Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is about a woman named Mrs.Bennet who wants her daughters to get married so they have a secured future. A rich single man named Mr.Bingley comes into town and stays for a while. During this time the Bennets all try to get a relationship with Mr.Bingley so that they can eventually marry him. Even though Mr.Bingley is a wanted husband other men like Mr.George Wickham and Mr.William Collins also get married in the book. Some women get married for love while others marry for the large fortune and rich life that comes with it. At the end, Elizabeth and Darcy get married while the others move in nearby. In this book, there is a lot of drama, romance, and that makes this classic so popular and successful. Meanwhile, this book talks about marriage, the role of females, and social status.
In every society, people are often divided into different social groups based on factors like wealth,occupation or educational levels.The rich, middle class, and poor classes are the three major ones that determine what people can do and the choices they have. The Bennet family are in the middle class and hope the daughters could use marriage as a way to move up in life. Marriage is one of the many ways to climb up or down the ladder which makes these people social climbers but rich people just want to stay at the top. The darcy and de Bourgh family are born rich and even though none of them marry each other, they never marry someone from the poor class. This is called social immobility and because of how separated the poor and the rich are, it means they usually stay in their social class. Social classes played an important part in people's lives in the Victorian era. It set boundaries between classes and determined who was considered to be an acceptable marriage partner.
Marriage is a very complicated issue that is driven by different motivations. Reasons such as love, the need to survive with fewer rights for women , and hopes of moving up or keeping in the social classes can all affect who people choose to marry. Elizabeth married Mr.Darcy for love but she also got to move into the rich class. She is a social climber even though she married for love but she still moved up. If Collins and Elizabeth married then they would stay in the same social class and would probably marry for love. Although this didn’t happen it would be an example of social immobility where two people in the same class marry and stay in the same class. There are different ways to start a relationship, in pride and prejudice, some start these in relationship to business while others meet by a connection with their relatives. Marriage is sought after and can be the result of love, parties, and meetings. People use marriage in different ways either to preserve their survival or to advance socially depending on their ambitions and circumstances.
During the 18th century in England, women faced significant constraints in available opportunities due to the prevailing social standard. Females have less opportunities than men and they have certain roles that others expect them to act like. In pride and prejudice, all the women expected the girls to be ladylike whenever possible and at all times. Ladies were supposed to be ladylike and men to be gentlemen. Women in the Victorian era rarely had inheritance when their father died and they also couldn’t hold certain jobs. With no heritage or income,they have to marry for survival. This is the situation women were in during the Victorian era and they had no choices. Wickham is poor so he tries to marry Lydia and Georgina for their money but the females don’t know how easily abandoned they could be but they don't marry. While women are waiting for marriage, the poorer they are, the fewer choices they have and some don’t know the reason behind their pursuers. Marriage can be very chaotic when you're rich and others come after you. You don’t know if they're there for your money or for real love. Women at the time played a secondary role in the eyes of men and their social status or security was mainly determined by their marriage.
Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen is an influential book set in the Victorian era. This book talks about the role of females, marriage, and the different social classes. Some male or female are born rich, some make themselves rich, and others are just in the middle class and poor. Ladies were expected to be polite and in general ladylike, same for men but since women rarely could get a job, then that means no income which leads to them having to marry and rely on male in order to survive. Marriage was sought by all women to preferably a rich, single, and young man to ensure a luxurious future. Rich men have lots of opportunities since they are in the highest class so other lower class women will seek to marry them and therefore climb up. Through the characters' romantic challenges and choices, the author introduces ideas like marriage,social status and the roles of women.Pride and Prejudice is a fantastic book that is very supportive of learning more about the Victorian era and women at the time.
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