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class distinction in Pride and Prejudice
finance wealth and status in 19th century jane austen sense and sensibility
class consciousness in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
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Happiness can be defined in a plethora of ways such as good fortune, a state of well being, or a pleasurable, satisfying experience. William Thackeray’s Rebecca Sharp stated in the novel Vanity Fair that she “could be a good woman if she had five thousand pounds” and she “could dawdle about in the nursery and count the apricots on the wall” (VF 414). Marianne Dashwood of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility says that she “cannot be happy with a man whose taste did not in every point coincide with my own” (SS 15). Most importantly, Elizabeth Bennet of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice states that she would be happy with someone who “has no improper pride” and “is perfectly amiable” (PP 364). While all of these novels give a glimpse into the opinions of happiness, Pride and Prejudice delves into the nuances of happiness, showing the conflicts that come with these intertwining ideas of class, money, and pride. Ultimately, we come across an important question: What constitutes happiness and how do the ideas of class, money and pride coincide, bringing about conflicting moods in Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice?
Throughout Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, we see many instances of the aforementioned conflicts that ensue. The first example of conflict comes out of the fictional mouths of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Right out of the gate, Mrs. Bennet speaks of the fact that a wealthy individual by the name of Charles Bingley is to arrive at the vacant estate of Netherfeld. Mrs. Bennet states that, “Oh single, my dear to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!” (6). Edward Copeland writes in his article titled Class, “Incomes of 4,000 pounds a year and above leave behind...
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...n while reading: “Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire? Or having it satisfied?” (VF 680). Elizabeth Bennet exclaims, “I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but no one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh” (PP 369).
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2004. Print
Copeland, Edward. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print
Thackeray, William M. Vanity Fair. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. Print
Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Ed. Carol H. Poston. W.W. Norton & Company; Second Edition. New York: Norton, 1975. Print
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. Print
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.
In The Twilight Zone’s “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” and Aldous Huxley's “Brave New World” it is apparent that happiness comes from stability and the ability to get what one wants with little effort, however, the price for this happiness is a loss of individuality and strong emotions, making ignorance truly bliss.
Within the real world individuals constantly ask: Does money actually equal happiness? Money doesn’t equal happiness, money equals superiority or privilege and happiness equals desire. Similarly, in Scott Fitzgerald's’ The Great Gatsby, Tom, Daisy and Gatsby portray money equals superiority and happiness equal desire by the actions they chose to make as well as their deep sentiments.
England, under James 1st rule was a vastly altered period compared to our now modern society. So many of the values held during this time, have now been discarded and forgotten. Jane Austen grew up in the Romantic period and experienced a world which was divided, whether through education, class, status, fashion, abilities, gender and etiquette. Her novel, Pride and Prejudice is counted as one of the great classics of English Literature. Austen engrosses readers to live in her world for a time and experience a society filled with matchmaking, romance, marriage and gossip. Every one of her characters is so distinctive and has a clearly outlined caricature. Each of their diverse values conveys a different thinking of the time. Pride and Prejudice is preoccupied with the gentry and most of the social aspects which consumed these people’s lives. There were so many expectations of how you would behave in public, but of course not all of these were upheld. Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Mrs Bennet and Charlotte Lucas are four characters which keep such strong beliefs about the social norms. These characters are expressed so descriptively and through their personalities readers can learn just how the numerous social standards were received.
Society has a natural tendency to categorize and rank the differences and distinctions among a population. In a new age of enlightenment during the early 1800’s, Jane Austen addresses our impulse to judge others in her novel: Pride and Prejudice. Austen illuminates the effects of a hierarchal society on our relationships and behavior through the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. Furthermore, Austen exhibits how humankind’s obsessive inclination to quickly judge a person upon a first encounter can be destructive to our pursuit of happiness. In an effort to demonstrate the obstacles that society presents to achieving authentic prosperity, Austen suggests that happiness exists independently of society’s classifications. In this manner, Elizabeth and Darcy manage to overcome their pride, prejudice, and the bonds of society, to finally discover true love and happiness.
Southam, Brian. "Jane Austen." British Writers. Vol. IV. Ed. Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Scribners, 1981.
The struggle between happiness and society shows a society where true happiness has been forfeited to form a perfect order.
People with self awareness can be both happy and unhappy. Mr Bennet has self awareness but he is unhappy because he finds no satisfaction in his family. Elizabeth and Darcy come to know themselves and develop towards each other and so their marriage has the capacity to hold the greatest happiness. Also, happiness can be found when you have no self awareness. Charlotte has self awareness and knows what she wants and needs and so she is content in her marriage to Mr Collins. Mr Collins has no self awareness but is happy because he has a wife and this is what he aspired to. Ultimately, people who have the most self awareness and knowledge who can grow and learn their weaknesses and faults are the people who will have the most happiness in their lives.
Austen, Jane. Emma. Norton Critical 3rd edition, ed. Donald Gray New York and London: Norton, 2001.
Wealth and happiness was the common debate for most people at the time, and usually wealth would conquer happiness. Women, and even men, always wanted to “marry up” and climb the social ladder. Austen seems to convey the idea that one should marry someone for love but does put importance on money. Although most of her main characters marry for love she makes sure they have an income. Even the characters who claim that happiness is most important, such as Marianne, have a subconscious desire for men of wealth; and sensible characters such as Elinor hesitate at the idea of a marriage that would be made impossible by a lack of fortune. In the end love and happiness triumph over wealth and grandeur as Willoughby and Lucy lose the people they love and Marianne, Edward and Elinor live contently.
had written the novel in hope it would be read by people of her day
Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice portrays varying attitudes to marriage. "The intricate social network that pervades the novel is one that revolves around the business of marriage". Through her female characters the reader sees the different attitudes to marriage and the reasons that these women have for marrying. These depend on their social status and their personal values. The reader is shown the most prevalent and common view of marriage held by society in Austen's time, and through the heroine, a differing opinion of marriage is explored. We are shown how marriage is viewed by the very wealthy and the values they emphasise in marriage. Through the characterisation of these women and use of irony, Austen has influenced the reader's opinions on the characters attitude about marriage and that of their contemporaries.
In Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen, the role of wealth and reputation is a partnership that leads to marriage, but in most (if not all) cases have little to do with love. The most propelling conflict in Pride and Prejudice is, “The morally significant conflict between pride and vanity” (Pride). Vanity is connected to wealth; therefore wealth is a poor choice to consider opposed to love. The role that reputation and wealth play when it comes to love is limited due to human pride and vanity. “The meaning of “pride” and “prejudice” acquire are related to the central theme of all of Jane Austen’s novels: the limitations of human vision” (Pride). In Austen’s time the inability to see past wealth when considering marriage is a cultural tie to the era and its norms. It’s a pitiable and vain cultural upbringing that is frowned upon in this century. One does not simply marry for the sake of wealth and reputation. Without love, marriage cannot last. It ends in a deadlock or with two people living together but leading separate lives behind closed doors.
Fergus, Jan. “Biography.” The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Jane Austen. Ed. Janet Todd.