Elizabeth Bennett Defying Societal Norms

Elizabeth Bennett Defying Societal Norms

Britain in the early 1800s was much different than it is today. In the Romantic period, the United Kingdom believed in a ranking system. They believed in segregating people into different social classes based on their jobs, education, family background, and overall status. In this time period, women were also very heavily differentiated from men. The role of women in this society was to keep house and raise children. They were to be very feminine and reflect innocence. The ultimate goal of women in the early 1800s was to be wed to a working man of high social class. They believed that a person’s class determined their worth. In the book Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen wrote about the upper middle class

Bennett believed Lizzy to be a foolish, ungrateful girl after Lizzy challenged society’s standards of marriage with a declination of a marriage proposal from a worthy suitor. Mr. Collins, the man who was to inherit the Bennett household after Mr. Bennett’s death, proposed to his cousin in hopes of gaining a wife. Mr. Collins was a suitable clergyman for Lizzy because he had a fine amount of money and social connections. Though, Lizzy could not imagine marrying this “conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man,” even if accepting his proposal meant that the Bennett women would keep their home after Mr. Bennett’s death (Austen 95). Mrs. Bennett did not approve of Lizzy’s rejection of the marriage proposal. She went hysterical, saying, “Lizzy shall be brought to reason. I will speak to her about it directly. She is a very headstrong, foolish girl, and does not know her own interest but I will make her know it” (Austen 78). Mrs. Bennett implied that Lizzy was a stupid girl that did not know what was best for her because it was uncommon for noble women to decline a proper marriage proposal at the time. Lizzy was looked down upon because of her morals and self-worth. It made no difference to Mrs. Bennett that her children marry for love. She was like the typical woman of the time putting social status above love. Lizzy defied her mother and society’s normalcy, choosing independence and prioritizing her happiness above all

Women in her society conventionally married for money and social status. Lizzy, however, had no intention of following those standards. Lizzy wanted to marry someone whom she connected with on an intimate level, someone who loved her. Thus, Lizzy was in utter shock and disbelief when Charlotte Lucas, her close friend, told her that she accepted Mr. Collins’s marriage proposal. Lizzy could not comprehend why Charlotte would want to marry someone whom she did not love, though, “she had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own” (Austen 89). Lizzy knew that Charlotte prioritized different qualities in a man. Charlotte longed for stability and wealth, she did not care for love, “I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins’s character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state” (Austen 89). Charlotte, like most women of the time, wanted a wealthy husband who would treat her well and Mr. Collins fit that criterion. Although Lizzy was disappointed with her friend, she did not resent her friend for choosing a different path in life than