Marriage P.P Financial security Business transaction Formed alliances that would sustain the position of power Arranged marriages already died out by Jane Austen’s days, hences the balls and the mingling with the opposite sex. Means of social improvement
Role of woman PP Defined by husband or father Expected to be modest, submissive and incapable of independent thought Education was inferior compared with men Uncritical Ignorance Moral deficiency and narrow outlook due to lack of intelligence It was wrong to be ‘wild’ (Lydia) Lack genuine of interest in reading and music for the upper class woman
Social and moral perspective PP Men pride themselves with duties and obligations Social disgrace to elope, to not marry and be in bed together
No marrying someone from a different class. Higher class don’t look at the lower class because it was socially wrong Must be introduced, can’t just introduce yourself Pride was through networking and connections
Pride and Prejudice - woman
Now Harmony For love, romance Freedom of choice,
Now
Now
Difference between now and back say a few decades ago. Few decades ago it was frowned upon. But nowadays it’s the norm. Therefore even within a few decades, things have changed.
PP Honour, decorum, prudence, not taking pride in moral standards, arrogance Snobbery, jealousy Appearances v reality, First impressions, crude judgments about people
Now
Notes: Society is always changing. Even in pride and prejudice, it was set in a time where people were cautious of their class as not to associate themselves with too many people who had no benefits to themselves. They should try their very best to be connected with people who were in the upper class, as this brought them a priviledge. However, in pride and prejudice, we are already seeingthe changes, whereby it seems Darcy had broken the social order. Falling in love and pursuing it in the end with Lizzie, who’s family was so deeply undesi rable with their poor manners. Lizzie had a mother who spoke without thought and sisters who were “wild animals” such as Lydia. Mrs Bennet was prejudice. Mr Bennet scolds Mary in front of a crowd. Formal, elegant manner, and lifestyle is formal and whose horizons seem narrow Our manner today is more casual and the world is our oyster, theoretically at least. We have no wish to enter the confined world of rigid social convention and of trivia in Jane’s novel. There are rituals governing not only courtship and marriage but also visiting and dancing, holidaying and travelling; by these rituals human behaviour is guided and social order maintained. Today this kind of society seems overly restrictive. We value freedom and the individual’s right to choose his or her own life-style.
