PRIDE+&+PREJUDICE

Discuss the social views concerning women and the roles of women in 18th century England using specific examples from //Pride & Prejudice// & your textbook. Additionally, consider the accuracy / authoritativeness / bias of Jane Austen.

-Older girls should be married before their younger siblings. Catherine deBourg believed that Jane and Elizabeth should have been married and in society before Lydia and Kitty were in society. -Women are only housekeepers and mothers. -Wanting wealth and position/status is unladylike, and looked down upon, but was needed to be higher up in society. Mrs. Bennet was looked down upon becuase she desired better lives with wealthier husbands for her daughters. She wanted Jane to marry Mr. Bingley because he was rich and noble (of high status) -Education was only about drawing, playing piano, speaking different languages fluently, poetry, dance. Catherine deBourg mocked Elizabeth because she could not play the piano fluently. -Marriage was more for wealth and position and what you can get, not for love. Charlotte only married Mr. Collins for security and provision. She also thought that this was her only chance to be married, so she took that opportunity. -Arranged marriages with cousins and close friends. Mr. Darcy and Catherine deBourg's daughter were engaged since infancy because they are both of noble birth and wealth. -Propriety was very important. Mr. Darcy thought that the Bennet family was not worthy of marrying into because of the mother and bad reputation. -Women should be seen and not heard. They were not supposed to speak their opinions. Catherine deBourg was offended when Elizabeth spoke her opinions at the dinner table. -Looks were everything (since love was not there). Mrs. Bennet told Mr. Bingley that Elizabeth (or Charlotte?) was not as pretty as her Jane. -the inaccurateness is where Jane Austen has Elizabeth marry Darcy. The chances for a person in the lower class back then was a bit rare, unless maybe if money was involved, but money was not offered to Mr. Darcy, they also fell in love, usually people in the higher class would not even think about marrying or be attracted to a women lower than him (Ellen Mok, Stephanie Tran, Jessica Hom, Emily Cheng)

(Anna Lim, Andrea Padilla, Nathan Poon) In //Pride and Prejudice//, Jane Austen is rather accurate of the biases of the time, especially because it is reflective of the stereotypes of women during the time of Pride and Prejudice. The social views of women during the time were mostly based on money and marriage. A woman was only worthy if she had a husband. To get married was the greatest achievement a woman could have during the eighteenth century. Women needed the income of a husband to survive as most of them did not work. Women did not have equal rights as men. However, women were not prohibited from getting educated. In fact, Elizabeth, the main character of //Pride and Prejudice//, is educated. Although women played important roles in domestic matters, upper-class women were not responsible of house works.