Pride and Prejudice: an essay [spoilers]
Examine how the novel reflects a social or philosophical issue of the time period.
Title: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Pages: 443
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Who will like it? I watched the 2005 film with Keira Knightley and alas, it fell short. If you are too lazy to witness the vivacious dialogue and wordplay through Austen’s prose but still want to view the most epic romance in English literature, you’d be wiser to watch the 1995 movie starring Colin Firth. (personal source: Lili Munn)
You can read here my review of The Handmaid’s Tale, another novel achieving ends of feminist thought, although through very different means, as different as chalk and cheese (…which one’s which?)
Spoilers ahead! If you are not familiar with the novel and wouldn’t like to be surprised, stop. You can always come here again after you read it.
This essay was written long, long ago. But wine ages and so does cheese, and so does the notion of soul mates and true love. I present to you my initial thoughts on Pride and Prejudice.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen pioneers feminism in a conservative time period. Understandably, feminism is not reverse sexism. It is striving for equality between the sexes. However, society at the time leaned patriarchal. Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, shortly before Austen wrote her brilliant novel. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen indirectly illustrates gender disparity at play in everyday life. Austen accentuates this disparity, with underlying feminism, through describing the economic outcomes of the setting, the traits of the main characters, and finally, the theme of romantic love.
In Regency England, men and women clearly didn’t have equal opportunities to acquire wealth. For instance, the Bennet daughters can only inherit a meagre portion of their father’s estate. Mr. Collins, who Mr. Bennet and the girls only met through a stately and stiff letter, is to receive Longbourn. Even the silly Mrs. Bennet calls it “a most iniquitous affair” (Austen, 73). Mrs. Bennet is only superficial because she cares about her girls’ materialistic quality of life. That is, she is hasty to marry them off to any man who possesses a satisfactory fortune. This unfair inheritance of property happens in the Bennet family, only because men’s ownership was the societal norm. When a young man with a large fortune like Mr. Bingley arrives in Netherfield, trailed by his sisters, it’s not surprising for gossip and calculations to ensue. In fact, he is the opportunity for a woman to seek a predictable and luxurious life. The expectation for women is simply marriage, and that’s the only path in life. When Mr. Collins proposes to Elizabeth, all his three reasons are coldly logical. He adds a touch of artificial kindness, saying it is to prevent the loss of the entire estate from the Bennet family. His offer is like a contract, providing his wife financial stability, and in turn receiving his own happiness. This offer is benevolent sexism. It is crucial to point out that Austen doesn’t object to class structure itself as fiercely. Pemberley, the estate owned by Darcy, is painted through a rosy lens of praise. Austen describes it as “lofty and handsome, … neither guady nor uselessly fine; with less of splendor, and more real elegance” (280). Furthermore, Elizabeth, the amiable protagonist, marries Darcy, the wealthiest character in the book. Likewise, after Lydia runs off with Wickham, Darcy purchases tranquility for the Bennets, and restores their reputation. Clearly, money has its powerful purposes. When well-educated girls like Charlotte to take pride in suitors like the passionless Mr. Collins, Austen is sharply criticizing the ridiculous disparity of the entitlement to wealth, between the sexes.
The novel portrays the two central characters, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, in an arguably feminist light. Compared to her fellow women, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a radical feminist herself. She’s witty and spirited, and is quick to speak her mind. Simultaneously, she can be lighthearted, even in response to the passive-aggressive Miss Bingley. She says, “Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.” (67) Everything she speaks tastefully provokes thought, because her opinions are so contrary to others in her time. Clearly, she educates herself through reading. She can conjure up pointed remarks, with bold honesty facing Mr. Darcy, walking a fine line between artful teasing and outright mocking. When she dances with Darcy for the first time, she doesn’t hesitate to point out the uncomfortable silence, and expects him to balance the conversation. Yet this is exactly why Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth. It is her “[fine eyes] brightened by the exercise” (42) that Darcy falls for, when all others see is her muddy petticoat for trekking miles. Without a doubt, he loves her for her vivacity, her frankness, and her untamed courage to humble him. She doesn’t bow to social norms. Illustrating this, she challenges men holding higher social status than her. As a woman with principles and standards, and she decided from the start that Darcy is not worth her respect regardless of how she’s supposed to behave. Only later she realizes the clouding of her judgement. Indeed, she downright rejects both Mr. Collins’ marriage proposal and Mr. Darcy’s former proposal. On the other hand, Darcy can also be characterized as a feminist. Although he fits the expectations of a man at the time as a “fine, tall person [with] handsome features” (10), he is actually the “sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted, boy in the world” (283) on the inside. In crafting the characters and plot, Austen demonstrates Mr. Darcy suffers from toxic masculinity, when Elizabeth’s words caused him inexpressible pain. Speaking to Elizabeth, he explicitly quotes her, “‘had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner.’ Those were your words. You know not, you can scarcely conceive, how they have tortured me” (418). Thus, Darcy is an inadvertant feminist because he learns to respect the strength and power in Elizabeth as a woman, and he sees her true worth. When Darcy falls in love with a feminist most ardently, and supports her unconditionally, he also becomes a feminist. Therefore, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy both resemble feminist ideals.
Finally, Pride and Prejudice illustrates the prospect of romantic love. Feminism is all about the equality of men and women. So marriage, the societal recognition of love, should not only gratify the happiness of men. Elizabeth is stubborn to chase her own happiness. Towards the end of the novel, Lady Catherine erupts into Elizabeth’s house, interrogating Elizabeth about rumours. Obviously, her ladyship wishes her own daughter and nephew to be married. In response to Lady Catherine’s conceited and feisty remarks, Elizabeth says, “I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness.” (407) Ultimately, she settles for marriage after stumbling upon the man she sincerely loves, right in front of her. Elizabeth receives such “gratitude and pleasure”(417), and Darcy finds “heart-felt delight” (417). Pride and Prejudice refuses to objectify Elizabeth as a prize to be won, simply through the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, and the ultimate true love she discovers. Romantic love retains layers of complexity, and Austen’s writing deems it justice. Love is not a naive ideation, a lusty, fleeting infatuation or love at first sight. On the contrary, Elizabeth and Darcy despise each other at first sight. Darcy appears too pompous; Elizabeth smiles too wide, “not handsome enough to tempt [Darcy]” (12). Their relationship fluctuates and develops. Additionally, they learn from each other and grow from each other. They complement each other, and ground each other. Elizabeth learns to be less spontaneous and prejudiced, grounded by Darcy’s steadiness. Darcy learns to be less proud, with Elizabeth correcting his temper and outlook on the world. Their love proves the bilaterality of marriage, and however rare, partners can love another wholeheartedly and help each other grow.
Darcy had pride. Elizabeth had prejudice. They refined each other, shaped each other, and grew from each other. In a humorous tone, the novel describes the ludicrous male inheritance of property, and bland expectations of females to marry those males. In a curious manner, the novel thoroughly develops the two central characters, overtly and subtly displaying feminist attributes. In a thought-provoking way, the novel redefines love in an era when it was meaningless. Pride and Prejudice, at its heart, is feminist. Austen motivates people in the 19th century to cultivate faith in women, and her novel embodies the values many girls and women, and men alike, share even today.
Written in the fall of 2019.
