Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is about a woman named Mrs.Bennet who wants her 5 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 raises concern and questions about the request to women in the past.
There are certain expectations or requests that women must fulfill in the 1800’s. A woman should be beautiful to attract men, polite, and most importantly be talented or perfect so others will see her. In the story, Mr.Bennet and his wife talk about how women must have these attributes to be able to marry a “single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”. This means that if a woman is lucky enough to be married to someone rich, even though they lose their independence they will live a luxurious life and be a housewife.When Mrs bingle was talking to Mrs.Hurst they said, “She did, indeed, Louisa. I could hardly keep my countenance. Very nonsensical to come at all! Why must she be scampering about the country, because her sister had a cold? Her hair, so untidy, so blowsy!”. This shows that the general women are expected to be polite and elegant even in severe situations like this. No matter how seemingly important the situation was, they were always expected to be ladylike at all times. Women were expected to have certain qualities that made them perfect in the eyes of others in order to find a rich husband who can support their lives.
The request and expectations also focus on superficial accomplishments which define women only by their usefulness to men. This denies their own desire and prevents them from pursuing broader interests. Elizabthes assistant noted that, “A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved.”. This shows the expectations of women in their perspective and they think of them in a way so they are presentable to rich men. Miss Bingley talks about the expectations placed upon a woman: "Her performance on the piano must be exquisite, though I've no doubt she finds little pleasure in it. She must spend countless hours improving her mind through extensive reading, though books may hold no personal interest. A woman's worth relies solely on cultivating superficial talents deemed fitting entertainments for gentlemen. Most women aren't interested in the requests they are given but they have to keep practicing in order to please the men.
These extensive requests and expectations for the women were not only social traditions, but reflected the limited options women face at that time. Without the rights of their family inheritance or the ability to earn a living, an unmarried woman has the only choice of marrying a rich man to survive. In pride and prejudice, the reason for all the requests is solely because they need a rich husband to support them and are getting pushed to do that by society. Society is harsh to women and they can hardly do anything to fight against it. Back in the 1800’s, most professions and well-paid jobs were offered only to men.Women are looked down upon so they can’t work and for keeping their living standard, marriage to a wealthy man was the only path. Women faced the harsh reality of the world that was against them and they had to find a way to survive.
Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen is an inspiring book about the requests to women and why. There are countless requests to women and some reasons for that is that they have to survive. There are set expectations based on their stereotype that everyone follows, they have no control over it. Even though they usually try their best to follow the idea of a perfect woman, some have to be superficial in order to be unique in their own way. The perfect woman is a female who is beautiful, polite, finding a husband, and has some unique traits that make them stand out. These requests from males constrains the women and stops them from getting jobs even though they are more than what others think of them. Women can be independent but in the eyes of others, they are just a simple ornament.
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