Pride and Prejudice: Hardships of Women in the 19th Century Essay

Women of the 19th century experienced severe hardships. Elizabeth bennetts experiences demonstrated the life of women who where pressured to conform to societys expectations. After breaking down barriers women today have the freedom to express themselves, be educated and prosperous, and most important of all live without restrictions. dress and Prejudice, written by Jane Austin, portrays the protagonist of the novel through the eyes of the author. Issues of marriage, class mobility, conforming, and restrictions to marrying, only account for some hardships set close by Elizabeth and other characters throughout the novel. Throughout the novel, characters where faced and forced to overcome obstacles of love. Views of marriage differed from character to character. Women where not educated and where forced to conform to the societys expectations which kept them from being independent. Therefore, Elizabeth Bennets mother, Mrs. Bennet forced marriage upon her daughters. Elizabeths eng agement to Darcy was criticized because many did not feel the couple was a good match for each other because he was a proud individual, and their economic differences and stature also prohibited the couple to be a good match according to society. Mrs. Bennet was happy when she heard about Darcys proposal to Elizabeth stating, How rich and how great you will be what pin- money, what jewels, what carriages you will have (Austen 325). Mrs. Bennets focus of life revolved around her daughters or at least one of her daughters marrying wealthy, so that not only that daughter will be cared for, but Mrs. Bennett and any unwed sisters will be provided for, as well. Mr. Bennett agreed that, the business of her life was to get her daughters married i... ... she did not love him, knowing that she would have been able to secure her fathers wealth. Elizabeth did not conform to her societys expectations and refused to marry for any other reason than true love, sticking to what she believed in most although opposing the beliefs of her society. She placed a higher importance on interest, attraction, and love.BibliographyAusten, Jane. Pride and Prejudice,3rd ed. Norton, 2001.Williams, Michael. Vision Jane Austen Study Guide, University of South Africa Pretoria, 2002.Menon, Sindhu. The Literature Network. Jalic Inc. 3 March. 2015. http//www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/Pride and Prejudice. Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Encyclopdia Britannica, 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. .