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Pride And Prejudice Feminist Analysis

779 Words4 Pages

The novel Pride and Prejudice can easily be picked apart through a feminist lens. The farther into the book one goes, the more there is to critique and analyze through a feminist lens. The book is about Elizabeth Bennet and her relationship with her eventual fiance Mr. Darcy, the ups and the downs of their relationship. Elizabeth was never a woman who only craved the attention and approval of men, she was her own person with her own complex emotions. Pride and Prejudice is an intricate novel that has a great deal of feminism while stilling falling into the traditional roles of the 1700 's. Pride and Prejudice was written in 1797 about a century before traditional feminism was even a thought in peoples head.Thus women at this time were not …show more content…

Elizabeth does many things that could characterize her as a monster; she does not want to dance with Mr. Wickham (87), he refuses to accept Mr. Collins Proposal (101), and Mr. Darcy 's first proposal (181). She is doing things that are only pleasing her, and could even be inconveniencing the men. An angel is a woman who falls into traditional feminine roles, and can be seen as “innocent”, “pure”, and not “tainted by society”; she is there to please her man, and do everything in her power to make him happy, “The arts of pleasing men, in other words, are not only angelic characteristics; in more worldly terms, they are the proper acts of a lady.”In this way, Elizabeth Bennet can be characterized as an angel rather than a monster, because she does things to please Mr. Darcy and make him happy. One example is when she accepts his second marriage proposal (342), it is debated whether she actually loves him or not, so her “I do” could just be her trying to make him happy or if she actually loves him. By way of contrast, the opposite can be true about the proposal; she could’ve just accepted his second proposal because she realized that she probably couldn’t marry someone better, and Mr. Darcy had a significant amount of

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1252 Words | 6 Pages

Darcy constructs a barrier between the two, which results in a feeling of absolute temptation and anger. In effect, they can see each other’s love much more easily than earlier in the novel. Elizabeth Bennet is portrayed as coming from a family that is inferior in rank; they inherit this stereotype through aspects of wealth, property, and marriage. On the other hand, Mr. Darcy has a social ranking of complete superiority within the society; he comes from a family that has the highest of standards among those three similar aspects to the Bennet family. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen creates a society that discriminates Elizabeth with her decision to eventually marry Mr. Darcy.

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Darcy, Austen uses their pride to eliminate their prejudice aspects as an example of a true love marriage. In the beginning Elizabeth develops a strong prejudice aspect towards Mr. Darcy with her first impression of him as well as believing Mr. Wickham rather than Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy begins to fall in love with Elizabeth and proposes, but while expressing his feelings he reminds her of their differences regarding social status. “He spoke of apprehension and anxiety, but his countenance expresses real security”(163). Elizabeth realizes that Mr. Darcy believes that she will accept his hand in marriage, even after the insulting proposal.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

And yet, such actions were normal in the 1800s, which is consistently proven by the overuse of rushed engagements and elopements. Although, this haste of Mr. Darcy, along with the way he talks about Elizabeth at times, is not something that women of today would find attractive. After all, Darcy’s first spoken impression of Lizzy is that she is “tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.” (Jane Austen, page

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819 Words | 4 Pages

After the failure of Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth’s had no hope to find herself the perfect partner. As she learned more of Mr. Darcy’s life however, she found him more and more desirable. She learned of his generosity to all: friends, family, subordinates, peers, and especially those who worked for him and his wellbeing. She also saw his wealth on full display with a visit to his estate. At this moment, Elizabeth new she had fallen for the same man she had so strongly hated just weeks before.

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Elizabeth’s most significant change in Pride and Prejudice pertained to her regard for Darcy, which eventually revealed her new willingness to overcome her own prejudice. Early on, while talking to Jane about Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth declared that “to find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate” would be “the greatest misfortune of all” (89). Throughout the first half of the book, Elizabeth served as the embodiment of prejudice, in that she was so insistent on hating that she would have found displeasure in discovering benevolence in another person. This was shown in her initial view of Darcy, in which virtually nothing could have redeemed him in her eyes from anything more than a conceited man of wealth. The most significant change of

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568 Words | 3 Pages

Elizabeth Bennet, the second of five daughters, is an intelligent, headstrong woman who detests the idea of marriage being a mere economic contract. Elizabeth adamantly rejects Darcy’s first proposal of marriage. Despite the affluent lifestyle and economic security Darcy would be able to offer Elizabeth, she still refuses his proposal on the grounds that he is egocentric, impudent and uncivil. This reproach to Darcy prompts him to reform his character and after a series of events, Elizabeth soon begins to see Darcy for the moral man he really

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715 Words | 3 Pages

Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy met at a ball in Meryton that she and her sister Jane were invited to by Mr. Darcy’s friend Mr. Bingley. Mr. Bingley tried to get Mr. Darcy to give Elizabeth a chance and dance with her but his response was “She is tolerable but not handsome enough to tempt me”. Elizabeth automatically doesn’t like Darcy because he won’t dance with anyone who isn’t rich, and he comes across as snobby. Elizabeth then meets Mr. Wickham who also does not like Mr. Darcy. Mr. Wickham tells Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy has treated him unfairly.

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Those closest to her focus on the status of the man, such as her best friend Charlotte who accepts Mr. Collins “solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment” (Austen 120). Elizabeth, however, looks at a person’s demeanor and actions as well. Dissatisfied with society and Charlotte's irrational decisions, she confesses, “the more I see of the world, the more I am dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of [...] the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense” (Austen 133). Elizabeth is significantly more wary about marriage than Charlotte and her sisters, and therefore she is unwilling to accept a proposal simply because it is expected of a women. Upon first meeting Darcy, she judges him to be arrogant and conceited.

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1091 Words | 5 Pages

The book deals with themes that include love, reputation, and class. However, Pride and Prejudice received much criticism for being a novel full of female characters that fit the social norms for women in the 19th century. The female characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, while being seen as frivolous and typical representations of

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497 Words | 2 Pages

Up until chapter 34, Elizabeth had only heard bad rumors about Mr. Darcy, such as him interfering with the relationship of her sister, Jane. Nonetheless, Mr. Darcy’s feelings toward Elizabeth increased to the point that it will not be repressed, thus proposing her. Although she rejected him rather harshly, she knew not how to support herself, and contemplated about how she should receive an offer of marriage from Mr. Darcy. This scene is important in that it alters Elizabeth’s opinion towards Mr. Darcy, and turns the story around in a way that this company

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1582 Words | 7 Pages

The witty domestic comedy that centers around the lives of a few well-to-do families in nineteenth century England, Pride and Prejudice, was published in 1813 after author Jane Austen’s completion of the novel. Her most acclaimed work of literature has withstood the test of time, but this is perhaps due to the idea that Jane Austen has benefited from a feminist rereading more than any other author. While Jane Austen has been criticized for her lack of consideration of the larger societal picture and problems, this in fact enhances the idea that Mary Wollstonecraft would agree to: that Austen’s novel is a satirical device of the time’s treatment of women in a class where the problems would be amplified. While all the women in this novel are

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1161 Words | 5 Pages

She learns to love and respect Darcy out of her own free will, despite what her family thinks. Elizabeth listens to others and learns who Darcy is despite society. When she learns that his housekeeper has “never known a cross word from him in [her] life, and [she has] known him ever since he was four years old” (pg 252) along with all of the other wonderful things she hears about him, her opinion of him begins to alter. Elizabeth wanted to marry someone that she loved. Darcy is looked down upon for admiring Elizabeth but is so strong in his opinion that he does not let others influence him.

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2036 Words | 9 Pages

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898 Words | 4 Pages

But vanity not love has been my folly”(Austen pp. 205). Here, Jane Austen use internal discoveries to elucidate the fact that first impressions are often flawed. Essentially, Elizabeth allowed herself to be deceived by such a man as Wickham and she understands how hurtful she has been to Mr. Darcy. Furthermore, Elizabeth realizes that Mr. Wickham only despised Mr. Darcy because of misconceptions in their past and not because Mr. Darcy was an evil

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924 Words | 4 Pages

Collins’s patron, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also Darcy’s aunt. Darcy calls on Lady Catherine and encounters Elizabeth, whose presence leads him to make a number of visits to the Collins’s home, where she is staying. One day, he makes a proposal “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you” but Elizabeth refuses. She tells Darcy that she considers him arrogant, and admits that “I have not the pleasure of understanding you,” then scolds him for steering Bingley away from Jane and disinheriting Wickham. Darcy leaves her but delivers a letter to her—he admits that he urged Bingley to distance himself from Jane, but claims he did so only because he thought their romance was not

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