Abby Laville Pride And Prejudice Essay

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Abby Laville
Cianciola
English IV
17 February 2023
Pride and Prejudice

Abby Laville
Cianciola
English IV
17 February 2023
Pride and Prejudice Pride and Prejudice is a novel written by Jane Austen in the early 1800s during the Georgian Era. It reflects many of the social challenges and topics of its day, such as war, household life, and gender and inheritance issues. Inheritance and landownership are intertwined with marriage and courtship. Courtship was a central focus on women's lives due to women having to be dependent on marriage for financial stability. Pride and Prejudice saw the start of the Industrial Revolution, the major shift from Enlightenment to Romantic trends, and the change in women's roles during the early 1800s. …show more content…

Elizabeth is a twenty-year-old, middle-class girl who eventually falls for Mr. Darcy- a twenty-eight-year-old, upper-class man. The publication of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792 created an argument about how women should be seen as rational and equal to men. Elizabeth Bennett resembles the change in women's lifestyles that occurred during this time period. Elizabeth rejected men in marriage because she knew her true worth. Never putting the choice of money at hand to decide for her. She knew who she loved and loved them on her own without any guidance of rules that came to play in 1792 for poor women. Mrs.Elizabeth spoke her mind; putting arrogant men in their place and even women sometimes. She showed true intellectual and moral independence. As she was away from home she showed her true independence to survive and kept her head high always. Men expected women to know how to cook, sew, entertain, and do work around the house. Basically know how to be a stay-at-home mom and servant for the husband. This was what women during the 1800s were expected to find a suitable home. Not only for love but to survive. Most women were very poor. If you were lucky enough to be “handsome”, they call it, you might marry wealthy. Elizabeth’s sister, Jane Bennet, shows how important it is to have beauty. Many times before she has had men on their knees asking her to marry them. …show more content…

Tending to the major shift from Enlightenment to Romantic trends. The historical context of this novel displays that the Bennet family's status of wealth puts them a step under the upper class. They only appeared to have one maid while those of the upper class had more than one. Due to them being farmers as the Industrial Revolution progressed more wealth was brought to those in trade and merchant families. Therefore, this is why the Bennet family is considered to be in the lower class. They still have some money but not nearly enough as Mr.Darcy, Mr.Bingley, and Lady Cathrine. The men controlled the money however and women had little control over the wealth. The only way for women of the 1800s to have money is if their father died or if they married rich. This is exactly what the Bennet family's daughters' goal was for their lives. The author Jane Austen had this very goal as well. Not to marry rich but to be successful. She wanted to make it known that women during this time struggled as she did in her childhood. Jane came from a big family that led her father to be financially unstable throughout her life. Her father was a farmer and it is known in the Industrial Revolution that farmers do not make a great deal of pay. Due to Jane’s class, she still had the qualities of a young lady that was expected. She knew how to sew, draw, and her love of reading. Reading is what began her journey to a