Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a 19th century novel that centers on the Bennet and the Bingley families. As with any other Victorian Era novel, the influence of gender stereotypes is heavily felt and all of the women are not allowed to work. If their parents die, all of the inheritance goes to the males, even if they have no sons. It will always go to the nephews, or the closest male family member. As a result, the only way women can secure their future is to marry a rich man. To be able to attract them, Victorian women have to be highly accomplished, or “ladylike”. If a woman didn’t dance, read, or write, then no rich man would marry her. Bingley once wondered out loud how young ladies “have the patience to be so very accomplished”. To men, an accomplished woman must be skillful in the arts, be obedient, and stay at home to do household chores. Furthermore, many believed that the only thing women were useful for were marrying. In fact, the Bennet family wanted to get their daughters married as soon as possible.
Social mobility is something that everybody desires, as it allows us to climb to gain respect, wealth, and status. Social mobility refers to the ability to ascend social classes and become wealthy. There are multiple ways to have social mobility, such as marrying someone from a higher class, or simply working hard. In the novel, none of the marriages are between people from the same class. Elizabeth and Jane Bennet came from a middle class family and both of them married extremely wealthy men. Charlotte Lucas and George Wickham, who were both poor, married Lydia Bennet and Fitzwilliam Collins respectively. Actually, George Wickham would have been much wealthier if he had successfully seduced Georgiana Darcy. All of the marriages that occurred in the novel were based on money, not love. This is evident when you try to break down the families into classes, and notice that all of the marriages were between people from different classes. Those who belonged to the middle and lower classes desired social mobility as they wanted to be rich and tried to marry wealthier people. Usually, people try to become rich without putting in the effort by marrying those from upper classes.
Marriage is often about money, not about love, and is viewed as a way for people to climb the social ladder without putting in much effort. In the Victorian era, marriage was a common way for families to try and gain money and status. A lot of times, the reason a poor woman is married to a wealthy man is not because they love each other; it's because the woman was pressured to marry by her family. This is seen when the Bennet family tries to get their daughters married to other, wealthy families. The Bennets were not poor, but they weren’t rich either, and wanted their daughters to be wealthy. When discussing the daughters’ marriages, Mrs. Bennet mentioned that Mr. Bingly’s family was rich, making several thousand pounds a year. As we saw, parents in the Victorian era often expected their daughters to marry based on wealth, not on true love. When talking about their daughters’ marriages, Mrs. Bennet brought up that Mr. Bingley was quite wealthy, with an income of 5000 pounds a year, or over half a million dollars today. Usually, money gets in the way of true love as children are pressured or forced by their parents to marry based on wealth and status.
Women are often expected to stay at home and do household chores, and nothing else, both in the past, and today. Women are often viewed as weak and unfit for outside jobs, which is why positions like pilots, firefighters, police, and etc, are dominated by males. Furthermore, some families view their daughters as tools to gain status by marrying wealthy men. Because the novel takes place in the Victorian era, women are viewed as weaker and less intelligent than men. In fact, Jane Austen never even received an award for her great works simply because of her gender. Furthermore, women were not allowed to receive inheritances at all until 1839. Even if a man died and had no sons, the money would go to the closest male family member. Many men expect women to be docile, gentle, and to stay at home to do chores. Furthermore, women are paid less than men in the same field due to the stereotype that women can’t do as good of a job as men. Many men think that women should stay at home and do household chores, thinking that they are unsuitable for jobs and outside work.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a classical novel set in the Victorian era that is likely a satire that shows how women are viewed as inferior and how marriage is exploited by people who seek wealth without effort. The events in the novel show that women have to depend on males throughout their entire life. Before a woman is married, she depends on her father, and when her father dies, she relies on her husband. Unfortunately, Victorian society makes it completely impossible for women to have any property. Females were not allowed to work either so they have no income at all. This is why it was so important for women to marry wealthy men in order to secure their future before gender equality was seriously considered. This novel can teach us several themes about love, marriage, and gender stereotypes. First, social mobility, or the ability to climb the social ladder, is often achieved by those who simply marry wealthier people rather than putting in effort towards their career. Second, money often gets in the way of actual love as many young adults, especially women, were forced to marry based on love by their parents. Third and finally, gender stereotypes have existed throughout society for centuries and always will. Pride and Prejudice can teach younger readers how to compete with others in society and live a good life.
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