrative with Jemima is key in evoking sympathy from readers as there is no second hand judgement from the narrator. She emphasises the wrongs done to her by stating, “a pauper by nature, hunted from family to family, I belonged to no one” (95). This sentence is extremely poignant and in the age of sensibility, readers would have felt very sympathetic to Jemima’s plight. The first contradiction, however, is the telling of how Jemima began to read in order “to beguile the tediousness of solitude and to gratify an inquisitive mind” (99). This statement puts her on a power with Maria who also began to read and educate herself as a means of distraction. It emphasises once again Wollstonecraft’s insistence on the importance of self-education. There is an underlying tone of respect for Jemima, a lowly ex-prostitute. She is made human and evokes sympathy through the telling of her story, therefore demonstrating Wollstonecraft’s strong Proto-feminist stance and even venturing into the idea of “sisterhood” between Maria who is of the middling class and Jemima‒ labouring class.

This can also be seen in Maria and Darnford’s reaction to Jemima’s story. Darnford reflects that “poverty most often excludes it (happiness), by shutting up all avenues of improvement” (103). This along with Maria lamenting the “Oppressed state of women” (107) demonstrates how Wollstonecraft wishes to evoke sympathy and compassion for Jemima and perhaps other women similar to her. This is admirable and a strongly Proto-feminist view, however it is savagely undercut by remarks about prostitution in chapter twelve. Maria states in her letter to her daughter, whilst evoking images of prostitutes, to have felt “mortified at being compelled to consider them as my fellow creatures, as if an ape had claimed kindred with me” (149). This being said after Jemima has relayed her heartbreaking story is extremely problematic. It highlights Maria’s snobbery and disdain for lower class women. It could be forgiven as ignorance if she had not previously empathised strongly with Jemima’s situation. The fact that she states she felt “compelled” to consider prostitutes as human demonstrates a begrudging attitude to their equality and ultimately a hypocrisy. She completely dehumanises a whole class of women after giving Jemima such a human story. Perhaps this is merely a flaw in the narrative and had Wollstonecraft been alive to finish the novel, she might have corrected it.

That being said, there is a lot in this novel that advocates strongly for the emancipation of women. For example, how Wollstonecraft deals with the institution of marriage is very radical for her period and allows her the title of Proto-feminist. She discusses the idea of sex within a loveless marriage stating, “for personal intimacy without affection seemed to me the most degrading, as well as most painful state a woman… could be placed” (129). She puts forward the notion that that this is something that many women must endure in their marriage. Discussing these idea in her literature makes her very proto-feminist in that she continues by saying, “who made women the property of their husbands?” (130). Here, the language of slavery is invoked, taking on the sexist laws of marriage that were in place to ensure that women remained just that; the property of their husbands (Kelly, 28). This reinforces the oppressive reality that women of the period faced and undoubtedly highlights her feminist standpoint.

However, what once again limits Wollstonecraft as Proto-feminist is her mistreatment of the lower class women mentioned in her story. Once again she comments, “his favourites were wantons of the lowest class, who could by their vulgar, indecent mirth… rouse his sluggish spirits” (130). This again shows the narrator’s lack of empathy for lower class women, in particularly sex workers whom she dismisses as “profligate women”(130). She objectifies these women, they are nothing more than Venables’ “favourites”, things to be used in order to create a source of revulsion. By comparing them to “decent women” whom her husband ignores, further in the paragraph, she isolates them from her feminism, suggesting that it is only these “decent women” deserving of rights. The overall tone of ​’The Wrongs of Women’ ​is positive in regards to advocating for female emancipation, however there are some insidious elements, as I have mentioned, that cannot be ignored. It is why I believe it is important to label Wollstonecraft Proto-feminist, not feminist.

Jane Austen is another woman writer, a little later in the period, and is one whom I would call a Proto-feminist. Austen’s work has been “universally understood” to mainly encompass themes of love and marriage (Brown, 321). More often than not, her novels end with a happy and hopeful marriage, for example in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and also in ‘Sense and Sensibility’. How then, in comparison to Wollstonecraft’s outspoken contempt for marriage and its oppressive nature, might we consider Austen a Proto-feminist? I argue that the answer lies in the satire that always runs under the surface of her stories. The Oxford English Dictionary defines satire as a poem, novel or other piece of art “which uses humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize prevailing immorality or foolishness.” The Satire in Austen’s work allows us to classify her as a Proto-feminist as humour and laughter during the period were not typically the domains of women.

Audrey Bilger in her book ​Laughing Feminism ​states that “once laughter constituted an indefinable threat to the social order, female laughter came to be seen as a menace to society’s very foundations” (16). She further points out that the subversive comedy of Austen’s work served as her own form of rebellion against the social order that governed her. Conduct books of the time dismissed the idea of humour being used publically among women. They mentioned only a few “appropriate” points of female laughter, the limited selection being “Extravagant vanity and affection” (Bilger, 35).

There are multiple victims of Austen’s satire in her novel ​’Persuasion’, ​the most immediately recognisable being Sir Walter Elliot. The novel opens with Sir Walter reading the Baronetage. The narrator comments, “Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement never took up any book but the Baronetage” (9). This First sentence of the book immediately sets up Sir Walter for ridicule. It presents him as ill read, having never taken up another book other than the Baronetage of his own family name. This also presents him to the reader as vain and pompous, as the insinuation is that the Baronetage cannot hold any other interest for Sir Walter other than the fact that it is a display of his family’s high station. Here, Austen is taking on a man, a high ranking one at that and reducing him to a mere figure of fun. This is a double barrelled rebellion against the social order in that not only is she creating comedy, but that comedy is taking on male superiority and ridiculing it.

What further highlights the satire of Austen’s work is the depth and thoughtfulness of the Heroine, Anne, in comparison to the “two dimensional caricatures” (Harris, 184) of Sir Walter and others in ​Persuasion.​ Anne takes a more liberal, thoughtful and modern view of the flexibility class that the navy allows when discussing it, stating, “The Navy, I think, who have done so much for us, have at least an equal claim with any other set of men, for all the comforts and all the privileges which any home can give” (21). Comparing this to her father’s following statement works to highlight his stupidity and stubbornness. He states that the navy serves “as being the means of of bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction… It cuts up a man’s youth and vigour most horribly” (22). Here Sir Walter displays the only two aspects of his character, his vanity and his obsessions with rank and hierarchy. Austen invites the reader to laugh at his faults creating here own form of rebellion by laughing at the foolish men who believe themselves superior. We can consider Austen a Proto-feminist because of this rebellion, as subtle as it is.

Marriage is a key theme in Austen’s work. In ‘​Persuasion’ ​Anne marries Captain Wentworth after previously ending an engagement with him because of his lower class, persuaded against the idea by her father and Lady Russell even though she loved him. He then climbs the ranks of the navy and Anne marries him at the end of the novel. It has been argued that Austen’s novels serve as reinforcement to patriarchal standards by having the heroine of her stories always marry however this is grossly ignoring the situation of women in the 18th century (Brown, 305). Marriage served as a means of survival for women, but also a mean of bettering their station, just as men in the navy who were of “obscure birth” bettered theirs. The more sympathetic stance that Anne takes on the flexibility of class mirrors Austen’s stance on the idea of women using marriage to climb the social ranks and live a more comfortable life (Bannet, 143). Austen’s stance on marriage was that of Matriarchal feminism, a branch of enlightenment feminism that emerged later in the 18th century (Bannet, 142). They believed that women were not equal to men, no, they were superior. They also believed that by honing their “Skill and good sense in the domestic and familial arena” that they would marry well and thus, gain control in the domestic sphere which had been previously dominated by men (Bannet, 3). This emphasis on women having a foothold in the domestic sphere can be seen in ‘Persuasion’, when Mary wishes to go with Charles to meet Captain Wentworth. “Nursing does not belong to a man, it is not his province. A sick child is always the mother’s property, her own feelings generally make it so” (50). Here, Anne reinforces the idea that it should be a woman’s job to care for her children, men have no part in it. This was the idea of matriarchal feminists, they “imagined a family in which the patriarchal governor of the domestic hierarchy had been surreptitiously supplanted by a wife” (Bannet, 3). This can be seen as feminist in Austen’s context as wives before were seen as nothing more than glorified servants, and gaining the upper hand over men in any context was a step in the right direction. However, by today’s sensibilities it is a highly problematic ideal. It reinforces the idea that a woman’s place is in the home. Austen does not offer any other solutions to overcoming the patriarchy other than marrying into it, there is not the emphasis on independence from men that there is in Wollstonecraft.

In conclusion, both Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen must be viewed as Proto-feminist writers due to their problematic discrepancies in their forms of feminism. However, they paved the way for future generations of women writers and for that we owe them a debt of gratitude. Though their feminism is flawed to us today, the fact that they were discussing women’s issues at all is admirable. Wollstonecraft’s radical feminist beliefs are the foundations on which we build ours, her novels reflect that belief. Austen’s novels have been adored by millions all over the world. They have been adapted into films because they still resonate with us. Whilst neither Mary Wollstonecraft or Jane Austen are the “perfect feminists”, there is no denying the lasting effect they have had not only in women’s literature, but literature as a whole.

Watson argues that “the house embodies the wealth and way of life the woman is marrying” (Watson, Book 3, p. 173). This essay will discuss the importance of houses in relation to the marriage plots in Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Persuasion’. It will argue that in ‘Pride and Prejudice’, a novel which can be perceived to centre on women depending on marriage to secure their finances, a house embodying the wealth and way of life that a woman is marrying is evident through female characters in the novel. It will, however, argue that wealth and houses alone are not enough to persuade protagonist Elizabeth Bennet to marry. On the contrary, alternative views of marriage are seen in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ through characters such as Charlotte Lucas. In addition, it will examine the importance of houses in relation to marriage plots in ‘Persuasion’ and argue the importance of the house is not as evident in the marriage plot of protagonist Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, due to constant movement and temporary residences. Nevertheless, it will argue that although houses do not seem as significant in ‘Persuasion’, that Captain Wentworth’s way of life is an important element to Anne in this marriage plot. Lastly, this essay will examine the ways in which Jane Austen uses narrative techniques such as focalisation, free indirect speech and irony through a third person narrator to characterise different points of views towards houses. It will also discuss Austen’s use of satire in both ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Persuasion’.

According to Toner (2015) “characters such as Elizabeth and Anne are determined that their homes be founded upon mutual love and respect, and mutual respect between partners depends upon the partners’ having dignity in the sense of respectability”. This is evident in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ as Elizabeth Bennet receives marriage proposals from two men, Mr. Collins and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and it is only on the second proposal that Mr Darcy makes to Elizabeth that she accepts his proposal and they are married. With the example of the proposal from Mr Collins, despite the lack of money in the Bennet family, and that their original residence, Longbourn, should go to Mr Collins on the event of Mr Bennet’s death, Elizabeth refuses the proposal from Mr Collins as she does not love him: “You could not make me happy, and I am convinced that I am the last woman in the world who would make you so” (Austen, 2004b, p. 82). This proposal refusal suggests that if wealth and houses were the main factors of Elizabeth’s interest for marriage, she would have accepted this proposal. This is further supported by Gao who states: “Her refusal of Collin’s pompous proposal is a mirror, which reflects, for the first time, her perception and character and her attitude towards love. Apparently, these external material conditions such as wealth and social status can’t win Elizabeth’s heart. Elizabeth, actually Austen, insists that love is the fundamental base of her ideal man” (Gao, 2013, p. 386).

Although a marriage to Mr Collins would keep Kellynch Hall in the family, this alone is not significant enough for Elizabeth to marry Mr Collins, love is more important than wealth to Elizabeth. This is a convincing point and can support the argument that a house embodies wealth and a way of life, as Elizabeth Bennet despises Mr Collins so much that regardless of the wealth and house ownership this marriage would provide Elizabeth, she does not want to lead a way of life with Mr Collins in a loveless marriage.

This being said, Elizabeth does show the importance of wealth and way of life embodied in a house through the proposals and eventual marriage with Darcy. When Elizabeth first becomes acquainted with Darcy at the Netherfield ball, the narrative, using focalisation to describe Elizabeth’s view of Darcy, states: “His character was decided. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come there again” (Austen, 2014b, p. 7). Elizabeth still believes this of Darcy when he proposes to her the first time and she doesn’t love him, hence she refuses his marriage proposal. It is argued that it is only when Elizabeth visits Darcy’s house of Pemberley that she sees Darcy in a different light: “They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt, that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!” (Austen, 2014b, p. 185). This argument is supported by Markley (2013, p. 79) who states: “While many critics have suggested that this transformation (from a seemingly arrogant prig to a romantic hero) occurs as much in Elizabeth’s mind as it does his manners, her view of Darcy changes only when she realises how being master of Pemberley, his large Derbyshire estate, shapes his character”. This is a believable argument as when asked when Elizabeth fell in love with Darcy, she tells her sister Jane Bennet “It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley” (Austen, 2014b, p. 286). In addition, Gao (2015, p. 387) who states: “Pemberley stands for wealth and family status. Even Elizabeth herself also admits that property and social status plays a significant role in their ideal marriage”. These arguments provided by various critics are strong evidence to argue that “the house embodies the wealth and the way of life the woman is marrying” (Watson, 2015d, p. 173) and further confirms that the importance of houses is significant to marriage plots in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ due to Pemberley’s influence on Elizabeth’s views of Darcy. It is only after the visit to Pemberley that Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s second marriage proposal. It is, however, important to note that at the time of Darcy’s second marriage proposal, Elizabeth does feel that she is in love with Darcy, as opposed to his first proposal (and the proposal of Mr Collins) when she was not in love, so she accepts.

There are contrasting approaches to marriage in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ which can be seen through the marriage plot of characters Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins. Charlotte’s requirement for love is very different to Elizabeth’s. Charlotte Lucas seems to marry for economic reasons and values wealth more than love in the way of life and house she enters into through marriage. This is demonstrated when Charlotte tells Elizabeth: “I am not romantic, you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connections, 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” (Austen, 2014b, p. 286).

Toner (2015) argues “This social comfort, this belonging to a community of affection and regard, is for Austen the very heart of a good home”. Although an absence of the importance for love, in contrast to Elizabeth Bennet, it is still evident that the house embodying wealth and a way of life are also significant to this marriage plot in ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

In contrast to ‘Pride and Prejudice’, the significance of houses embodying wealth and the way of life is not as evident in ‘Persuasion’ for Anne Elliott. As stated by Melissa Sodeman (2007) “Anne Elliot’s displacement from multiple homes and her frequent rambles render her domesticity both more mobile and more developed that the more stationary domesticity portrayed in Austen’s earlier novels” (Anderson and Vonderbecke, 2015). This argument is further believed by Julia Prewitt Brown (2015) cited in Toner (2015) who argues that due to the “focus on rented spaces and the itinerant nature of navy life, in ‘Persuasion’ Austen bids an unsentimental farewell to the ideal of bourgeois domestic stability and it appears Anne has no difficulty in imagining domestic happiness in temporary lodging’. Throughout the story, Anne’s journeys take her from the original family residence of Kellynch Hall, which her family were forced to leave due to her father’s financial problems, to stay with her sister at Uppercross in Bath, on a trip to Lyme, back to the Musgrove’s home in Uppercross and then back to various residences in Bath. Captain Wentworth leads a life of travelling too due to his career in the navy. As stated by Anderson and Vonderbecke (2007) ”Travel is inevitable in the life of a naval officer and, therefore, must be accepted by his spouse. Always on the move, Anne is already prepared for this reality’ and ‘Anne appreciates sailors’ sacrificial, physically demanding lives, and she indirectly identifies with that life through her habitual rambles’. Anne also defends the navy and this way of life to her father “The navy, I think, who have done so much for us, have at least an equal claim with any other set of men” (Austen, 2004a, p. 21). This is convincing evidence that the physical aspect of houses is not as important in the novel of ‘Persuasion’ as in ‘Pride and Prejudice’.

A way of life and a sense of belonging, which could be achieved through marriage, however, can be argued to be of importance to Anne in ‘Persuasion’. Toner (2015) argues: “Anne lives on the periphery, at the center of no circle; she is not loved by many, belongs to no community of affection and regard”. In the novel, Anne is described as being “nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way – she was only Anne” (2014a, 2004, p. 11). When travelling to Lyme, through the people that Anne spends time with, it seems she finally finds a place to belong. Toner (2015) also argues that “Anne Elliot finds affection and regard in the circle of friends she enters at Lyme. We can say that she feels “at home” with them; we cannot say has found her home with them, for she cannot remain among them with permanence”. This is also supported in the novel when Anne spends time with Wentworth’s friends again: “The others joined them, and it was a group in which Anne found herself also necessarily included” (Austen, 2004a, p. 149). It is argued that “Anne realises, for her any more complete and permanent entry into in (group of friends) would have to be through marriage” (Toner, 2015). When Anne thinks she may lose this circle of friends, the narrative states: “These would have been all my friends,’ was her thought; and she had to struggle against a great tendency to lowness” (Austen, 2004a, pp. 82-83). This is all strong evidence to suggest that marriage to Wentworth would provide Anne with a way of life she yearned for; a sense of belonging.

Jane Austen uses a third person, supposedly omniscient, narrator in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Persuasion’. Watson (2015c, p. 155) disputes the omniscience of the narrator and states that the narration is more focalisation rather than omniscient as ‘however ‘omniscient’ third person narration may be in theory, in practice the narration of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is largely asymmetric, promoting Elizabeth Bennet to heroine in large part by concerning itself with her state of mind rather than anyone else’s’. This approach is also used by Austen for the narration of ‘Persuasion’ and includes a shifting point of view, but again though focalisation. As stated by Wiltshire (2006) cited in Towheed (2015b, p. 206) “’Persuasion’ is a ‘novel about the inner and the outer life’ told through Austen’s careful and sophisticated use of voice, omniscient third person narration, and shifting points of view”. Austen also uses free indirect speech in both novels. Towheed (2015b, p. 207) claims that this is a “narrative device that Austen, more than any other novelist before her, made her own”. This device allows the reader to access the inner thoughts of the characters. Towheed (2015a, p. 243) also states that Austen’s use of both voice and narration is ‘brilliantly original and sophisticated.

In addition, Austen makes use of irony in both ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Persuasion’; a tone stated from the beginning of both novels. ‘Pride and Prejudice’ opens with the statement “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” (Austen, 2004b, p. 1). This opening statement sets the theme of the novel and as argued by A. Walton Litz (1965) cited in Watson (2015c, p. 138) “As the action develops the implications of the opening sentence are modified and extended, until by the end of the novel we are willing to acknowledge that both Bingley and Darcy were ‘in want of a wife”. Similarly, in ‘Persuasion’ there is a presence of irony. According to Gay (2010, p. 64) “Austen directs her irony at many targets in this novel’ and it has a ‘robust satire of the contemporary fad for health resorts and the capitalist speculation associated with them”. ‘Persuasion’ also opens with an ironical statement about Anne’s father, who is frequently satirised: “Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage” (Austen, 2004a, p. 9). Gay (2010, p.64) suggests that “the proper book for such activities is, of course, the Bible”. Gay (2010, p. 64) also states “Sir Walter lacks affection for anyone but himself – his rooms are full of mirrors, as Admiral Croft remarks with astonishment”. Gay (2010, p. 65) also suggests that “even Anne herself, however, is at times subject to the novelist’s ironical eye for self-indulgence”. Markley (2013, p. 95) argues “suitable marriages – financially, socially and romantically – are essential for them (the protagonists) to be heroines rather than becoming objects of our comic (Mary Bennet) or satiric (Caroline Bingley) laughter”.

In conclusion, the arguments and evidence provided are convincing that “the house embodies the wealth and way of life the woman is marrying” (Watson, Book 3, p. 173) in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. This is clear through the marriage plots of Elizabeth Bennet / Fitzwilliam Darcy and Charlotte Lucas / Mr. Collins. Although Elizabeth requires love in the way of life that she enters through marriage, but Charlotte does not, the house embodying the wealth and way of life is clear. Although the importance of houses is not as significant in marriage plots in ‘Persuasion’ through protagonist Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth, the way of life through marriage is clearly a draw for Anne. The concept of domesticity is different in ‘Persuasion’ to ‘Pride and Prejudice’, due to Captain Wentworth’s association with the navy, as residences are more temporary, but a sense of belonging through marriage is very important for Anne. Austen uses a third person narrator in both novels with narrative techniques such as focalisation and free indirect speech to elevate the heroines of her novel whilst allowing readers to see the inner consciousness of her characters, although the truth of the narrator being omniscient is unclear. The houses, wealth, way of life and social status through marriage are certainly relevant issues in Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Persuasion’.

The aftermath of a traumatic brain injury thrusts family and friends into a whirlwind of different emotions and decisions regarding their loved one’s future. Experiencing an overwhelming sense of grief or loss, these family members may find it difficult to remain hopeful when viewing the immediate, drastic changes in the individual. The ambiguity surrounding brain trauma is directly portrayed through Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’, where Louisa falls down a flight of stairs and suffers from a head injury. Displayed through the extreme change in Austen’s writing style and the variation in reaction amongst the bystanders, Louisa’s accident sheds light on the ability of brain trauma to cause immense chaos directly within the individual as well as within the accompanying family setting.

While set in Lyme and leading up to Louisa’s fall, Austen provides extensive detail regarding the conversations amongst characters and the surrounding environment. Stating specifics about Anne and Captain Benwick’s conversation, Austen notes: “Anne found Captain Benwick getting near her, as soon as they were all fairly in the street” (66). She further relates timing to meals, stating, “Breakfast had not been long over…” (66). Austen noting details such as these is not unordinary for the progression of the plot according to her writing style thus far. The continuation of her harmonious diction is what allows for the intense juxtaposition between normal, everyday encounters and the “out of the blue” chaos experienced as a result of brain trauma. Austen’s writing style drastically changes once Louisa jumps down the steep flight of steps, utilizing cold, extreme words such as “lifeless,” “death,” and “horror” (67). This radical change in Austen’s tone symbolizes the radical change experienced by the injured individual as well as those at aid.

The nervous system is home to an essential organ that stimulates thoughts, feelings, memory, and personality: the brain. Louisa, experiencing “no injury but to the head”, is understood by the reader and her surrounding friends to be of utmost severity as a result of Austen’s switch in tone. Austen emphasizes the translation of the individual’s trauma to the outbreak of chaos within the family setting through the reaction of Henrietta, Louisa’s sister. After Louisa falls and is then carried to the Harvilles’ home, she appears “lifeless” (69) to all of the bystanders. Finally giving a sign of life, Louisa opened her eyes for a short period of time, lacking any sign of consciousness. Ironically, Louisa’s flicker of life heavily impacts Henrietta, who “perfectly incapable of being in the same room with Louisa, was kept by the agitation of hope and fear, from a return of her own insensibility” (69). Trauma is scary, regardless of what portion of the body experiences it. The specification of a brain injury causes thoughts to race through family members’ minds, asking questions like “Will he or she wake up?” or “If they wake up, will he or she know who I am?”. Brain injury causes individuals to view a stark difference between what used to be and the imagination of what will likely be in the future.

I have personally experienced the effects of brain trauma on a family dynamic. My grandmother suffered from a stroke at the 50th wedding anniversary celebration for her and my grandfather, where she lost consciousness and fell directly on her head. The proceeding hours, minutes, and even seconds before the accident were as normal as could be, just as portrayed in ‘Persuasion’. Known for shuffling her feet and not taking full strides, my grandmother began to fall out of the corner of my eye, and I was unable to catch her regardless of my close proximity. The following chaos was nothing short of overwhelming, with everyone concerned with my grandma’s immediate medical attention. A hospital visit turned into a hospital stay, and worry consumed me just as did Henrietta. Questions transitioned from asking ‘when” a milestone of regaining speech would occur to asking “if” the milestone would be reached at all. The drastic change in my grandmother’s independence took a toll on my grandfather, my mother, and me. Attempting to console others in their worries about the management of their new responsibilities proved to be immensely difficult while balancing personal, emotional struggles. Thanksgiving was always at my grandparents’ house, with no questions being asked about it. Diving into the holiday season caused the discussion and questioning of so many topics that had always been concrete for the family. This is the result of brain trauma: what once was known must be questioned. Austen uses the accidents of life, such as Louisa’s fall, to highlight how fate shatters carefully premeditated plans. In ‘Persuasion’, brain injury challenges the characters to cope just as people have to in real life.

A common theme in ‘Persuasion’ is the lack of certainty in the events that follow. Being the first sentence in the concluding Chapter 24, Austen questions, “Who can be in doubt of what followed?” (146). The answer is everyone; everyone should be in doubt of what followed. Brain trauma injuries serve as a reminder for how little control individuals really have over unexpected, unpreventable, life-altering accidents.

According to the Young Readers Foundation, reading nurtures the mind. It opens doors to knowledge, helps develop critical thinking and writing skills, improves memory, increases empathy, and much more. Many of the characters in Jane Austen’s ‘Persuasion’ read, whether it is the characters reading about themselves, poetry, or prose.

For some characters, what they read is not only a reflection of their personalities, but also their beliefs, pride and shame. When readers are first introduced to Sir Walter Elliot, he is reading the Baronetage (a book that lists the baronets of England and their lineage). More specifically, Sir Walter is reading the page about him and his family. From this action alone, one can deduce that Sir Walter is very vain. In addition, Austen mentions that “vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot’s character” (10). This further affirms that Sir Walter reads the Baronetage to feed his ego and indulge in his status as part of the upper class. While him being a baronet is not the highest rank in the upper class and not part of the aristocracy, he believes that “the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy” (10). However, while the Baronetage brings Sir Walter pride, it evokes feelings of shame from Elizabeth.

For Elizabeth, “to be presented with the date of her own birth, and see no marriage follow but that of a youngest sister, made the book an evil’ (12). The book reminds Elizabeth that she is unmarried and to have her youngest sister married before her makes her unable to read it. In addition, it is a reminder that “the heir presumptive, the very William Walter Elliot, Esq. whose rights had been so generously supported by her father, had disappointed her’ (12). Prior to the events of the novel, it was expected that Mr. Elliot and Elizabeth would be engaged, but him marrying another woman still disappoints her after many years.

Another example of a character reading a book to indulge in their status is Captain Wentworth. In Volume I Chapter VIII, Mrs. Musgrove, Louisa, Henrietta and Captain Wentworth are looking over the navy list, and the topic of the ships Captain Wentworth has commanded comes up. Louisa and Henrietta begin looking through the navy list for the Laconia and “Captain Wentworth could not deny himself the pleasure of taking the precious volume into his hands to save them the trouble, and once more read aloud the little statement of her name and rate” (58). Like Sir Walter, seeing his own name in gives Captain Wenthworth pride.

Poetry is a form of distraction for the mind because it lets one wallow and linger in their feelings. Captain Benwick is one of the avid readers in ‘Persuasion’, and is able to recite lines from romantic poetry. However, he only reads poetry. “He repeated, with such tremulous feeling, the various lines which imaged a broken heart, or a mind destroyed by wretchedness, and looked so entirely as if he meant to be understood” (85). Recognizing this, Anne “feeling in herself the right of superiority of mind, she ventured to recommend a larger allowance of prose in his daily study…to rouse and fortify the mind by the highest precepts, and the strongest examples of moral and religious endurance” (31). However, while poetry causes one to stay in their thoughts, reading prose helps one stay tied to reality. While Captain Benwick gets carried away because of poetry, which Anne does too. “Her pleasure in the walk must arise from the exercise and the day, from the view of the last smiles of the year upon the tawny leaves and withered hedges, and from repeating to herself some few of the thousand poetical descriptions extant of autumn, that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness, that season which has drawn from every poet, worthy of being read, some attempt at description, or some lines of feeling” (71). However, because Anne reads prose in addition to poetry, Anne doesn’t get carried away as easily is able to stay grounded.

In conclusion, in this novel, the kinds of literature the characters read reflect their personalities and through their choice of literature, readers are able to deduce that reading is not all beneficial to character development.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel on manners, social customs, and etiquette based in early 19th century England. One of the most notable themes in this novel is, of course, reputation and impressions. Austen originally titled this novel as First Impressions. While Austen does make numerous references to the importance of first impressions, this essay will primarily focus on the impression of Elizabeth on Mr. Darcy. This passage and instance are interesting to analyze due to their significance in the later progression of the novel’s plot, as well as its ties to Austen’s original title of the novel, and finally the theme of prejudice on the character of Elizabeth.

Contextually, Austen’s society was very different from the modern times that we live in, especially emphasizing the importance of marriage. In Austen’s time, if a woman was unable to marry a man who was able to provide for her needs, her alternatives were to ‘become a governess or a teacher in a school’.[footnoteRef:0] Such jobs provided an income that was in no way able to fulfill a woman’s basic needs of living, rendering her on the borderlines of a financial situation ‘barely enough for survival’.[footnoteRef:1] Thus the importance of marriage to a man who has a large amount of wealth and influence is strongly highlighted within the novel. [0: ] [1: ]

The passage details Elizabeth’s fierce argument with Mr. Darcy following Darcy’s proposal of marriage to her. Before this passage, Elizabeth knows through Colonel Fitzwilliam that Mr. Darcy is the sole person responsible for separating Mr. Bingley and Jane on the reason of the Bennet family’s social status. The same night Mr. Darcy nervously declares his love for Elizabeth, and they end up arguing over the issue of Darcy’s involvement in Mr. Bingley and Jane’s separation. The chosen passage details Elizabeth’s angry reply to Darcy following his explanation for his declaration of love, stating his ungentlemanly manner of handling the situation, as well as his arrogant and selfish personality. The last sentence ends with “you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”, emphasizing that Mr. Darcy has made such a horrid impression on Elizabeth that she would in no way ever marry him.

Elizabeth’s refusal of Mr. Darcy’s proposal of marriage places a significant change in the progression of the plot. Through Elizabeth’s declination of marriage, Mr. Darcy has to justify and later vindicate himself in the later parts of the novel to Chapter 16 of Volume 3, where Darcy’s second proposal to Elizabeth is accepted. Mr. Darcy explains that the first rejection of his proposal caused him to reflect, in which “my conduct, my manners, my expressions … has been many months, inexpressibly painful to me.”.[footnoteRef:2] Mr. Darcy realizes that his actions and behavior were wrong, and his actions in later parts of the novel highlight his passion and ardor to correct both himself and Elizabeth’s original impression of him. [2: ]

This passage not only contributes to the progression of the plot but also arguably to the progression of the characterization of Elizabeth. Her perspectives on the themes of marriage ultimately change throughout the novel. In the beginning, Elizabeth is shown to be extremely clear about how she views the ideal relationship between a man and a woman. She tells Charlotte in Chapter 6 that she is not actively seeking a rich husband. However, from her visit to Hunsford in Chapter 27, she is aware that the issue of financial and social status in a marriage is really important. Here we can see that Austen could’ve placed Elizabeth as a woman ahead of her time. Elizabeth aims for a marriage to be an equal one, like the marriage of Mr. Collins and Charlotte, where both parties are on the same stance, amid the usual patriarchal etiquette in her times.

Additionally, the passage characterizes Elizabeth’s statement towards Mr. Darcy as a firm, unalterable attitude. Austen deepens Elizabeth’s understanding of Mr. Darcy’s personality by using imagery akin to solid and hard forces, like “form that ground-work of disapprobation” and “built so immovable a dislike”. However, Elizabeth’s last line of dialogue raises her personality of jumping quickly to conclusions. “I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.” The hyperbolic style of the dialogue above lets the reader doubt the integrity and accuracy of everything she has stated above, as the unreasonably short time frame of her judgment could undermine the intensity of her prejudice towards Mr. Darcy.

Austen originally titled this novel as First Impressions. Elizabeth originally finds Mr. Darcy’s behavior and personality to be “arrogance”, “conceit”, and “selfish”. This is seen through Elizabeth’s first time meeting Mr. Darcy in Chapter 3 of Volume 1, where Mr. Darcy makes harmful insults towards Elizabeth within her earshot, coldly stating: “She is… not handsome enough to tempt me;”. Elizabeth’s negative impression of Mr. Darcy can be perfectly described by Mrs. Bennet. She finds Mr. Darcy to be the “most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing.”. Persuaded by her mother’s opinions on Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth promises to not flirt or impress Mr. Darcy in any way possible. However, Elizabeth’s view of Mr. Darcy changes when he later explains his reason for separating Mr. Bingley and Jane in Chapter 16 of Volume 3, where he tells Elizabeth that he feels as if Jane does not care much for Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth’s perspective on Mr. Darcy further changes into a more positive impression when she finds out that he has decided to pressure Mr. Wickham into marrying Lydia in a bid to save the both of them from a social disaster. The importance of this event is that Mr. Darcy does this not in a bid to win over Elizabeth but for the good of his own heart. Here Elizabeth’s original impression of Mr. Darcy has been completely torn down and replaced with an extremely positive kind.

Austen also takes the chance to highlight Elizabeth’s character as a strong-minded and, in a way, emotionally independent woman, which can be regarded as a strong outlier in a society where women are expected to risk everything in return for a climb of the social ladder. Elizabeth is shown here as a woman unaffected by Mr. Darcy’s marriage proposal, even though she knows that Mr. Darcy is a man of significant wealth and power. While other women might’ve immediately accepted Mr. Darcy’s request while disregarding her family’s issues, Elizabeth decides to place her family and other personal relationships first before her hand in marriage, signifying not only Elizabeth’s capability of judging things for herself, as well as the ability to decide on her own, without the influence of others but also Elizabeth’s strong emotional ties to Jane and her family. While Elizabeth might be characterized mostly as a strong, hot-headed woman we can see a more softer, affectionate side of her when she converses with her family.

Finally, the passage heavily signifies the theme of Prejudice in Elizabeth’s character. Prejudice, as defined by Robert C. Fox, is “a prejudgement, the persistence in an opinion about a person … before sufficient evidence has been considered.”.[footnoteRef:3] It can be agreed that Elizabeth’s original prejudice towards Mr. Darcy can be justified as his insulting comments to her at the ball, coupled with his attempt at separating Mr. Bingley and Jane’s relationship placed a significant degree of personal harm to Elizabeth’s family and personal life. Her displeasure towards Mr. Darcy can be justified further by his arrogant and selfish personality. Elizabeth’s characterization as a strong-willed, self-sufficient woman can be seen through most of the novel’s beginnings. However, as the novel progresses we can see how Elizabeth slowly changes her perspective for Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy can be seen transforming from a sense of pride and arrogance, and more into an attitude of selflessness and generosity, while Elizabeth slowly becomes less self-conscious of her unnatural family. Elizabeth’s character is slowly absorbing the qualities of Mr. Darcy later on, transforming her into a woman who is still very much self-sufficient, but more appreciative and aware of her prejudice towards others. [3: ]

To conclude, Elizabeth’s strong remark towards Mr. Darcy’s first declaration of love has shown high importance in the contribution to the progression of the novel, followed by a transition and symbiosis of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s changing characterizations, ultimately changing both parties’ ‘First Impressions’ on each other.

Bibliography

1. Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, ed. by James Kinsley, 2 edn (United States: Oxford University Press Inc., 2004), p. 148-149. (Core Text)
2. Robert C. Fox, ‘Elizabeth Bennet: Prejudice or Vanity?’, Nineteenth-Century Fiction, 17.2, (1962), (p. 185-187). (Secondary Readings)
3. Gao Haiyan, ‘Jane Austen’s Ideal Man in Pride and Prejudice’, Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3.2, (2013), 384-388 (p. 385). (Secondary Readings)

Many of the characters in Pride and Prejudice feel that you must marry into wealth in order to be happy. Readers of this novel often look at the book as a romance, but do the characters actually marry for true love? The novel centers on the diverse ways adore may develop or vanish, and whether or not society has room for sentimental adore and marriage to go together. The author, Jane Austen, targets marriage by making individual characters fit for each other, however, the girls deal with their own feelings and the status of their families. In the novel, Jane Austen targets marriage for social status but also demonstrates that love breaks through both social and financial differences.

During this time it was expected of a woman to marry a man of wealth and good looks. Rebekah Hall, a Professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, who wrote about the purpose of marriage in Pride and Prejudice said“The monetary and social stability that the marriage offers women is more important than the compatibility of the spouses.”(Hall). This quote shows Austen’s viewpoint of marriage used in her novel. Overall, this quote shows the vocational nature of marriage and social stability. Mrs. Bennet expects her girls to marry the finest and wealthiest guys, as she looks at relationships based on society. Towards the beginning of the book, she proves this by saying, “A single man of large fortune”(Austen 1). This goes to show that Austen has her characters look not at the personalities, but at the wealth they have. As well as that, it shows how she targets society’s view on marriage. Pride and Prejudice will help people see the women’s viewpoints on marriage and the reason for relationships during this time period. Jane Austen targets society by showing the expectation of women during this time.

Although the Bennet sisters were expected to marry men of wealth, some of them overlooked what society was expecting and married for love. “A woman’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment” (Austen 18). In the beginning, Elizabeth knew Darcy was wealthy but overlooked what society was expecting of her. It was later on when she realized she fell in love. Furthermore, Elizabeth denied dancing with Mr. Darcy at first but then eventually accepted, “I was very much flattered by his asking me to dance a second time. I did not expect such a compliment” (Austen 9). During the dancing, it shows what was expected by society and who should dance with who, however, Elizabeth ignored what was expected of her and did what she thought was best. This quote shows that although society was expecting Elizabeth to dance with Darcy because of his income she turned him down and eventually noticed his personality. According to Jane Austen, society expected women to marry for more than love, however Elizabeth and Jane prove the society wrong and marry for true happiness.

The social position of the characters in Pride and Prejudice is different, however, some believe that it doesn’t matter. Elizabeth and Darcy put the differences of the families to the side and focus on true love, including Jane and Bingley. In an article by Christopher Gille, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License, Gillie says “In Jane Austen’s mind, mutual attraction is the most important concept in a marriage. One who betrays his or her heart will never own true love. True love is much more cherished than money and social position”(Gillie). This quote helps people understand that Austen views love and marriage as happiness more than just money. To show this, she has Elizabeth’s view on marriage be the same perspective as hers. The relationships that developed throughout the novel proves that social status doesn’t matter. In the book when Darcy says, “I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty women bestow” (Austen 17). Mr. Darcy is focusing on her features rather than her social status, which shows that he overlooked the social position of her family. Overall, love broke through and shows that the social status doesn’t matter in a relationship if it’s true love.

Despite that Elizabeth and Jane looks for happiness, there were still many characters who looked at the social status and base that on their relationships. One of those characters being Lydia Bennet, a fearless young teenager who runs off with Mr. Wicham. Her reason for running off was his money, “all astonishment that Wickham should marry a girl whom it was impossible he could marry for money; and how Lydia could ever have attached him, had appeared incomprehensible. But now it was all too natural. For such an attachment as this she might have sufficient charms; and though she did not suppose Lydia to be deliberately engaging in an elopement, without the intention of marriage, she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling an easy prey”(Austen 187). This quote shows that in this time, social status plays a major role in affecting relationships and interactions with other members of society. Another example showing that social status matter is Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine, they both believe that they are superior because of their money and social privilege and they are also vain because they are obsessed with maintaining this image. Wickham described Lady Catherine and said, “She has the reputation of being remarkably sensible and clever; but I rather believe she derives part of her abilities from her rank and fortune, part from her authoritative manner, and the rest from the pride of her nephew, who chooses that everyone connected with him should have an understanding of the first class” (Austen 57). He was pretty much saying a person’s value depended on their possession of a fortune. This affects how characters in the novel socialized with one another, and how the social statuses of these characters affects their relationships with those of the lower class, even with love involved. In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the significance of social status is appeared through the lives of Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, Lady Catherine, and Lydia Bennet.

True love was able to break through how society looks at what was expected in a relationship. Karen Prior, a professor of English at Liberty University who teaches Pride and Prejudice as a romance said, “The ideal for her is represented by Elizabeth, who refuses to trade her independence for financial comfort and in the end marries for love”(Prior). This shows that Austen has Elizabeth’s character believe you must have true happiness in order to marry. She ignored the fact that Mr. Darcy was wealthy and looked at the love she was developing. In Pride and Prejudice, it shows that Elizabeth married for love and disregarded social status. In a biography by Renee Warren, she believed Austen focused on the true love between the characters. Warren said, “This revelation is a shining insight into the mind of Ms. Austen, seemingly taken out of the very pages of one of her novels, where her heroines did not marry for money or power, but for love”(Warren). This quote helps people with understanding how Pride and Prejudice is looked at as a romance from Jane Austen’s personal life and shows that love plays a huge role between the characters. Austen portrayed her idea of a romance with characters falling for wealthy men, but looks at the personalities more than the money. The love that developed between Elizabeth and Darcy was able to break through society and social differences.

Jane Austen portrays Jane and Elizabeth Bennet as strong-headed independent characters, however other roles look at marriage as more than love. One character who stood out was Charlotte, she married for more than love. She said, “I am not romantic you know? I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins character, connections, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is fair”(Austen 87). Additionally, it shows that Charlotte felt forced to marry Collins because she wanted to be in a comfortable relationship. She believed she was never going to have a better option and another proposal. Another character who stood out as marrying for more than love was Mr. Collins, ‘My reasons for marrying are, first, that I think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances like myself to set the example of matrimony in his parish; secondly, that I am convinced that it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly—which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier, that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honour of calling patroness”(Austen 73). His reasons for marrying say nothing about having happiness in true love. He ignored the fact about marrying for love and went to multiple girls asking to marry them. This shows that he wasn’t looking for love, he was looking for any woman willing to marry him.

Although Elizabeth and Jane married for love, Jane Austen also targets marriage by social class and what was expected by society. Pride and Prejudice centers on the distinctive ways love may develop or vanish, and whether or not society has room for sentimental adore and marriage to go together. However, true love found a way to break through social and financial differences. In the novel, Elizabeth and Jane go against the way society looks at women and marry for true happiness. Ultimately, the novel may be a solid suggestion of cherish as a premise for marriage.