Essay Class Consciousness in Jane Austen’s Pride and...

Class Consciousness in Pride and Prejudice Originally written in the late 1700s, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice satirically depicts the universal ideals in Regency England, primarily regarding social class. Austen follows the development of an outspoken, middle-class British woman, Elizabeth Bennet, as she encounters and overcomes the many social barriers that separate her from her aristocratic neighbors. Throughout the novel, Lizzie must confront society’s class-consciousness, particularly with her family’s growing relationship with the wellborn Bingleys and their friend, Mr. Darcy. It is clear that author, Jane Austen, intended Pride and Prejudice to be a parody of English society’s emphasis on the social class structure, which†¦show more content†¦Indirect connections with distinction are just as praiseworthy as direct ties, at least in the mind of the nonsensical Mr. Collins, who works for the esteemed Lady Catherine de Bourgh. It is evident throughout Pride and Prejudice that Mr. Collins deems himself imperial compared to the rest of Derbyshire. The author characterizes him as being a â€Å"mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self-importance and humi lity† (Chapter 15). He believes that his connection to Lady Catherine places him in the upper crust of society; however, this speculation is humorous, as Mr. Collins is simply an ostentatious churchman who will inherit the estate of a middle class family. He is convinced that he is doing Elizabeth a favor by proposing to her. Mr. Collins cites three specific reasons for his proposal, one reason being â€Å" ‘that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom [he has] the honour of calling patroness’ † (Chapter 19). Because of this connection to Lady Catherine, he expects Lizzie’s acceptance of his proposal and therefore, is dumbfounded when she refuses him; he insists that she is playing with his mind, as most women do with men. He emphasizes that his â€Å" ‘situation in life, [his] connections with the family of de Bourgh, and [his] relationship to [the Bennets] are circumstances highly in its favor; and [that Li zzie] should take it into farther consideration that in spite of [her] manifold attractions, it is by no means certain thatShow MoreRelatedJane Austen and Her Feminism1158 Words   |  5 PagesJane Austen and Her Feminism ---analyzing of feminism revealed in Pride and Prejudice Introduction It is universally acknowledged that Jane Austen was a major woman novelist in English; but it is also a truth that almost as universally ignored that Jane Austen was a feminist. By intensively reading her six novels (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion) and studying feminism, I have found some significant and fresh thingsRead MorePride And Prejudice Love Essay1238 Words   |  5 Pagesand logic. The literary work of Regency era author, Jane Austen, details such a balance, as it endeavors to convey Austen’s interpretation of true affection between couples of well-examined intrinsic morality. The characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice contend with the moral vices of pride and prejudice as they overcome judgements about one another and ultimately experience love. To begin, Pride and Prejudice’s Fitzwilliam Darcy is a wealthy, intelligentRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1697 Words   |  7 PagesElizabeth Bennett: Outspoken in an Oppressive Society Jane Austen once said, â€Å"it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife† (Austen 1). In other words, women of the nineteenth century were deemed dependent on men. They were to join an advantageous marriage to remain respectable and achieve a higher social class. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice concerns the social norms of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries—a patriarchalRead More Essay on Pride and Prejudice as Romantic Novel and Romantic Criticism1398 Words   |  6 PagesPride and Prejudice as Romantic Novel and Romantic Criticism       To a great extent, Jane Austen satirizes conventional romantic novels by inverting the expectations of love at first sight and the celebration of passion and physical attractiveness, and criticizing their want of sense. However, there are also elements of conventional romance in the novel, notably, in the success of Jane and Bingleys love.    The first indication of Austens inversion of accepted romantic conventionsRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice Essay1756 Words   |  8 Pages Jane Austen’s novels have inspired many into creating sequels, prequels, retellings, and spin-offs, and then in turn producing TV shows, films, etc. She is an â€Å"innovator who has trimmed away the flab of form†¦ to cause verbiage in others† (Lynch, â€Å"Sequels† 160). Austen is best known for her merit in writing social commentary to bridge the gap between romance and realism. This essay will use Lost in Austen, an adaptation of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in order to address both radical and conservativeRead MoreThe Theme of Society in Pride and Prejudice Essay976 Words   |  4 PagesOriginally written in the late 1700s, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice satirically depicts the universal ideals in Old Regency England, primarily regarding social class. Austen follows the development of an outspoken middle-class British woman, Elizabeth Bennet, as she encounters and overcomes the many social barriers that separate her from her wealthy upper-class neighbors. Throughout the novel, Lizzie must confront society’s class-consciousness, particularly with her family’s growing relationshipRead MoreManners in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen3437 Words   |  14 Pages Pride and Prejudice Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice not only established her historical importance among scholars and critics, but continues to remain popular. Pride and Prejudice, a comedy of manners, was published in 1813, and is a staple of the English literature. It recreates the social world of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England and embodies the theme that preconceptions and egotism can overcome true love. Pride and Prejudice is somewhat autobiographical; emphasizes the key elementsRead MoreEssay on Jane Austens Middle-class Female987 Words   |  4 PagesJane Austens Middle-Class Female Jane Austin insightfully portrays the class mentalities of the middle and upper classes during the early nineteenth century in her novel Pride and Prejudice. Society then was overly preoccupied with the distinction of classes, and with these shameless distinctions there existed an obvious hierarchy that governed peoples behavior and obligations to their respective societies. Austens story focuses on Elizabeth Bennet and her family, who are well-to-do membersRead MoreComparing The Representation Of Women s The Yellow Wallpaper And Pride And Prejudice 1662 Words   |  7 PagesCompare the representation of women in Gilman’s ‘The yellow wallpaper’ and Austen’s ‘pride and prejudice’. To what extent do you agree with the view that Gilman presents conventional patriarchal expectations of women, more critically than Austen. Both Austen and Gilman breakthrough the conformity of femininity at a time of rising feminism in a bid to encourage the female viewpoint which was put down or rather shunned to be less valuable by the society they lived in. Gilman however presents it inRead MoreRobinson Crusoe vs Pride and Prejudice2573 Words   |  11 Pagesnovel genre leading to Victorian novels, like Pride and Prejudice published almost one hundred years later (1813) in terms of style, themes and concerns? Augustan writers, before Daniel Defoe, were very protective of the status quo and their novels were philosophical and religious, based on a myth of the eternal fitness of things. By contrast, Defoe stood for revolutionary change, economic individualism, social mobility, trade, and freedom of consciousness. For Swift, Defoe was â€Å"the fellow that was