The Role of the Female in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
...ost important issue to the family is in regards to the future of their estate and the financial stability that the girls will have in their futures. Austin uses the daughters as examples of how and how not women should act if they wish to advance in the social spheres. Out of the five, Elizabeth is the most skilled in being able to use her wit and intellect to take advantage of the social situations that she is in. In the beginning of the story Darcy is depicted as a heartless and coarse person who at first was, “looked at with great admiration”, but after the crowd at the dance in Meryton grew familiar with his manners they became, “disgusted which turned the tide of his popularity. (11)” This was the general state of people’s opinion until he saved the Bennett’s from serious financial embracement. After Darcy was proved to have a heart Elizabeth realized that she was really interested in him, but in talking with his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she realized that marrying Darcy would prove to be a challenge. In Elizabeth’s eye she was an equal with Catherine and Darcy, but the way that they perceived the social classes would prove to be a barrier. Despite these obstacles Elizabeth was able to control situations so that Darcy came to an understanding that they were social equals. Elizabeth daringly did this by refusing his marriage proposal because he thought that he was doing it as a favor to her as opposed to the idea that they were social equals who were in love with each other. Austin does setup certain guidelines for what the perfect marriage would be. She makes it clear that although a lower class worker cannot marry an aristocrat, a person from the middle class can marry someone from the upper class, as demonstrated with Darcy and Elizabeth. So the aspect of money has been set up, but what about love? The primary concern of the Bennett’s is money, but Mr. and Mrs. Bennett do want their children to be happy, hence Mrs. Bennett is interested in more than the financial status of her daughter’s prospective husbands. If the Elizabeth was only concerned with money she...