HÌNH ẢNH NGƯỜI PHỤ nữ ANH nửa đầu THẾ kỷ XIX được MIÊU tả TRONG tác PHẨM KIÊU HÃNH và ĐỊNH KIẾN của JANE AUSTEN

As an attempt to contribute to gaining more insights into the fiction Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, this research aims to investigate the image of English women at the turn of 19th century depicted in the fiction. Specifically, the study focuses on the low status of women in marriage, inheritance and education. In addition, the reaction of those women, both supporters and opponents, was also meticulously analyzed. Beside the disapproval to prejudice at that time on feminine rights, Jane Austen successfully built her admirable image of women – Elizabeth Bennet. Indeed, the novel Pride and Prejudice helps the novelist express her criticism of social conventions against women at the turn of 19th century.

As an attempt to contribute to gaining more insights into the fiction Pride and

Prejudice by Jane Austen, this research aims to investigate the image of English

women at the turn of 19th century depicted in the fiction Specifically, the studyfocuses on the low status of women in marriage, inheritance and education Inaddition, the reaction of those women, both supporters and opponents, was alsometiculously analyzed Beside the disapproval to prejudice at that time on femininerights, Jane Austen successfully built her admirable image of women – ElizabethBennet Indeed, the novel Pride and Prejudice helps the novelist express her criticism

of social conventions against women at the turn of 19th century

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 The rationale for the study 1

2 Aims of the study 1

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methodology 2

PART 2: CONTENT chapter 1: Literature Review 3

1.1 The definition of fiction 3

1.2 The elements of fiction 3

1.2.1 Plot 3

1.2.2 Character 4

1.2.3 Setting 4

1.2.4 Theme 5

1.3 The connection between literature and life 5

Chapter 2: An overview of the novel “Pride and prejudice” 10

2.1 An overview of English literature in Jane Austen’s time 10

2.1.1 Social setting 10

2.1.2 Literature movements 11

2.2 The biography of Jane Austen 12

2.2.1 Jane Austen’s life 12

2.2.2 Jane Austen’s career 12

2.3 The summary of “Pride and Prejudice” 13

Chapter 3: English women at the turn of the 19 th century as depicted in “Pride

and Prejudice” 16

3.1 The women’s status shown in the novel: low status 16

3.1.1 Low status in marriage 16

3.1.2 Low status in inheritance 25

3.1.3 Low status in education 27

3.2 The women’s reaction towards social prejudice 30

3.2.1 Women’s surrender 31

3.2.2 Women’s striving 35

3.3 Elizabeth Bennet – Admirable image of women by Jane Austen 38

3.3.1 Elizabeth Bennet – an intelligent woman 39

3.3.2 Elizabeth Bennet – A strong characteristic 41

1 Conclusion 43

2 Limitation of the study 44

3 Suggestions for further research 44

Reference 45

Part 1: Introduction

1 The rationale for the study

The more mature I get, the more I realize that time goes by so fast It seems to

me that many great things pass by quickly and wait for no one As George R.R Martin(cited in Franich 2011) said “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies The manwho never reads lives only one”, I can acquire more knowledge on the outside worldfrom books On these days, only when preparing for the graduation paper do I havechance to enjoy the novels which used to be my habit The name “Pride and Prejudice”

by Jane Austen immediately sprang to my mind Not only is this novel sweet but it isalso well – reflected on English society at the turn of the 19th century This masterpiecementions a wide range of life aspects in England at the turn of the 19th century, frompride and prejudice to lifestyle and convention, from the value of money to the story ofcourtship and marriage Under the ironic pen of Jane Austen, the lively images ofEnglish women are also clearly shown She offers a startlingly complete continuum ofwomen's characters, “with Lydia and Mrs Bennet on one side as the least responsibleand capable, and with Lady de Bourgh on the other as the most powerful andcontrolling” (Pride and Prejudice theme of women and femininity, 2012) This range ismuch wider and more diverse than the range of male characters Hence, thisinspirational novel has caught my attention to the status of women in early nineteenth-century England In attempt to study deeper on female identities, I quickly decided tochoose the novel “Pride and Prejudice” and the above topic for my thesis

2 Aims of the study

The thesis aims to study deeper the topic of the English women in the late 18thand early 19th century by analyzing two main issues that the status of women and theirresponses to their own status In addition, the thesis focuses on Jane Austen’sviewpoint on the ideal image of women The researcher hopes to contribute to the

study of English literature as well as express the admiration for the talented writer JaneAusten.

3 Scope of the study

The thesis only deals with a small aspect of the novel “Pride and Prejudice” byJane Austen, that is, English women at the turn of the 19th century Hence, it will notcover other significant values of the novel Besides, a brief analysis of Jane Austen’sviewpoint on the ideal image of women is also included in the last section of chapter 3

4 Methodology

The method of analysis which is attached to this graduation paper consists ofsearching for materials, analyzing, giving judgments and drawing some conclusions

Part 2: ContentChapter 1: Literature review

1.1 The definition of fiction

Fiction is one genre of literature, written in prose, which can be considered asthe product of imagination by which the author depicts the picture of society and theproblems of human life through characters and events

Fiction can be defined as a piece of writing in prose in which the writer createsbelievable characters and events Even though the fiction is born from the imagination

of the author, its unreal characters and events do not cause a strange sense for readers

In contrast, readers find the familiarity in daily life through the fiction Characters areput in particular situations to express the same kinds of feelings and emotions of anormal person Readers follow and enjoy the sequence of events that characters relate

in In other words, readers experience the same feelings of characters In this term, thefiction manages to entertain the audience The writer opens a door to a new world ofwonders and complexities for readers to discover However, entertainment is not theonly target of fiction The authors, through fictions, share their own opinions andattitudes towards the vivid world From the viewpoint of one artist, readers also havedifferent look into the life It is admitted that reading fiction brings the inspirations tothe audience In the light of understanding and investigating the fiction, it is interesting

to discover and enjoy many aspects of life Fictions add colors to the soul and spirits ofpeople who love reading

1.2 The elements of fiction

Not only can the writer make up the plot from the cycle of daily life but also imagineunreal world with fictional features Although the plot can be real or unreal, the eventsmust be neatly connected One event must be the result of the previous event and, atthe same time, the cause of another The events make the fiction coherent and exciting

to the readers A plot can contain several factors: the beginning, conflict (problem’sarising), rising action (premises for the climax), climax (often the most appealing part

of the fiction), falling action (the outcome of the climax) and conclusion

1.2.2 Character

Character is considered as the most important element in the fiction Characterstake part in the plot, express the feelings and emotions, and take actions They have theemotions and thoughts including happiness, sorrow, despair, hope, etc To evaluate thecharacter, the readers need to deeply expose them through their appearance, thoughtsand actions Though the characters can be people or animals, even aliens or man-likerobots, they represent the messages and ideas that the author hopes to share with thereaders The various kinds of characters play different roles in the plot as well as in thefiction Particularly, each character is usually the symbol of certain type of people inthe society There are four types of characters in the fiction: main character, minorcharacter, round character, and static character

1.2.3 Setting

Another important element of fiction is setting The location and the time inwhich the story of fiction takes place form the setting of the fiction Both general andspecific settings, including chronological setting and physical setting exist in thefiction Thanks to the setting, it is easier for readers to imagine the atmosphereconsisting of social milieu, culture, historical period, geography, etc that charactersbelong to

1.2.4 Theme

Theme can be defined as the point of the fiction The author hopes to share amessage or lesson through the theme It can be related to life, society, relationship, etc.However, the author does not directly express the theme The readers need to analyzedeeply the work to comprehend the theme And when the readers catch the theme, thewriter is successful in conveying the message Normally, there can be more than onetheme in one fiction In addition, depending on the views of readers, each theme can

be understood in many various ways

1.3 The connection between literature and life

Warner (2010) points out that:

There is an intimate connection between literature and life It is, in fact, lifewhich is the subject matter of literature Life provides the raw material on whichliterature imposes an artistic form Literature, as we defined in the previous section, isthe communication of the writer’s experience of life But this connection betweenliterature and life is not so simple as it seems This problem has been discussed bysome of the greatest literary critics of the world, and their conclusions have beensometimes contradictory

Plato, the great Greek philosopher, was the first to give a serious thought to thisproblem—the relation of literature to life In his discussions he referred mainly topoetry, but what he said about poetry can be equally applied to literature as a whole

He regarded poetry as a mere ‘imitation’ of life, and thus he condemned the poets Hisopposition to poetry was based on his theory of knowledge According to him, truereality consists in the ideas of things, of which individual objects are but reflections orimitations For example, when we say a black dog, a good dog, a lame dog etc., we arecomparing the dog which we actually see with the ideal dog, our idea of the dog,which is the true, unchanging reality, while the dogs which we name as black, good,lame etc are mere reflections and imitations of that reality Thus the poet, whoimitates those objects which are themselves imitations of reality, is obviously

producing something, which is still further removed from ultimate reality Platodeveloped this argument first with reference to the painter Painting is an imitation of aspecific object or group of objects, and if it is nothing but that, if reality lies not inapprehending reality, the painter is not doing anything particularly valuable Just as thepainter only imitates what he sees and does not know how to make or to use what hesees (he could paint a bed, but not make it), so the poet imitates reality withoutnecessarily understanding it Poetry or literature as a whole is an imitation of imitationand thus twice removed from truth.

There is an obvious error in Plato’s reasoning Being too much of a philosopherand moralist, he could not see clearly the relation between literature and life He isright when he says that the poet produces something which is less than reality itpurports to represent, but he does not perceive that he also creates something more

than reality This error was corrected by Plato’s pupil, Aristotle In Poetics he

undertook to examine the nature and qualities of imaginative literature with a view todemonstrating that it is true, and not false as Plato had shown it He agreed with Platothat poetry is an imitation of reality, but according to him, this imitation is theobjective representation of life in literature or, in other words, the imaginativereconstruction of life Poetry is thus not connected with the outside world in the simpleand direct fashion supposed by Plato The poet first derives an inspiration from theworld by the power of his imagination; the art of poetry then imitates this imaginativeinspiration in language The art of poetry or literature as a whole exists to give shapeand substance to a certain kind of imaginative impulse; the existence of the art impliesthe existence of the impulse Now it is just possible to imagine life exactly as it is; butthe exciting thing is to imagine life as it might be, and it is then that imaginationbecomes an impulse capable of inspiring poetry This is true even in the case of what

we call realism in literature; it is true even when the life imagined was originally anactuality of some highly exciting nature in itself Imagination may no more thanconcentrate the actuality, by dropping out all its insignificant passages But that will be

enough to make the resultant poetry, or literature, something different from the copy ofthe world which Plato’s condemnation assumed it to be This was Aristotle’s reply toPlato Art or literature is not a slavish imitation of reality twice removed from truth.Presenting as it must do individual men or women in the trappings and circumstances

of life, it does not leave them there, but pierces to what is significant in action andcharacter, expressing through their words and action that is true for all human nature—the poet’s truth, the universal truth The poet is concerned with truth—but not the truth

of the annalist, the historian, or the photographer The poet’s business is not to write ofevents that have happened, but of what may happen, of things that are possible in thelight of probability or necessity For this reason poetry is a more philosophical, a moreserious thing than history For whilst history deals with the particular only—this event

or that event—poetry deals with the universal The poet selects from life according tothe principle of poetic unity and poetic truth He seeks to draw out what is relevant andrepresentative, and to present it harmoniously, in a self-contained situation The truthwith which he deals is not that which the anatomist may lay bare on the dissecting-table, but that which a poet divines and translates

Aristotle, thus, met Plato’s charge that poetry is imitation of an imitation byshowing that the poet, by concerning himself with fundamental probabilities ratherwith casual actualities, reaches more deeply into reality than the annalist or historian.Sir Philip Sidney, who next took up the question of the relation of literature to life alsorefuted Plato’s contention that literature is a mere imitation of an imitation According

to him, the poet does not imitate, but creates; it is the reader who imitates what thepoet creates Taking his material from the actual world, the poet creates an ideal world

by means of his imagination For Sidney the ideal world of the poet is of value because

it is a better world than the real world and it is presented in such a way that the reader

is stimulated to try and imitate it in his own practice

The problem of literature’s relation to life was next taken up by Dryden whopointed out that imaginative literature gives us a ‘just and lively’ image of human

nature by representing its ‘passions and humours’ This point was further developed by

Dr Johnson who expressed the view that the poet ‘holds up a mirror to nature”.According to him, “Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representation

of general nature.” The way to please the greatest number over the longest period oftime, which is the duty of imaginative literature, is to provide accurate pictures ofnature Explaining his view that the poet is the illuminator of human nature Dr.Johnson wrote:

“The business of the poet is to examine, not the individual, but the species… Hemust exhibit in his portraits of nature such prominent and striking features as recall theoriginal to every mind, and must neglect the minute discriminations, which one mayhave remarked and another have neglected, for those characteristics which are alikeobvious to vigilance and carelessness

“But the knowledge of nature is only half the task of a poet; he must be acquaintedlikewise with all the modes of life His character requires that he estimates thehappiness and misery of every condition, observe the power of all the passions in alltheir combinations, and trace the changes of the human mind, as they are modified byvarious institutions and accidental influences of climate or custom, from thesprightliness of fancy to the despondence of decrepitude He must divert himself of theprejudices of his age or country; he must consider right and wrong in their abstractedand variable state; he must regard present laws and their opinions and rise to generaland transcendental truths, which will always, be the same He must, therefore, contenthimself with the slow progress of his name, condemn the applause of his own time,and commit his claims to the justice of posterity He must write as the interpretator ofnature and the legislator of mankind and consider himself as presiding over thethoughts and manners of future generations, as being superior to time and place.”According to Dr Johnson, the poet must know the manners and customs of men ofall times and conditions, not because it is his duty to make vivid to the reader the

different ways in which men hove lived and behaved, but so that he is not taken in bysurface differences and is able to penetrate to the common humanity underlying there.Walter Pater, a critic of the later nineteenth century, who discussed the relation ofliterature and life in detail, remarked in his essay on “Style”: “Just as in proportion asthe writer’s aim, consciously or unconsciously, comes to be the transcribing, not of theworld, not of mere fact, but his sense of it, he becomes an artist, his work fine art; andgood art in proportion to the truth of his presentment of that sense.”

Thus, according to Pater, the literary artist does not give us a photographic

‘imitation’ of reality, but a transcription of his vision of it It is from reality or lifefrom which the artist starts, but he tries to reconstruct it when he would ‘see it steadilyand see it whole’

Taking into consideration the views of Plato, Aristotle, Sidney, Dryden, Johnsonand Pater, we conclude that the notion that literature is not concerned with real life iswrong All great pieces of literature are ‘true to life’ But the literary artist is notcontent to ‘hold the mirror upto nature’, because his business, as Matthew Arnold haspointed out, is a ‘criticism, of life’ He concentrates on those characteristics andaspects of life which are permanent, but which might easily pass unobserved Heclutches at anything which promises some permanence among what is always fleeting.That is why he gives us a picture of reality which is more characteristic of life thananything which we discover by our own day-to-day observation The images which weare creating by our own observation of life at every moment of our working experienceare hazy, half-finished and unrelated It is the literary artist who finishes them, makesthem clear and puts them in their wider setting, and to that extent makes life lessobscure, because he knows more about life than anyone can know without regardinglife with his eyes

Chapter 2: An overview of the novel “Pride and prejudice”

2.1 An overview of English literature in Jane Austen’s time

2.1.1 Social setting

The 19th century was a relatively peaceful era for Britain This country wastransformed by the industrial revolution At that time, as the first country toindustrialize, Britain had a head start over other nations and became the richest andmost powerful nation in the world The industrial revolution did cause many changes

to citizens, especially a host of inventions made life more comfortable and convenient

A large part of the population lived at subsistence level Along with changes ineconomy, Britain also witnessed the political reform The government was dividedinto competitive parties consisting of the Conservative and the Liberal Whigs.Consequently, at the time of revolution in politics and economy, social status wasdepended on wealth

The inheritance law of this time was unfair If the father died, the eldest son orthe nearest man in family branch got everything The other children only had somechoices if they wanted to do something without being burdened by work They couldfollow traditional custom and work as a clergyman But if the church was not suitablefor them, the army or the navy were also other choices If nothing of these was of nointerest in them, they went to Oxford or Cambridge and studied law In contrast,women did not have so many choices The most popular option was to get maried Theother one was to spend the whole life with her parents or go to rich family as a lady`scompanion or a governess

At this time, behavior was deemed to be a component of everyone`spersonality Good behavior included in addition to the right manners, specific forms ofaddress In the majority of cases, married couples used their last names Fellow humanbeings rated the behaviors of others, so again, it was very important to use the right

behavior In particular, women were expected to follow all the manners The mannersconsisted of an interest in the arts such as music, drawing or dancing, as well as politeform of uses, expression in face and eyes, acceptable clothing, elegance in movements,gestures and attitudes.

As a result, Jane Austen was strongly influenced by social background, which

could be clearly seen on her works including the novel Pride and Prejudice.

2.1.2 Literature movements

Abbey ( 1997) points out that:

The Romanticism era or movement was basically a rebellion of the typical ormainstream idea of literature This was a very strong movement; it was accepted andpracticed by approximately two thirds of the popular writing population It began inGermany and England in the 1770s, by the 1820s it had taken over all of Europe Sincethe Romantic movement started, it has transformed poetry, the novel, drama, painting,sculpture, all forms of concert music, and ballet It was deeply connected with thepolitics of the time It was the voice of revolution

The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility was an 18th century literarygenre which celebrated the emotional and intellectual concepts of sentiment,sentimentalism, and sensibility Sentimentalism, which was to be distinguished fromsensibility, was a fashion in both poetry and prose fiction beginning in the eighteenthcentury in reaction to the rationalism Sentimental novels relied on emotionalresponse, both from their readers and characters They featured scenes of distress andtenderness, and the plot was arranged to advance emotions rather than action Theresult was a valorization of "fine feeling," displaying the characters as a model forrefined, sensitive emotional effect The ability to display feelings was thought to showcharacter and experience, and to shape social life and relations

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility was most often seen as a "witty satire of the

sentimental novel", by juxtaposing values of the Age of Enlightenment including senseand reason with those of the later eighteenth century including sensibility and feeling

while exploring the larger realities of women's lives, especially through concerns with

marriage and inheritance This reading of Sense and Sensibility specifically and

Austen's fiction in general has been complicated and revised by recent critics, all ofwhom see unruly and even subversive energies at play in her work, inspired by thesentimental tradition

2.2 The biography of Jane Austen

2.2.1 Jane Austen’s life

Jane Austen was born on 16 December, 1775 near Basingstoke, in Hampshire,England She was the seventh child of eight children of Reverend George Austen JaneAusten was educated mainly at home and never lived apart from her family Differentfrom most girls at that time, she was fortunate to achieve good education, which wasthe basement for her future career

As a young woman, Jane Austen usually attended balls in many houses of theneighborhood She loved the country and had many Hampshire friends Because of herparents’ work, the whole family needed to leave the country in 1801 and until 1809,the Austens moved back to their beloved Hampshire countryside Her house was smallbut comfortable, and most importantly, it provided the settled home which Jane Austenneeded in order to write

Jane Austen contracted addisons disease, a tubercular disease of the kidneys ByMay 1817, she was so ill and needed treating in Winchester Tragically, there was nocure and Jane Austen died in her sister's arms in the early hours of July18th , 1817.She was buried in Winchester Cathedral

2.2.2 Jane Austen’s career

Jane Austen was a major English novelist, whose interesting fictions mark thetransition in English literature from 18th century neo-classicism to 19th centuryromanticism

At the age of 14, she wrote poems, stories, and other very amusing juvenilia In

her early twenties, Jane Austen completed fictions that were later re-worked and

published as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey She also started a work called The Watsons which was never completed

In the seven and a half years that she lived in the house on Chawton estate, she

revised Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and respectively published them

in 1811 and 1813, and then joined a period of severe productivity Mansfield Park came out in 1814, followed by Emma in 1816 She also completed Persuasion which was published together with Northanger Abbey in 1818, the year after her death There

were no books published in her life-time had her name on them — they were described

as being written "By a Lady" In the winter of 1816 she started Sanditon, but illness

prevented her completing the work

2.3 The summary of “Pride and Prejudice”

The Bennet family has five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.They live at Longbourn, close to the small town of Meryton in Hertfordshire Mrs.Bennet is determined to find advantageous marriages for her daughters CharlesBingley, a rich bachelor, comes to the location with his two sisters and his richerfriend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, raising much excitement from Mrs Bennet and her family

A town ball is held in which Jane Bennet, the oldest and most beautiful of the Bennetsisters, attracts Mr Bingley’s attention The couple dances and begin to fall in love.Meanwhile, the local society, including Elizabeth comes to consider Darcyinsufferably arrogant and proud After several social meetings, Darcy becomes drawn

to Lizzy’s liveliness and independent spirit while Jane’s relationship with Mr Bingleyalso continues to burgeon Sensing Darcy’s growing attraction to Elizabeth, CarolineBingley’s jealousy becomes obvious At the same time, Mr Bennet receives a letterfrom Mr Collins, heir to the Longbourn estate Mr Collins is a ridiculous man whoalways boasts about his position and the help of Lady Catherine de Bourgh Theofficers are camping near Longbourn This kind of news is another source of great

excitement for Mrs Bennet and several her daughters Among the soliders is GeorgeWickham, a handsome and polite man, who shares Elizabeth about his pastmistreatment at the hands of Mr Darcy Elizabeth’s prejudice for Mr Darcy growsstronger Shortly after his arrivial, Mr Collins proposes to Elizabeth but she rejects theoffer Just three days later, Mr Collins transfers his attention to Elizabeth’s friend,Charlotte Lucas Charlotte accepts his marriage proposal, which initially makesElizabeth shock, but she quickly calms herself and accepts to visit them Netherfield isabandoned by the Bingleys and Mr Darcy, who all go to London Elizabeth believesthat Caroline Bingley is deliberately attempting to separate Mr Bingley from Jane.Jane visits London in the hope of meeting Mr Bingley, but finds herself treatedharshly by Caroline Bingley She gradually believes that Bingley no longer cares forher Elizabeth visits Charlotte’ house and meets the domineering Lady Catherine deBourgh who is Mr Darcy’s aunt She is paid a visit by Darcy and his cousin, ColonelFitzwilliam Elizabeth knows that Darcy was involved in separating Mr Bingley andJane To Elizabeth’s surprise, Darcy proposes to her, making it clear that he had beenfighting his feelings due to the Bennet family’s inferiority Insulted at his speech,Elizabeth refuses his proposal and mentions two reasons for her dislike of Mr Darcy.Because of him, Jane is unhappy and Wickham is poor and miserable The next day,Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter, which explains everything Elizabeth visits Derbyshirewith her aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Gardiner They visit Pemberley, Darcy’s grandestate, thinking that the master is currently absent She gets information from thehousekeeper that Darcy is considered to be a kind and generous man Elizabeth isembarrassed to see that Darcy has returned to Pemberley, and feels terribly awkwardwhen they meet However, Darcy’s behaviour is hospitable and courteous to her andher family Elizabeth’s affection for Darcy grows rapidly Elizabeth later learns fromMrs Gardiner that it was Darcy that organised and enforced the marriage betweenLydia and Wickham, which helped her family’s honour Elizabeth feels gratitude andalso curiosity about his motivations Lydia and Wickham leave for Newcastle Bingley

and Darcy arrive at Longbourn, and soon Bingley proposes to Jane She accepts.Darcy’s behaviour appears a little cold Mrs Bennet does not know the debt ofgratitude owed by the Bennets to Mr Darcy, and continues to treat him aggressively,leaving Elizabeth feeling embarrassed Lady Catherine de Bourgh pays a visit toLongbourn, angry at rumours that Darcy plans to propose to Elizabeth She demandsthat Elizabeth would refuse an offer of marriage Elizabeth declines to give in to LadyCatherine’s demands Darcy knows Elizabeth’s defiance He proposes once more.Elizabeth accepts and the marriages of Mr Bingley to Jane, and Mr Darcy toElizabeth, are held together Both couples have happy and rich life

Chapter 3: English women at the turn of the 19 th century as depicted in “Pride and Prejudice”

3.1 The women’s status shown in the novel: low status

In Pride and Prejudice, the low place of women at the turn of the 19th century issuccessfully depicted under the pen of Jane Austen It seems clear that they restlesslyswayed in the cyclone of finding convenient marriage, inheritance and education Inlate 18th and early 19th century, the provincial society of England was significantlydifferent from what it is today This is clearly shown that the status of English women

at that time also was definitely different, from marriage to education, from love tofinancial issues

3.1.1 Low status in marriage

Through Pride and Prejudice, Austen wants to share the story about low status

of women in marriage with the readers Right at the very beginning of the fiction withthe sentence “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of

a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” (Austen, 3), the writer clearly states thecentral concerns of marriage in the book Austen raises the alarm to women forcarefully considering the happiness through marriage In Austen’s time, marriage was

as much an affair of convenience as of love The life of both married and unmarriedwomen was low and undependable So as to thoroughly apprehend the status of

English women, it is vital to analyze all the course of the novel Pride and Prejudice by

Jane Austen Throughout the fiction, the position of female is fully explored

Women - commodities in the marriage market

Mrs Bennet and her life business to have her daughter marry

Under the mighty pen of Austen, Mrs Bennet is successfully described as atypical English mother with her all wish, determination and manner towards “thebusiness of her life [which] was to get her daughters married” (Austen, 4) Her strong

wish is clearly shown throughout the novel She tried to find rich husbands andconvenient marriages for all five daughters “If I can see one of my daughters happilysettled at Netherfield” “and all the others equally well married, I shall have nothing towish for” (Austen, 10).

Not only Mrs Bennet’s wish but also her determination is under eagerness tohelp her daughters approach eligible men In the very first part of the novel, asknowing “a single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year” (Austen, 3)taking Netherfield, she immediately adjured her husband to visit him She, with herfive daughters, attacked her husband “in various way, with barefaced questions,ingenious suppositions, and distant surmises” to ask about the new neighbor MrCharles Bingley It worried her to think that other ladies like Mrs Long or Mrs Lucasand their own daughters “stand their chance to introduce him” (Austen, 6) whichmeans that her five daughters cannot take sooner opportunity for meeting and chattingwith the new rich neighbor There is no coincidence that Austen begins the novel with

an announcement that rich Bingley will live near the Bennets’ house, the author wants

to attract the readers to follow Mrs Bennet and her “business” of marriage Austen issuccessful, to be sure, that she is giving her readers an ironic but interesting storyabout finding sons-in-law of Mrs Bennet She took any advantage to get her daughtersapproached young men Her main target was to have her children marry Therefore, asthe first time of Mr Bingley’s visit to her house, Mrs Bennet hurrily prepared dinner toinvite him Unfortunately, “already had Mrs Bennet planned the courses that were to

do credit to her housekeeping, when an answer arrived which deferred it all […] MrBingley was unable to accept the honour of their invitation Mrs Bennet was quitedisconcerted” (Austen, 10) Then another occasion, as Jane was invited to Netherfield,Mrs Bennet planned to force Jane to go on horseback It seemed likely to rain, and herdaughter must stay all night at Netherfield Mrs Bennet did that with the aim ofcreating more private time for Jane and Mr Bingley Finally, “Jane was thereforeobliged to go on horseback, and her mother attended her to the door with many

cheerful prognostics of a bad day Her hopes were answered; Jane had not been gonelong before it rained hard Her sisters were uneasy for her, but her mother wasdelighted” (Austen, 28) Following the course of the story, the readers find out MrsBenner’s hurry to find rich men who could afford her daughters financial life, her greatsorrow when marriages seemed to fail, and the final happiness at the end of the fictionwhen very rich men married her two oldest daughters Mrs Bennet’s determination tofind rich husbands for her daughters, to be sure, is so high.

Among successive events afterwards, most of Mrs Bennet’s behavior would betypical of a mother whose career is making her daughters have the most convenientmarriages However, mean understandings made her come off crude and offensive.Getting daughters married is a normal desire of a normal mother But, her sequence ofugly actions and words gave others the severely bad impression on her characters aswell as her daughters Like a professional seller, Mrs Bennet searched for potentialbuyers who were rich and single men Mr Charles Bingley was first mentioned by, notthe narrator, Mrs Bennet in conversation with Mr Bennet.” Netherfield is taken by ayoung man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday

in a chaise and four” and “ A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year.What a fine thing for our girls!”(Austen, 3) The atmosphere of money and fortuneappears stuffy at the very beginning of the story She schemed to make her girls have

as many chances as possible to stay close together with eligible men Without anyembarrassment or hesitation, she openly expressed her wish to throw daughters intothe path of rich men It seemed that the richer men were, the higher cost of herdaughters became To attract the purchaser, the seller would introduce the quality ofproduct And so did Mrs Bennet In the breakfast-parlor with Mr Bingley, shementioned her eldest daughter Jane that “I do not like to boast of my own child, but to

be sure, Jane – one does not often see anybody better looking It is what everybodysays I do not trust my own partiality” (Austen, 41) At the end of the story, knowingElizabeth would marry Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet’s disagreeable attitude towards Mr

Darcy disappeared She astoundingly exclaimed that:”Good gracious! Lord blessesme! Only think! Dear me! Mr Darcy! Who would have thought it! And is it reallytrue? Oh! My sweetest Lizzy! How rich and how great you will be! What pin-money,what jewels, what carriages you will have! Jane's is nothing to it nothing at all I am

so pleased so happy Such a charming man! So handsome! So tall! Oh, my dearLizzy! Pray apologise for my having disliked him so much before I hope he willoverlook it Dear, dear Lizzy A house in town! Everything that is charming! Threedaughters married! Ten thousand a year! Oh, Lord! What will become of me I shall godistracted” (Austen, 316) Although she felt disliked him before, she “stood in suchawe of her intended son-in-law, that she ventured not to speak to him’’ (Austen, 316).Never did Mrs Bennet ask her daughters if they loved their husbands or not So strangewas the situation that the readers must continue thinking of Her concerns seemedridiculous with money, possession, property and other financial convenience, exceptlove Love was secondary, or even nothing Joining the marriage market, at times, MrsBennet is considered as a fortune hunter It can be seen that during this time period,her offensive sequence of behavior was typical for English mothers who were on theway of searching potential sons-in-law

In her situation, Mrs Bennet’s behavior is tolerable because of educationalrestrictions and her parental responsibility Mrs Bennet seems not to be entirelyridiculous In Austen’s time, law on inheritance was totally different from what it istoday Because the Bennets had no son, all estate would pass to the nearest malerelative in family tree- Mr Collins Under the strong law on inheritance, all what MrsBennet was able to resist the law was to blame her husband for neglecting his duty “Icannot bear to hear that mentioned Pray do not talk of that odious man I do think it isthe hardest thing in the world, that your estate should be entailed away from your ownchildren; and I am sure if I had been you, I should have tried long ago to do something

or other about it” (Austen, 54) Mrs Bennet was apprehensive for her daughters’ riskyfuture She was well aware that her daughters only could be saved by their marriage

In case they could not receive any financial support from parents, the best solution forthem was getting married to a rich man Although her actions seemed offensive, manyother mothers would do the same in her shoes It is necessary to understand the context

in the turn of 19th century that education was not fully given to women Women at thattime were put under the influence of educational restrictions With the low knowledge,all desire and actions of Mrs Bennet was to help her girls “Happy for all her maternalfeelings was the day on which Mrs Bennet got rid of her two most deservingdaughters” (Austen, 322) This is clearly shown that nothing but parental responsibilityencouraged her to take action To modern societies, her behavior seems strange oreven morally repulsive However, it was the norm in Victorian society If we judgeMrs Bennet, therefore, remember we are judging her by modern standards It wasnothing but parental responsibility under educational restrictions made Mrs Bennettake a disagreeable sequence of action

It is admitted that Mrs Bennet is a typical instance of English mother in the late

18th and early 19th century The image of an empty-headed woman whose business ofall her life is finding convenient marriage for her daughters is vividly depicted underthe ironic pen of Jane Austen

Charlotte Lucas and the business of her own marriage

Charlotte is successfully depicted as a clear illustration of English women whochoose convenience, not true love, for their marriage Throughout the novel, all of herintention, acceptance and request focused on getting the plan for financial security Atthe age of twenty-seven, with only a small fortune, Charlotte was to all intents andpurposes in difficulty in finding a suitor In addition, since Sir William left hisbusiness, moved from town to Lucas Lodge, little family wealth encouraged Charlotte

to scheme to marry a man who could guarantee her a stable future Mr Collins with hisown property made him the most suitable partner for Charlotte It was the reason whyCharlotte approached Mr Collins, “its object was nothing less, than to secure her fromany conception of Mr Collins’s address, by engaging them towards herself Such was

Miss Lucas’s scheme” (Austen, 104) Along with the increase of her age, Charlottewas well aware that her opportunities of getting married were decreasing Therefore,

“without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been herobjects” (Austen, 105) Just only with Charlotte’s intention, her strong desire for afinancial marriage was clearly expressed under the mighty pen of Jane Austen

Charlotte’s acceptance also showed her aim of stable future in marriage Onlythree days after proposing Elizabeth, Mr Collins tried proposing another girl –Charlotte Surprisingly, “in as short a time as Mr Collins’s long speeches would allow,everything was settled between them to satisfaction of both” (Austen, 105) Her almostinstantaneous acceptance made the audience believe that what Charlotte cared for wasfinancial security, definitely not a romance She tried to attract Mr Collins because ofwhat he could offer “Miss Lucas, who accepted him solely from the pure anddisinterested desire of an establishment, cared not how soon that establishment wasgained” (Austen, 105) To a certain extent, readers could come to a conclusion thatCharlotte would accept whomever, not only Mr Collins, able to provide a home andfinancial security for her She totally knew that “Mr Collins to be sure was neithersensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must beimaginary But still he would be her husband” (Austen, 105) Accepted a propertiedman without any physical or intellectual attraction to her, Charlotte also accepted amarriage with no true love, but material security

All Charlotte’s requests in marriage were financial security It seemed nothingbut money could affect her At once accepting Mr Collins’s proposal, Charlottepersuaded herself to feel satisfied “it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness,must be their pleasantest preservative from want This preservative she had nowobtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she feltall the good luck of it” (Austen, 105) As announcing her engagement to Elizabeth,Charlotte shared her own attitude towards her request “I am not romantic you know I