Marika Malkerson
Elizabeth is a strong willed, intelligent young woman in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth’s community of friends and family are obsessed with the idea of marriage. It is her mother’s greatest wish to get all five of her daughters married to eligible gentlemen. But Elizabeth cares about more than marriage, she is looking for love. Elizabeth wants to feel affection and respected for the man she marries. Surrounding Elizabeth is a society that pressures woman to marry, not for love but for money and good social standing. In 1813 when Pride and Prejudice was published, women did not have many rights, just what their husbands allowed them. They could not even own or inherit property.1 Sometimes marrying was the only option for women to gain independence. In English society, women were property to their fathers and then given to their husbands.2 Women were thought to be inferior to men.
Even though there were social constraints surrounding Elizabeth, she stayed true to her own beliefs of what a marriage should be. Elizabeth is challenged by her own desire to find love and a good husband not only by society but family and friends as well, including the marriage of her best friend, Charlotte, and her youngest sister, Lydia. Even though society, her friends, and her family pressure her, Elizabeth’s stays true to her own idea of what a marriage means to her, a combination of a respectable match and true love.
Elizabeth’s best friend is Charlotte Lucas, a plain woman who is twenty- seven years old. Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth’s mother, says this of Charlotte about her being admired by men, “However, he did not admire her at all: indeed, nobody can, you know.”3 Charlotte is described as being plain. Because of this, she suffered long years of not being married in a society that did not look kindly on single women. Charlotte could not own property, could not run her own household, and was a burden on her family financially because she could not work.4 But when an unexpected proposal from Mr. Collins comes, a past suitor to Elizabeth, Charlotte accepts. This comes as a great surprise to Elizabeth. Elizabeth almost despises Mr. Collins thinking Charlotte and him together a “so unsuitable a match” (PP 85). Elizabeth thinks this is because there is no love between the two. But Charlotte explains to Elizabeth, “I am not a romantic you know. Never was” (PP 85). Charlotte and Elizabeth have different ideas of what a marriage should be. Elizabeth believes there should be love between a man and wife, while Charlotte sees marriage as a way to gain her own independence by making a respectable union.
Elizabeth’s youngest sister is Lydia, a rambunctious fifteen years old who is completely boy crazy. The young girl cannot help but fall all over herself whenever there is a “Redcoat” officer, distinct by the red coats they wore. Lydia, being her mother’s favorite, was debuted very early. Most girls were not presented as being of marriageable age until they were older. Lydia is obsessed with the idea of being in love and getting married, so when the chance presents itself she immediately jumps in to a relationship. Elizabeth is very embarrassed by her sister’s judgment. Lydia ends up marrying Mr. Wickham, a man known to be a gambler and is in debt. She runs off with him, thinking herself in love, nearly ruining her family’s good name. Lydia is saved by Elizabeth’s future husband, Mr. Darcy. She comes home from the affair expecting the Bennets to congratulate her on a marriage that was so ill conceived. “Ah, Jane I take your place now, and you must go lower, because I am a married woman” (PP 205). Lydia tells her eldest sister, Jane, as the family takes their seats at the table. Lydia throws these words at her sister, telling her that she is the first to marry. She treats marriage as if it is a game that she has now won. Lydia does not care of the circumstances of her marriage, just as long as she is the first. She is a complete romantic, fancying herself in love with Wickham. Elizabeth is shocked by her uncaring attitude toward the family and her total disregard for her reputation in society. “I am sure I had no more idea of being married till I came back again! Though I thought it would be very good fun if I was” (PP 205). Lydia is convinced that being married is fun and that she has beaten her sisters in a game. Elizabeth’s sees her sister as being childish and silly. She believes there has to be a happy medium between love and a good match. She sees that Lydia is in love, but not responsible in her choice for a husband.
Elizabeth’s own relationship to Mr. Darcy is very different from that of her best friend and youngest sister. At first she despises Mr. Darcy, calling him arrogant and prideful. Mr. Darcy also finds Elizabeth not very appealing at first, insulting her at a dance, “She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me” (PP 9). His mind slowly changes though, and he starts to find his eyes drifting to Elizabeth whenever she is near. Darcy explains that to be a lady a woman must have “a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing dancing and the modern languages, to deserve the word” (PP 27). Elizabeth does not fit this criteria. She contradicts him, “I never saw such a woman. I never saw such capacity, and taste, and application, and elegance, as you describe, united” (PP 27). Elizabeth is not the normal woman. She will not simper and agree with everything Darcy says to her just because of his position in society as a wealthy man,—actually the opposite. As they slowly become more acquainted with each other, Darcy finds Elizabeth more and more interesting. Darcy knows she is not his ideal match; she does not come from a great family and has no wealth. But he still is enticed by her.
He even comments on her status when he proposes to her, “could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your connections? To congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?” (PP 27) She is angered by his disregard for her feelings and abuse to her family. But as she comes to know Darcy for being a man who cares about her and saves her family from ruin, she understands that he truly loves her. She finds her own feelings for him,“that we are to be the happiest couple in the world” (PP 244).
For Elizabeth, her love came slowly. Even though she knows that marrying Darcy would be a good match because of his wealth, she does not love him. But when she slowly realizes how wonderful he is and what a gentlemen he is, she changes her mind. When she visits his home, Pemberely, she falls in love with the house. It is completely to her liking. She finds that they have the same tastes. Not only does she notice this, but she also notices that the servants love Darcy. They only have good comments. Elizabeth now can see how she and Darcy have much in common and how it would be a good match. Not only does she learn she loves him, but he is wealthy, has the same tastes, and that he appreciates Elizabeth for herself. Darcy loves her not because she has money, for she has none, not for her family connection, because there is none to be had, but for her own self worth.
Pride and Prejudice is a book focused on marriage. Elizabeth is confronted time and again with the marriages of those around her, first her best friend Charlotte and then her youngest sister, Lydia. Their marriages, and ultimately hers, are very different but all are affected by society in different ways. Charlotte makes a very respectable marriage that is liked by society but lacking in love; Lydia’s is all about the adventure and the fun of being married, even if it goes against society, while Elizabeth’s own ultimate marriage is a little different. She finds that she does not have to have one or the other. Elizabeth finds that both love, a deep caring for Mr. Darcy, and a respectable marriage can go hand in hand.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abrams, Lynn. “Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britian.” In History Trails: Victorian Britain (bbc.co.uk) https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml. Last accessed September 2006.
Austin, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001.