Eva Noemi May

Mr. Keith S.
English 12
April 2014
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel about customs related to marriages, possessions, money
and social models in rural England at the end of the 18
th
and beginning of the 19
th
century. It was
written by Jane Austen who was born in a rural gentrys family who posses land but with limited
monetary resources. This novel was inspired by the experiences of the own life of the author,
who never got married. When Jane Austen was 20 years old, the young woman was falling in
love with a man who had come to her neighborhood. However, the family of both was in
opposition to that marriage because of economical reasons. Consequently, the young man left
and Jane Austen never saw the gentleman again. These events in her life and her surroundings
inspired her in writing this and other novels. Pride and Prejudice illustrates the characteristics of
the early 19
th
century in Britain by offering a picture of the differences between the social classes
and of the social norms for people in society.
In the early 19
th
century the social classes were classified in three different groups:
Aristocrats, middle class, and lower class. The aristocrats better known as Higher Class were the
richest people with the maximum authority and social status in Englands social hierarchy. These
people usually were not involved in any manual work since they thought that it could be done by
the others. The aristocrats were the Royal Family, Spiritual Lords and Great Officers of the State
such as Baronets, Knights and Country Gentlemen. The middle class included people who were
quite wealthier than the lower class. This class was divided into two parts depending on the
social status and economic power: Upper Middle Class such as doctors, clergy, merchants and
bankers, and Lower Middle Class as the Civil Servants and smaller merchants. The lower class
was the inferior class in the 19
th
century England social hierarchy. This class was also
categorized in two parts: The working class and the poor. The working class was composed by
men who used to do the lowest level work for the country such as miners and factory workers.
And the poor where people living on the charity and were not involved in any work. The
scenario of Pride and Prejudice is based on the contacts among upper class and middle class,
whereas the differences between middle class and lower class are not mentioned in this novel.
According to this social situation, the novel Pride and Prejudice relates to the differences
between the social classes at the beginning of the 19
th
century. Elizabeth Bennet, the novels
protagonist, belongs to the Upper Middle Class. Elizabeths father was an owner of some land
and sheep; also they had a maid to do the household work. However, the place in which they
lived really was not property of the father. If Mr. Bennet would die, the house would be property
of Mr. Collis, who was a cousin of Mr. Bennet. According to the laws of that time only men
could inherit properties and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet only had five daughters. As the daughters did
not have the possibility to inherit property, her mother was obsessed to find wealthy husbands for
them. Another point that relates the social status of the Bennet Family is that they lived in a part
of England that was not very prosperous. However, many people of the higher class had
mansions in there, such as Mr. Bingley, a member of the aristocracy class. This is the set-up
where the author of Pride and Prejudice shows the social contrasts between the upper classes in
the British society in the early 19
th
century.
The social norms for people in society were very significant in the early 19
th
century, in
that period was very characteristic the modals of a person. The social norms were very important
even in the way of people dress, and in the way of talking to each other. In public, it was
required that even husband and wife called each other Mr. or Mrs., and they never referred to
another person by first name. Furthermore, women had a special role in the 19
th
century period;
women were inferior to men, their opinion was not taken into account, and they could not work
autonomously. Due to this fact, women were dependent of their family or husbands. In addition,
they had the obligation to get married for benefits, and rarely did they have the opportunity to
choose their husbands for real love. Also, in that time period, women who remained single were
despised and would attract social disapproval and pity. They had to follow a patron according to
the society, if not women would be judged. In Britain of the 19
th
century, dances were significant
to arrange marriages. In the dances, ladies always had to be gracious, never could refuse a
gentleman and accept another for the same dance, unless it was previously promised. In order to
maintain a good reputation, it was important for everybody to be in line with these social norms,
to avoid disapproval of the society.
Pride and Prejudice describes how the main character needs to follow the different social
norms of that period. The protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, and also all her sisters, need to follow
different types of social standards of that time period. However, Elizabeth Bennet displays a
character of independence and of being disposed to break social norms. This is shown when
Elizabeth rejects the proposal of marriage of a rich man, Mr. Collins, the hereditary of the
properties of the Bennet family. With her independent mind, Elizabeth did not agree with the
concept of marriage of her social class in that time. The lady wanted to get married for love and
not for economic benefits. Also, Elizabeth rejected an invitation to dance from Mr. Darcy, an
aristocratic friend of Bingley, who was proprietor of a large estate in Derbyshire, for the arrogant
character he displayed. With this behavior Elizabeth also defied the convention how a young
woman had to act in this situation. However, Darcy really was in love with Elizabeth, to the
point that the young man made to her a proposal of marriage. This proposal was rejected by the
young lady because of his attitude of putting much emphasis on the differences of their social
classes. Further on, Elizabeth realized that Mr. Darcy was not the arrogant and proud man that he
appeared to be. As a consequence, they improved their relationship and this fact makes that Mr.
Darcys aunt tried to dissuade Elizabeth form her idea to marry Darcy, because of social class
differences. However, not only Elizabeth but also Darcy was disposed to break with the social
norms of that period and they got married, in spite of belonging to different social classes.
Pride and Prejudice shows that the social norms, social status and marriage for benefits,
were really important circumstances that the society would take into account in Britain in early
19
th
century. However, it also shows that two persons that are in love with each other and are
disposed to give more importance to their love than to the social norms can overcome
adversities. In addition, this novel carries a central message: Women are important and their
opinion must be respected just as the opinions of men. This is why this novel several decades
after the dead of its author began to be read by members of feminist movement. Also, from the
end of the 19
th
century onwards this novel and other novels from the same author always had
interested lectors. This is due to the fact that many people feel identified with those situations
and with the protagonist. Even if social relationship and classes have changed since the early 19
th

century, they are still many social conventions which can limit human relations, giving priority
to supposed economic and social benefits over authentic feelings.