One of the most well-known and valued love stories
in English literature is Pride and
Prejudice by Jane Austen. I enjoyed this story because it showed me how some
writers, like Jane Austen, viewed love. I have noticed how a lot of literature
from this time period talk about social class, and that sparked an interest for
me as a reader on this topic. The story Pride
and Prejudice deals with reputation and social class, and how people were
supposed to act; as well as the topic of love and what Austen saw as “true love.”
When
reading older literature and looking at how the world is today I can see that
not much has changed for society. It seems that most people, whether they like
to admit it or not, care about their reputation in one way or another and do
what they can to stay in the positive light of others. I say most people, not
all, because there are some who just do not care what people think at all; but,
they are not the topic of this discussion. Reputation is determined by how
someone presents themself in multiple ways: how they act, the clothes they wear,
how they talk, and even eat. If someone dresses in a sloppy way, chances are
people will automatically view them as a sloppy person. But maybe those are
just the clothes that the person is most comfortable in, or maybe those clothes
are all the person can afford. In this story, the people who have the most
pressure put on them when it comes to impressing someone are the women. In
society, I think that is how it is in general, and how it has always been.
According to the story, women are expected to be “proud and conceited…handsome…educated”
and “have a fortune” (11). Women have always been expected to act a certain way
in order to be respected and be considered a woman; if they were to go against
what they were taught it would be considered un-ladylike. When looking at
reputation it also ties in with social class, and in this story social class is
an important topic. In the story, the Bennets are considered the middle class, and
because so Mr. and Mrs. Bennet want their daughters to marry into a good
fortune so that they will be well off in the future. Mrs. Bennet begins to play
match-maker for her daughters, but it seems as if she does not take into
account what her daughters want in a man. I could understand that parents want
what is best for their children, but to pay no attention to what your kids want
and just worry about who seems respectable and who has the right amount of
money is just absurd. There is a saying “money doesn’t buy happiness” and I
believe that goes quite well with this story. When it comes to love, money does
not buy that either; love cannot be bought; it is something that takes hard
work and the right people to make it happen.
Based
on the elements of the story, Jane Austen definitely seems to be in favor of
love, and not just that, but, she seems to believe in ‘true love.’ I noticed the
humor of Austen while reading the story; she seems to poke fun at one
character, Charlotte Lucas, who marries into fortune. Lucas ends up marrying
Mr. Collins, who could easily be defined as foolish. Austen did this to show
that some people do not marry for love; yet, they marry so that they will be
well off and set for the future. At the conclusion of the story, Jane and
Bingley get married, as do Elizabeth and Darcy. With the incidents that split
the four up it seemed as if they would not be re-uniting; however, you see this
element that the love was actually meant to be and that it was fate. This is
where the ‘true love’ element comes in; no matter what happens, if you truly
love someone, and if the love is meant to be the feelings will not go away and
it will work out. Some of my close friends have gone through situations where
they fight with their significant other and it seems like the two will not be
getting back together; but, they talk through it and work through it and end up
keeping the relationship going. Some have even gotten married. I have always
wondered if true love is real or not, and based on what I have seen happen with
my friends, and even some family members I believe it is. Austen’s message is
very clear, she reveals just how strong true love actually is; she shows that
no matter what happens true love will never go away and will never be broken no
matter what the situation might be.
Jane
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has been
viewed as one of the most treasured love stories, and it is easy to see why. The
way that Austen captured true love and was able to express it in her story and
show that it prevails even in the toughest of situations is a great one. I like
how Austen included reputation and social class into the topic of love. The
story revealed how society expected people to present themselves; it talks
about how society defines a good man and how they viewed a good woman. It makes
it seem like, no matter what we think ourselves our image is always defined by
society; society controls everything. Austen also showed that it does not
matter if you are an upper-class man, or a middle-class woman, if the two
people are meant to be together then they will be because that is true love. At
first, it did not seem like Elizabeth and Darcy were going to get together
based off of how Elizabeth was reacting to him when the two first met. Yet,
Darcy still developed feelings for Elizabeth. Overall, I really liked Pride and Prejudice and the message that
true love does exist.
Good observations--you are absolutely right to perceive an emphasis on reputation and social class, and a relationship between the two. Notice, though, that Charlotte didn't marry to become wealthy. Her life with Mr. Collins is fairly modest. But she would be more secure and better provided for as his wife than as a single woman, which was a precarious position.
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