The Lack of Social Mobility in Jane Austen’s novel Pride...

Pride and Prejudice, a novel written by Jane Austen during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century is often thought of as simply a love story and although on the surface this is true, it is in fact much more than that. Austen focuses greatly on the class system and lack of social mobility allowed in England during this period (the Napoleonic Wars, 1797-1815) and the pride and prejudice that these social divides reveal, as well as the personal pride and prejudice shown by individual characters and how these interlink. The novel is in many ways a comedy of manners (that is, a comedy that ridicules a particular social group because of their attitudes and behaviour, in this case the Upper class and to some extent the Middle class).†¦show more content†¦Her dislike of him grows as his liking of her increase until whilst she is visiting her recently married best friend Charlotte, and her husband, Elizabeth’s cousin Mr Collins, Mr Darcy proposes. Elizabeth refuses, however when she discovers she was mistaken in her view of him her feelings towards him warm, particularly after she finds out he saved her sister from disgrace by paying Mr Wickham (Darcy’s adversary and the man who had eloped with her sister) to marry Lydia. They finally put aside their differences and marry, to Darcy’s aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Miss Bingley’s disgust. Elizabeth Bennet is a very good example of both pride and prejudice. She is her father’s favourite as she is the cleverest of his children, in his words she â€Å"has something more of quickness than her sisters†. The first time she meets Mr Darcy, at an assembly (ball) she overhears Mr Bingley attempting to convince him to dance. He refuses. When Bingley suggests he dance with Elizabeth, describing her as very pretty (though not as beautiful as Jane) Darcy is not convinced, replying that â€Å"she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me†. To Elizabeth’s credit she tries to laugh it off, relaying the story to her friends but the reader can see she is more affected by the comment than she lets on during her conversation with Charlotte Lucas after the ball. Charlotte says his pride â€Å"does notShow MoreRelatedComparing The Representation Of Women s The Yellow Wallpaper And Pride And Prejudice 1662 Words   |  7 PagesCompare the representat ion of women in Gilman’s ‘The yellow wallpaper’ and Austen’s ‘pride and prejudice’. To what extent do you agree with the view that Gilman presents conventional patriarchal expectations of women, more critically than Austen. Both Austen and Gilman breakthrough the conformity of femininity at a time of rising feminism in a bid to encourage the female viewpoint which was put down or rather shunned to be less valuable by the society they lived in. Gilman however presents it inRead MoreThe Portrayal Of Women By Jane Austen And Charles Dickens Essay2871 Words   |  12 PagesAnalysis of the Portrayal of Women by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens in Pride and Prejudice and Hard Times respectively, in view of their social positions, gender identities and historical situations. Published first in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is universally acknowledged as Jane Austen’s (1775-1817) most popular work of all times. The novel was written between 1796 and 1797 and was initially titled First Impressions. Set in the backdrop of rural England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenthRead MoreJane Austen s Pride And Prejudice1766 Words   |  8 PagesThe social world of Jane Austen’s, Pride and Prejudice is one in which women’s rights were limited due to society’s patriarchal point of view. In Jane Austen’s world, women suffered on the account of their gender in a class pretension society making it only possible to increase social mobility through the mean of marriage. Austen depicts marriage as an economical business, needed to rescue women from succumbing to a life of poverty and disgrace. In a society that affirm the principle values of marriage

Sense and Sensibility Neo-classicism vs Romanticism

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin was a moralistic novel depicting the two main forms of attitudes at that time; the neo -classics and the romantics. The period in which it was written, nineteenth century England, was laden with social etiquette and customs imposed on people of that time; and thus the characters of Jane Austins novels. The novels two main protagonists; Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, exemplify the Neo classical era and the romantic era, respectfully. Jane Austin instils Neo-classic and romantic ideals in Elinor and Marianne as to present a view of each attitude and to further enhance the discrepancies of social nineteenths century England. Neo- Classicism derived from the 17-18th centuries intellectual pursuit into†¦show more content†¦and she could have no lasting satisfaction in the company of a person who joined insincerity with ignorance (p108) Throughout sense and sensibility, Elinor is shown to be fair and just in her personal judgements. Elinor is also distinguished for her ability to self govern her feelings. The neo classics disprove of one indulging in feelings and believe one should instead conceal them, suffering silently. An example of this can be seen when Edward breaks Elinors heart, thus Austin places Elinor and Marianne in parallel situations. Marianne, the romantic, focuses solely on her own feelings and disregards the feelings of others. However, Elinor follows Neo Classic ethics by remaining a pillar of support for those who depend on her. She does not withdraw away and contemplate her life but instead carries on with the duties she undertook since the beginning of the novel. She continually self sacrifices her desire to the needs and benefit of those around her, showing a magnanimous concern to others while silencing her own feelings; dealing with issues with an unbiased outlook: She was very far from wishing to dwell on her own feelings, or to represent herself as suffering much, any otherwise than as the self command she had practised since her first knowledge of Edwards engagement... (p220) A major example of her self-sacrifice can be seen when Elinor agrees to bear theShow MoreRelatedSense and Sensibilty by Jane Austen2297 Words   |  9 PagesSense and Sensibility by Jane Austen is a satirical clash of the two cultural movements: †¯Romanticism, a movement focused on how imagination and emotion are more important than reason and formal rules, and Classicism, a movement centered on the qualities of formal etiquette, logic, and rationality. Austen focuses on the moral and social attributes of each, mainly their concepts on love. †¯She portrays these traits in all the characters in the book, mainly the two oldest Dashwood sisters, Elinor andRead MoreRomanticism versus Neoclassicism2775 Words   |  12 Pagestradition, society, intellect and formal diction, Romanticism allowed people to get away from the constrained rational views of life and concentrate on an emotional and sentimental side of humanity. In this movement the emphasis was on emotion, passion, ima gination, individual and natural diction. Resulting in part from the liberation and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution, the romantic movement had in common only a revolt against the rules of classicism. There are obviously a lot of distinctions

Why Should Abortion be illegal Free Essays

Abortion is taking the life off new human being. Many people would say that it’s not human to kill another person but what makes abortion any different from that? The main reason why many women abort is because they’re too young and are scared of the Impact a baby will make In there life, they don’t have enough money to support a child, or their relationship starts falling after finding out they’re pregnant. As a Christian I was taught that abortion Is wrong and that only God can determine who lives and dies. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Should Abortion be illegal? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Not only is abortion wrong but it can also cause severe damage to our body not only physically but psychologically. If you’re not ready to take care of a child on your own don’t abort put your child up for adoption, there are thousands of couples who would love to have a child but can’t and are just waiting for a baby to adopt. Abortion is not justified because adoption is another choice, women often have side affects both physically and psychologically and you are taking the baby’s right of life away, killing is never right under any circumstance, therefore abortion should be Illegal. Adoption Is another option, give your child to a nice family who will take care and purport the baby the way It should be. There Is 36 couples waiting for ever one baby put Into adoption (Life News). You can even have the choice to have an open adoption where you can keep In touch with your child and know how Its doing throughout his/ her life. I think the fact that there are couples out there aborting because they aren’t ready to have a children is unfair to couples dying to have children and the future baby. Abortion is very harmful to the human body not only physically but psychologically. Abortion can cause both short and long term physical complications. One is that abortion can affect women in being able to have healthy pregnancies in the future. After having an abortion women often suffer from depression because of regret, not only that but abortions create a risk of having a miscarriage or pelvic inflammation disease In the future. Abortions aren’t helping your life they’re ruining it. All of this can be avoided, our bodies weren’t made to have abortions. You are taking the life of a human being when you have an abortion. The fetus has a heart beat 5 weeks after the mothers last period and the fetus heart starts pumping blood throughout its body at six weeks (New Health Guide). People say abortions is not killing an actual living being. The time period recommended to have a safe abortion is 10 weeks, by this time the baby is already active. Its teeth and fingernails are growing in, it can start making facial expressions and even have the hiccup (New Health Guide). Please tell me how this isn’t a human being. The Declaration of Independence says â€Å"that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness†, but by having an abortion you are taking the babies right of life and happiness. Abortion can and should be stopped, It’s not right nor human to kill a human being because you can’t or don’t want to take care of It. I understand women are scared or Just don’t have the time to take care of a child but adoption Is always a choice. Abortions change women forever and not always for the best. The child has rights and by aborting you are taking the baby’s right of life. Affects and you are taking the baby’s right of life away, killing is never right under any circumstance, therefore abortion should be illegal. How to cite Why Should Abortion be illegal?, Papers