Preksha Gladish

Professor Susan George

Introduction to Literary Studies
5 February 2023

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is notable for its portrayal of social class and hierarchies
of the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Regency period) in England. The novel revolves
around the lives of the upper class that are enclosed in a social bubble that is rarely penetrated
by events beyond their social circle.

“The cultural analysis of social hierarchy repeatedly reminds us that there are no
human attributes universally acknowledged as the legitimate basis for the
subordination of some human beings to others.”(Handler and Segal 691)
This statement can be proven by the fact that when people got to know about Mr. Darcy
having ten thousand pounds a year and that Mr. Darcy's wealth and status come from
generations of accrued family money, investments, and property land management and that
Mr. Darcy was a gentleman. He drew the attention of the entire room. Darcy’s status at birth,
his looks, and his wealth are enough to grant him the initial respect of the people at the ball
where he is first introduced.
Elizabeth’s inclination towards Darcy arises when she visits his grand estate at Pemberley
with the Gardiners, she imagines what it would be like to be the mistress of Pemberley. The
housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds tells Elizabeth about the kindness of her master. Elizabeth is
really surprised to hear such an agreeable description of a man she considers unbearably
arrogant.

“Landed property affords greater independence than other forms of wealth. The
ideal of independence is epitomised by the gentleman of landed property. Land's
materiality and naturalness are taken as signs of its permanence, and, by
extension, of the permanence of the patriline associated with the land. This
permanence-the natural fixity of land is seen as ensuring a continuous, certain
production of wealth.”(Handler and Segal 695)
Land is shown to be the greatest form of wealth. The independence of a gentleman is
symbolised by landed property. Mr. Bennet is a part of the landed gentry class, but his main
asset is an estate of land at Longbourn which generates an income of 2,000 pounds a year.
The estate was entailed which means that Mr. Bennet could make use of the estate while he
was alive, but he was not allowed to sell the land, and he could not dispose of the estate in his
will. Instead the estate would pass at his death to the next male heir in line of the landowner
who originally created the entail. Since Mr. Bennet had no male heirs the estate would pass to
his cousin Mr. Collins. Therefore the Bennet sisters could not inherit their fathers property. On
the other hand Lady Catherine’s daughter could inherit her fathers property as Sir Lewis de
Bourgh disposed of Rosings Park in his will, either by leaving the whole estate to his widow,
or by giving his widow a life interest with the estate reverting to their daughter on Lady
Catherine’s death.
 “Rank placed primary emphasis on lineage, implying that social status was more
or less inalienably conferred by birth and descent.”(Koziar 39)
Mr. Bingley comes from a family who has acquired their fortunes in trade. His father was not
a gentleman but a merchant of some kind which improved their financial and social status.
Bingley and his sisters are the first generation that does not have to work for a living. His
wealth is said to be about 5,000 pounds a year. Mr. Bingley is not as rich as Mr. Darcy and he
is also not a member of the landed gentry class. He is part of the new social class that rose
during the industrial revolution. All of this was noticed when Mr. Bingley made his first
appearance in Longburn.

The end of the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century was a time of revolutions. The
era challenged the social, religious, and political orders. A time of increasing social mobility.
There were still strongly demarcated classes. However, social mobility only increased as the
lower-class people acquired money and moved upward in the social ladder while the upper
and middle classes were struggling to maintain their positions in the hierarchy.
Notes

Richard Handler; Daniel A. Segal Hierarchies of Choice: The Social Construction of

Rank in Jane Austen American Ethnologist, Vol. 12, No. 4. (Nov., 1985), pp. 691-706.

Koziar, Frances (2015) "Manners, Mobility, Class, and Connection in Austen's Emma
and Pride and Prejudice," Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism: Vol. 8 : Iss. 1 ,
Article 7.