Jane Austen comments on social mobility and relationships in Pride and Prejudice by relating the characters to one another based on their social ranking. Austen often addresses rank and its effect on social status in the novel to give readers a sense of who the characters should associate with. However, rank in this novel is not equal to a character’s wealth or connections, but is mainly determined by their morality and personability.
Upon meeting Mr. Darcy for the first time, Elizabeth is appalled by his detached and unsociable behavior. Mrs. Bennet, after hearing of Mr. Darcy’s behavior, tells Mr. Bennet that Elizabeth should not be upset by his dismissal, “for he is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and conceited that there was no enduring him!” (8). Even though Mr. Darcy is extremely wealthy and should have the highest social status because of that, he is detested by most of Hertfordshire because of his abrasive actions and attitude. It is only later, when he has mended his faults, that people begin to think of him with esteem for his wealth and rank.
Another instance of wealth and rank being unrelated is Lady Catherine de Bourgh. She has a high social standing and is very wealthy, but when Elizabeth meets her, she is struck by how little manners the Lady has. Lady Catherine de Bourgh questions Elizabeth about her upbringing and her status as a young lady, but she does so in an insensitive and condescending manner. Because of this questioning, Elizabeth’s commendation of Lady de Bourgh, “costing her some trouble, could by no means satisfy Mr. Collins” (114). Lady de Bourgh is of the highest rank in regards to wealth, but Elizabeth is quick to find out that her personality and manners greatly decrease her rank.
Even those with less money as others can have higher ranks than them. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are not the most affluent couple in the novel, but Elizabeth considers them of the highest rank because of their affability. Mrs. Gardiner gives Elizabeth valuable advice many times in the novel, and Mr. Gardiner helps her family recover Lydia and regain their esteem among the community. In fact, they are the reason that Elizabeth and Darcy are able to reconnect. During their visit to Pemberley, they see Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Gardiner begins a conversation with him. Elizabeth remarks that “she gloried in every expression, every sentence of her uncle, which marked his intelligence, his taste, or his good manners” (170). While they are not the most wealthy, the Gardiners prove themselves to be of the highest rank.
Austen emphasizes morality and politeness over wealth and status by praising characters based on their actions and morals rather than their money. Austen chastises Mr. Darcy and Lady de Bourgh for their self-importance, while Austen celebrates the Gardiners for their character.
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ReplyDeleteAs you mention, the Gardiners are the epitome of the “perfect family” in the novel despite their lack of wealth. The Gardiners earn respect for their guidance and virtue. The fact that Elizabeth Bennett denies Darcy’s proposal for marriage shows that there is more to the individual aside from his or her wealth and capacity for financial stability. Elizabeth Bennett only decides to marry Darcy after observing behavioral changes and seeing him shift his character from the moment he first encounters Elizabeth. Elizabeth agrees to his proposal the second time after he intervenes in the situation with Wickham and Lydia by “immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand, that her sentiments had undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure, his present assurances” (Austen 256-257). For a novel written at this time, the differentiation between one’s material wealth and one’s character is clear. I think that the contrast you identified here is extremely important to analyze as we have been assessing the relationship between wealth and ranking in other novels throughout the course of the semester. For example, in Ragged Dick, we have seen how Dick climbs the social ladder and earns both wealth and status by performing random acts of kindness to others. This demonstrates a clear cause and effect relationship between one’s character and one’s wealth. However, as we see in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, it is clear how Austen denies a correlation between one's wealth and one’s character.
ReplyDeleteIn Pride and Prejudice, I see a great contrast between impertinence and regard for others. Many of the most impertinent characters are wealthy and do not care about the feelings and well-being of those considered socially lower than themselves. As you pointed out, Lady Catherine de Bourgh is one of these characters that is rude and condescending to others. Another such character is Caroline Bingley. Caroline, from the beginning, isn’t one of the nicest characters, but her true colors really come out when Elizabeth visits Pemberly. Caroline mentions the militia that Wickham had been a part of in the hopes of making Elizabeth “betray a sensibility which might injure her in Darcy’s opinion, and perhaps to remind the later of all the follies and absurdities, by which some part of her family were connected with that corps” (175). Caroline is rude and imprudent because of her jealousy, knowing that Darcy has a soft spot for Elizabeth, and she tries to make Elizabeth look bad in his eyes by bringing up Wickham. Later, Caroline blatantly criticizes Elizabeth, saying that she “never could see any beauty in her” (175), as if beauty is the only important quality in a woman.
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