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Nikole McGee
Mrs. Stanford
LIT 234
19 May 2017
It may sound cliche, but people are defined by the amount of money in their bank accounts. Of
course any normal response to that statement would claim that this is a stereotypical accusation,
however, it carries some truth regardless of how exaggerated it may be. Class systems have always
been known to define people; everyone knows that rich people are snobby and poor people are
crabby! Those specific stereotypes may not be entirely truthful, however they do acknowledge that a
persons class system directly correlates with a persons personality, which is true to some extent. Living
in Victorian England, an era dominated by class systems, Jane Austen had more than enough time
throughout her life to analyze the relationship between man and money. Jane was (almost) among the
upperclassmen of Victorian England and undoubtedly knew the difference between a middle class and a
high class Briton solely based on personality and looks. Austen reveals what she has learned through her
book Pride and Prejudice, where characters match their class...sometimes. Austens book is deeply
influenced by the environment and time period that she lived in and gives the reader a glimpse into real
world problems that occurred in Victorian England. The messages that the book sends can be useful to
readers all over the world. Austens Pride and Prejudice tells a lot about the world Austen lived in; the
Victorian Era was dominated by class systems and stereotypes. Austen reflects these times and how
Pride and Prejudice is a story about a royal family with five female descendants who call
themselves the Bennett Sisters who are each in search of a husband. The plot begins with an
introduction of each sister: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. Jane is the first to be pursued by a
man, Mr.Bingley, who is taken by her and begins to court her almost immediately. Mr.Bingley attends an
event and brings the company of Mr.Darcy, who proves himself to be arrogant and outwardly/rudely
expresses that he refuses to dance with Elizabeth Darcy because he is not impressed with her. The book
centers mostly around Elizabeth and Darcy who set the table for the books main ideas. The summary
Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most
popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work her own darling
child and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, as delightful a creature as ever appeared in
print. The romantic clash between opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr.Darcy, is a
splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austens radiant wit sparkles as her
characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb
As the summary states, the book Pride and Prejudice was and still is one of the most popular novels
Today Austen is seen as a strong and independent woman, all things that are seen in a positive
light today, but in her time, people were not attracted to this quality. Having an opinion as a man in
Victorian England was seen as masculine and powerful, however, having an opinion as a woman was
highly frowned upon. The saying Everyone knows that a womans place is in the kitchen stemmed
from this label that women were branded with and suggested that as females, women are born with the
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obligation of catering to men and avoiding politics. When Austen wrote the character Elizabeth Bennet
she gave her a strong and stubborn personality, a widely unaccepted trait for a woman, which explains
just why Mr.Darcy initially turned his nose up at her. Austen believed that women should not be shunned
for having a voice, and many other women during the time period agreed with this notion, but were too
afraid to speak up. Austen undoubtedly received static from her audience that was outweighed by the
impact that her book made to those who were questioning their government and those who completely
agreed with Austens views. Many saw Jane as an imbecile while others saw her as brave and comical
because of the risk she took in writing such a story and because of her use of sarcastic language
throughout the book. Austen responded to these criticisms with a strong head and continued to write.
Austen is not the only writer who was forced to deal with these criticisms, authors as well known as
Charles Darwin underwent similar criticisms. Jane, like Darwin, gave English readers an opinion to
analyze and showed them that change for the better was possible for Britons. The difference between
these authors though is that they wrote about different unaccepted subjects. Darwin introduced science
that defied religion, while Austen portrayed feministic views and created social conflict.Women in
different classes had different expectations, meaning that the more high class that a woman was, the
more she was criticized, which is why Jane Austen was openly judged. Despite the conflict that Austen
created, not all criticisms that her book received have been negative; for example in the academic
journal titled Ventriloquized Opinions of "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," and "Emma": Jane
Austen's Critical Voice explains that the criticism Jane received helped her continue to write other
works, and lead her to criticize her own novels and others to better her writing. Gemmill writes:
In recent years, scholars such as Mary Waldron and Jocelyn Harris have used the allusions in
Austens novels and comments in her letters to make inferences about her assessments of other
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novels. According to these scholars, Austens opinions of contemporary fiction shaped her own
Austen was one of few women that spoke up and confronted issues head-on even after receiving both
positive and negative feedback, and while feminism seemed to be the most prominent issue in her
literary work Pride and Prejudice, in all reality it may not have been.
On a surface level, Pride and Prejudice seems to be a story solely about feministic views.
However, when analyzed in depth, it is evident that the story has lots of different undertones, the issue of
Victorian class systems being the most important. The book portrays the lives of the Bennett sisters and
their struggle to find love with a man that matched their hierarchy positions. The Bennett family was
nothing less than royalty and each female would be expected to associate with socially accepted males,
meaning that not only does a man have to be rich but he also has to be perfect, or at least thats how the
search for a husband would typically go in Victorian England. In Samina Ashfaq and Nasir Jamal
Khattaks academic journal titled Dilemma of Class Classification in Austens Pride and Prejudice
these authors introduce comparisons of the characters and society in Austens book with Victorian
society and class systems. After reviewing this analyzation, two things become clear: 1. Class system
played a much bigger role in Austens book than feminism and 2. characters in the book provide more
historical context than they seem to. Ashfaq and Khattak provide information about the book by saying:
The society of P & P is divided into classes but their boundaries are not clearly defined; rather
they seem to blur and merge without distinction. The focus is apparently on the individuals as an
integral part of the society to which they belong. Darcy, Lady Catherine and Bingley are not
financial equals. Bingley earns half the amount of Darcys yearly income and he is not even from
the landed gentry, still they share social equality. While Mr. Bennets connections, according to
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them, make him unworthy of becoming a relative through marriage. Though we meet people
from different social groups but what attracts us most is the universality that is appealing as well
as nostalgic for us even today. In Austens novels the characters are irresistibly fascinating as
literary creations, and horribly fascinating as persons whose counterparts persist in every
generation and through all stages of social change (Ward.138). (Dilemma of Class
Classification page 1)
This paragraph analyzes Pride and Prejudice and reveals a bit about Jane herself as well. Jane
Austens personal views on society are reflected through her literature, and it can be seen that she
favors equality and disagrees with the societal structure that was carried out in her time period.
In Victorian England there were four classes: upper class, middle class, working class, and
underclass. Not only were there classes but there were also subclasses. Under the label of Upper class
there were three subclasses: The Royal Class, The Middle Upper Class, and The Lower Upper Class.
The Royal Class included people related to the Royal family and/or the spiritual lords of that time. The
Middle upper class consisted of the great officers of England, baronets and temporal lords. The Lower
Upper Class included wealthy countrymen and successful businessmen. Underneath the label of The
Middle Class were two subdivisions called Higher Level Middle Class and Lower Level Middle Class.
Higher Level Middle Class were people who received decent salaries and had a higher social status
than other middle classmen. The Lower Level Middle Class was not much different besides that they
usually worked for the Higher Middle Class, and had lower income. The working class was also divided
into two subdivisions : The Skilled Class (skilled laborers) and The Unskilled Class (unskilled laborers).
Lastly, there were two subclasses under the label of The Low Class: The Poor and The Prostitutes. The
Poor were people and orphans known for surviving solely on the charity of others, whereas prostitutes
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were the lowest of the lowest class because they disobeyed the church and tried to make profit from it.
These classes were seen, not only in England itself but throughout the English colonies and British
Empire, more information on specific examples of this can be found in the scholarly journal written by
M.G. Whisson titled Ethnic Pride and Racial Prejudice in Victorian Cape Town - Group Identity and
Social Practice. This journal discusses real life Pride and Prejudice in British colonial Cape Town. This
journal exposes racism and unequal class systems in the British community. The journal outlines political,
social, and economic issues during the Victorian Era in England based on class (Ethnic Pride and Racial
Prejudice, Whisson). The characters in Austens book are centered in the Upper Class divisions, which
causes for a stricter and more hostile environment in the story. Upperclassmen had to reach higher
expectations than anyone else in England which is why searching for a husband is such an elongated
process in Pride and Prejudice, the characters are forced to be picky. Class systems affected more
than just the characters in Austens book, it directly impacted her own life as well.
Austens ideas did not stem from thin air, she was able to write Pride and Prejudice because
of her experience in England. Janes mother did some educational work and her father was a clergyman.
Jane (just like every child) was influenced greatly by her parents and was well educated in the areas of
politics and religion because of her fathers occupation (Pride and Prejudice, Austen). Janes knowledge
of religion is shewn in her book, and is outlined in the academic journal titled The Moral Imagination:
Biblical Imperatives, Narrative and Hermeneutics in Pride and Prejudice" in which the author, Alison
Searl, writes I shall...consider the moral vision that informs Austen's text and its relationship to biblical
personal views were influenced by her experiences and knowledge of social life in England, religious life
in England, and her own homelife. Jane and her family were a part of a growing middle class called the
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gentry, a highly respected class (within the middle class), meaning that she most likely interacted with
people of all class systems which is why she was able to write Pride and Prejudice in such a realistic
style. Jane wrote this story about the difficulty of being a high class woman in search of a husband and
the important role that being married played in womans life. Austen portrayed characters with snobby,
genuine, and mischievous personalities by writing in styles of realism and satire. She embraced a society
where relationships were less complicated in terms of social status and where humans would redefine
how relationships were carried out. Each of these things are reflected in her book Pride and Prejudice
and other books that she had written throughout her lifetime. Austens bravery in publishing her literary
works contributed to the changing social views in Victorian England and are recognized today as iconic
changes in history.
Till this moment I never knew myself (Pride and Prejudice, Austen), quotes like this one and
others from Austens book helped people find where they stood in society because of how the book
reflected and analyzed human relationships (more information on that in the scholarly article Human
Relationship in the Novels of Jane Austen." by Monika Raghuwanshi). Jane not only inspired people of
her time period, but she continues to inspire people today. Pride and Prejudice is recognized as a
nationwide (throughout England and America) historical classic as are many of her other works. Jane
gives courage to women and people today to step out of their comfort zone, confront social issues and
not to be afraid to challenge unjust societal standards. Today class systems are not as defined, however
issues can still be recognized within those areas of England and other countries as well. Social classes
still exist today but the standards and definitions of each have become less demanding and more open to
interpretation. As stereotypes and social class continues to change, issues continue to change as well.
This being said, because issues still occur within social class systems, Austens book can still benefit
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readers today, decades after her passing. The message to take from this essay is not that Pride and
Prejudice provides historical context (although it does), but that the book addresses important societal
issues and can be used to inspire readers, the same way Austen herself was inspired, to speak up and
Works Cited
Ashfaq, Samina and Nasir Jamal Khattak. "Dilemma of Class Classification in Austen's Pride and
Prejudice." Putaj Humanities & Social Sciences, vol. 21, no. 1, June 2014, pp. 33-40.
EBSCOhost.
Gemmill, Katie. "Ventriloquized Opinions of "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," and "Emma": Jane
Austen's Critical Voice." University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 4, Fall2010, pp.
1115-1122. EBSCOhost
Raghuwanshi, Monika. "Human Relationship in the Novels of Jane Austen." International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Approach & Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, May/Jun2016, pp. 108-112. EBSCOhost
Searle, Alison. "The Moral Imagination: Biblical Imperatives, Narrative and Hermeneutics in Pride and
Whisson, M.G. "Ethnic Pride and Racial Prejudice in Victorian Cape Town - Group Identity and Social
Practice, 1875-1902 (Book)." Ethnic & Racial Studies, vol. 19, no. 4, Oct. 1996, p. 964.
EBSCOhost.