Elizabeth Bennet Rejection

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Pride and Prejudice is renowned for its strong feminist message. Kate Rorick has argued that “Elizabeth Bennet makes her own path in society, rejecting Mr. Collins and eventually marrying for love”. Whilst Elizabeth Bennet as a character, arguably more than any other Austen heroine, polarizes readers and critics alike, it is possible to argue that this independence leads to “dislike and rejection”. In Literary Theory: The Basics Bertens argues that “female independence…gets a strongly negative connotation. This is supported by Jane Austen’s novel, as it is clear that Elizabeth is disliked by several other characters in Pride and Prejudice due to her independent nature. Caroline Bingley tells Mr. Darcy that “It seems to me to shew an abominable…show more content…
Aman Anand argues that “Elizabeth is caught up in societal structures that force her to make her way in the world by marrying”. By having Elizabeth marry the wealthy Mr. Darcy at the end of the novel, Austen manages to save her character from the grim fate she would suffer if she was wholly independent and unmarried when her father died. As Austen herself never married, the death of her father placed a financial strain on her. It is clear that by being fully independent herself, Austen’s situation worsened something which she evidentially wanted to avoid for her novel’s female protagonist. Bertens argues that “in nineteenth century fiction…the focus of interest is on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner.” This statement holds true for Pride and Prejudice, as the novel opens and closes with marriage. Austen introduces the theme of marriage in the opening line; “it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” The use of juxtaposition between “It is a truth universally acknowledged” – a phrase which increases the reader’s expectations – and the anti-climactic statement about marriage not only creates a sense of irony, providing Austen with a space in which she can criticize Regency society’s views on marriage in her satirical novel. However, whilst Austen…show more content…
Austen once stated that Elizabeth was “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print”. Many readers agree with Austen, as Miss Bennet was the number one female heroine in Entertainment Weekly’s 2014 Top Ten Inspirational Female Heroines article. It is not only the readers, but also other characters such as Mr. Darcy that enjoy the presence Elizabeth Bennet. It is clear that throughout the novel, Mr. Darcy’s opinion of the unconventional Elizabeth becomes more favourable despite his own conservative views. Austen makes this very clear early on in the novel, as Mr. Darcy does not join the Bingley sisters in their criticism of Elizabeth’s “conceited independence” and emphasises that in addition to the typical female accomplishments at the time, “singing, drawing, dancing” a woman “must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading”. By using the word “substantial”, Darcy does not only highlight his emphasis on intelligence rather than accomplishments, but also indicates his boredom with the submissive women that surround him. It is clear that to Darcy, “renouncing all ambition and desire” is not an attractive trait. The strong influence that Elizabeth has over Mr. Darcy causes Pride and Prejudice to go against the “continued social and cultural domination of males”. Darcy may be proud of his high place in society with
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