Honors Option Blog Post:

“A woman could enhance her social status usually only by marrying. Women were often accused of undue social ambition, as were prosperous tenant farmers and anyone else who threatened, in the words of one observer, ‘to mingle every man with the class that is superior to him, and… to support a gay and splendid appearance utterly inconsistent with their station and circumstances.’ The upper classes liked to ridicule or pity the poor for their lack of social graces, but heaven help the man or woman who made an attempt to learn those graces. The reason for the hostility was simple: the appearance of gentility was often most of the substance of gentility.”

Daily Life in 18th-century England By Kirstin Olsen pages 15-16

"Certainly, my dear, nobody said there were; but as to not meeting with many people in this neighbourhood, I believe there are few neighbourhoods larger. I know we dine with four-and-twenty families."

-Mrs. Bennet

"Oh! certainly," cried his faithful assistant, "no [woman] can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with.  A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half-deserved."

-Miss Caroline Bingley

            The first quote above describes the strict stratification of social classes in 18^th century England, relating directly to Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. In the novel, the Bennet family contains five young women who are out in society and in search of suitable husbands in order to maintain and enhance their place in society, due to the fact that statutes of inheritance of property dictated their meager wealth sent to a distant male cousin. Additionally, their mother has a pattern of eagerly seeking out proper husbands in a manner which could suggest she is “of undue social ambition” as mentioned by Kristen Olsen. The second quote comes from a speech of Mrs. Bennet’s that was given in response to a comment of the wealthy Mr. Darcy.  He stated that the country lacked the social qualities of the city, but Mrs. Bennet proclaims that he is blatantly wrong. However, she has overlooked the fact that Darcy has much higher standards for the people that he associates himself with. As well, Miss Bingley personifies the upper class sense of entitlement to ridicule all members of inferior social classes. The third quote mentions her depiction of a suitable upper class woman. Her requirements are lengthy and strict social graces that would only be possible to learn in a wealthy upper class. They lack, however, the critical independent thinking that defines Elizabeth Bennet in her role as a revolutionary woman who, though entirely vulnerable to poverty without a husband, maintains her values in direct contrast to her mother’s attitudes. The complexities and intricacies of the 18^th century social roles are exemplified in the characters of Miss Bingley and Mrs. Bennet, and are contrasted with the radical idea of an independent woman such as Elizabeth Bennet.