Mr Bennet Pride And Prejudice Analysis

The "Weaker" Sex

During the Austen Era, women were often thought to be the weaker sex, subservient to men. This idea can be seen throughout Pride and Prejudice. Mrs. Bennet was characterized as someone with a “weak understanding and illiberal mind” (Austen, 226). [4] On the other hand, her husband, Mr. Bennet was portrayed as a competent and sarcastic man who was fond of reading. Mrs. Bennet was often teased by her husband, who found great pleasure in mocking her, sometimes without her knowledge.

Elizabeth Bennet also touched upon the idea of the inferiority of women during a conversation with Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley. After hearing what defined an accomplished women, “‘…a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern

Bennet ran the household. She made sure that the servants did what was expected of them, organized feasts (as seen when Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy visited Longbourn), and encouraged (almost to the point of forcing) her daughters to get married as soon as possible.

However, theorists may also note that Lizzie, the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice, breaks some of the traditional gender roles of women during Austen 's time. Lizzie loves to read, she turns down two proposals of marriage, she loves the outdoors, and she is outspoken and bold. Theorists may argue that, since Lizzie crosses the traditional gender boundaries, Austen was creating a more progressive view of women in her

In Austen’s world women have few opportunities to support themselves in society aside from becoming governesses or marrying into wealth and prestige. Females had little opportunity for employment, to become a governess was considered degrading, and when there are no brothers or heirs to the estate, as in the case of Elizabeth Bennett’s family, the family then has to entail its fortune, in this case to a distant cousin, Mr Collins. Women thus suffer on many counts on account of their gender, in the suffocating society of manners and class pretension that Austen depicts, marriage becomes a need for survival. Yet, Elizabeth remains an independent minded heroine who rejects Mr Collins proposal and initially Mr Darcy’s proposal as she does not believe in marrying simply for status or wealth, so it becomes a felicitous situation when she finds herself in love with the obnoxious Mr Darcy, who holds a large estate and is esteemed highly in