Introduction to Writer:
Jane Austen was born at Steventon on December 16, 1775, the youngest of seven children. She received her education—scanty enough, by modern standards—at home. Besides the usual elementary subjects, she learned French and some Italian, sang a little, and became an expert needle-woman. Her reading extended little beyond the literature of the eighteenth century, and within that period she seems to have cared most for the novels of Richardson and Miss Burney, and the poems of Cowper and Crabbe. Dr. Johnson, too, she admired, and later was delighted with both the poetry and prose of Scott. The novel was published in 1813 but was completed in 1797 and initially titled First Impressions. It is set primarily in the village of Longbourn 1 mile from Meryton in Hertfordshire in England. In general, Austen occupies a curious position between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The most remarkable characteristic of Jane Austen as a novelist is her recognition of the limits of her knowledge of life and her determination never to go beyond these limits in her books. She describes her own class, in the part of the country with which she was acquainted; and both the types of character and the events are such as she knew from first-hand observation and experience. But to the portrayal of these she brought an extraordinary power of delicate and subtle delineation, a gift of lively dialogue, and a peculiar detachment. She abounds in humour, but it is always quiet and controlled; and though one feels that she sees through the affectations and petty hypocrisies of her circle, she seldom becomes openly satirical. The fineness of her workmanship, excelled in the English novel, makes possible the discrimination of characters who have outwardly little or nothing to distinguish them; and the analysis of the states of mind and feeling of ordinary people is done so faithfully and vividly as to compensate for the lack of passion and adventure. She herself speaks of the "little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work," and, in contrast with the broad canvases of Fielding or Scott, her stories have the exquisiteness of a fine miniature.
Women of that time:
The Regency is a period which started in 1811, when the Regency Act was passed and George, Prince of Wales became Prince Regent, replacing his father George III who was mentally ill. The period ended with the death of George III. During these years, many women established themselves as prominent writers. One of them was Jane Austen, who decided to depict traditional female roles during the Regency era. In those times it was hard to be a woman, especially a woman writer. Women's style of writing was considered to be inferior to men’s writing style.. It is evident that women were misjudged, mistreated, and discriminated against by men. Imperfection became a synonym for women, even when it came to their writing style. Therefore, it is not surprising that women led submissive lives and they had to accept.
In other words, in Austen's time women thought that they could do nothing but what was expected from them; they were dominated by men. Marriages were arranged, mostly within the same social class. Even middle-class parents wanted their daughters well situated. Love was not important when it came to choosing a husband. Women did not have much choice; unmarried, older than twenty, women were considered to be a burden to their families and many women got married, so that society would not look down on them. They could become governesses; yet, that “was a position beneath the social rank and status of middle and upper class young women and was thus regarded as humiliating” (Swords). A woman’s happiness depended entirely on her parents’ approval until she got married: “women can be seen as oppressed victims of a patriarchal society, subordinate first to their fathers and, then, to their husbands who had, of course, been selected by their fathers'' (Swords). Moreover, women could not inherit property. 2 Once married, they lost control over both their possessions and their fate and became their husbands' property.
Elizabeth Bennet:
The novel Pride and Prejudice deals with the life of the sisters from the Bennet family. It focuses on the life of Elizabeth, the main protagonist of the story. The Bennet family belongs to the middle class. Mr. Bennet does not have a male heir.
Elizabeth “Lizzy” Bennet is the second daughter of the Bennets. She is twenty years old. . Because of her intelligence and observations, she is one of the most famous literary characters of all time: “For the first time in English literature, outside Shakespeare, we meet heroines who are credible, with minds, with the capacity to think for themselves, with ambition and wit”. She is Mr. Bennet’s favourite child. In contrast, she is the last dear to her mother because “she is not half so handsome as Jane, nor half so good humoured as Lydia” (Austen, Pride and Prejudice 5). Yet, Elizabeth transcends her family members in her manners and understanding of life. Moreover, Elizabeth states her opinion directly and has a sharp tongue, which often shocks those who believe that ladies cannot be allowed such freedom. During her conversation with Lady Catherine, who is a very powerful woman, she answers a lot of questions but with some reservation and asserts her opinion on the social norms.
Lady Catherine is astonished by such an answer because Elizabeth openly challenges social norms regarding female behaviour. When Lady Catherine finds out that the five daughters have been brought up without a governess, she is shocked because it is unimaginable that young women have not been taught necessary skills such as drawing and playing an instrument. Elizabeth understands the true purpose of marriage, something that neither her mother nor her sisters do. When she rejects Mr. Collins. She even rejects Mr. Darcy’s first proposal because she believes him to be an immoral and evil man. He is very rich, richer than Mr. Bingley. Her attitude towards marriage is visible from the way she speaks with Charlotte, her dearest friend, when she hears that Charlotte has accepted Mr. Collins’s proposal. She feels sorry for her friend because she knows that she and her future husband will never love each other. Moreover, Elizabeth’s judgements are sometimes irrational and blinded by her pride but, when this is the case, she is willing to admit that she is wrong. When she realises that Wickham has deceived her and lied to her about Darcy’s nature, that Darcy is actually an exceptional man, she grows absolutely ashamed of herself. She tries to be fair towards everyone and that is why she feels that she has done wrong to Darcy. Later on, when Lady Catherine confronts her because she believes that Elizabeth and Darcy will get married, Elizabeth shows that she is not afraid of her. Lady Catherine states that their marriage would be the most unsuitable match. In other words, Elizabeth does not care about money and does not think of Mr. Darcy as her superior; she believes them to be of equal worth. When Lady Catherine asks that she refuse Darcy, Elizabeth dismisses.
Elizabeth is not a woman whom someone could easily scare and she fights for what she wants and believes in – and that is Mr. Darcy and her love for him. Again, Elizabeth proves to be an intelligent and independent woman who does not care about the opinion of others; she does what she thinks to be the best for her
Critics have often remarked on the ostensible link between Elizabeth Bennet and her creator. Elizabeth’s wit and playfulness, the argument goes, reflect Austen’s own personality. But this observation, innocuous as it seems, devalues the artistry of the novel, implying as it does a lack of design on the author’s part: Jane Austen merely looked in a psychic mirror and reported the thoughts of the charming Elizabeth. Even a critic who does not identify Austen and her character still finds an odd link between them. Austen does several things with the ironic wit of her main character. By blurring the distinction between Elizabeth’s voice and that of the omniscient narrator, she controls the reader’s point of view. Austen tempts the reader to accept Elizabeth’s initial assessment of Wickham and Darcy because Elizabeth sounds so much like the third-person omniscient narrator. In this way, Austen forces the reader to experience the same errors that Elizabeth makes and to realise the difficulty of arriving at truth in a constantly shifting world. Elizabeth’s ironic wit also defines nuances of her character in ways that make her stand out from the more one-dimensional women in the novel: Caroline Bingley, Charlotte Lucas, Lydia, even Jane. And, ultimately, Elizabeth’s wit defines theme as the novel develops a critique on the worth of an ironic worldview
Elizabeth represents women who are intelligent and independent in their actions. They do not get married because of necessity; on the contrary, they see marriage as an act of love. Each one of them is a strong woman who thinks with her own head.
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