Jane Austen’s Critique of Traditional Judgments in Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen was an ambitious writer who wanted to enlighten other people through her novels. She condemned pride, and this is best seen in Pride and Prejudice, where the basis of marriage in the 1800s is changed to maturity and education. The normal “capitalistic lens” judges by gender, social status, and wealth, which is the basis behind most of the marriages. However, Jane Austen argues in her novel that this should be changed to a “moral lens” that is based on character. It has always been in human nature to judge an individual before even meeting them. During the Victorian period, a class defined who the person was. This judgment based upon class was accepted throughout Jane Austen’s novel. Characters in the novel judged their peers based on their class and gender, which they further defined through the judgment of a character’s relationships, money, and physical appearance. Austen criticizes these traditional judgments through the relationships within the novel. At the end of the novel, the marriages which appear to be the strongest are the relationships that have overcame their partner’s “weaknesses” within society.

The acquaintances and family members of an individual can drastically affect a character’s appearance within society, as it is seen that an individual is a representation of those who he/she associates with. This being the case, any fault in an individual’s social circle will also reflect poorly on that individual. The opening line of the novel states, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”. Austen makes it well-known that having a wife is a must within society if a man has the monetary means to do so. Acquaintances are so important in Pride and Prejudice that many decisions are based on how society will think of the relationship. Mr. Collins showed this during his proposal to Elizabeth when he mentioned, “I could not satisfy myself without resolving to choose a wife from among his daughters, that the loss to them might be as little as possible, when the melancholy event has taken place”. Mr. Collins wanted to marry Elizabeth so that when her father died, and Mr. Collins inherited the house, the transition would be smoother. Mr. Collins’s proposal to Elizabeth appeared to be because of who her family was rather than who she was. Acquaintances are also used as an excuse within the novel to keep people apart. Mr. Darcy said in his letter to Elizabeth, “But amidst your concern for the defects of your nearest relations, and your displeasure at this representation of them, let it give the consolation to consider that, to have conducted yourselves so as to avoid any share of like censure, is praise...”. Mr. Darcy explained that he tried to keep Mr. Bingley away from Jane partially of her family and that she was not “good enough” for Mr. Bingley’s hand in marriage. However, at the end of the novel, Mr. Bingley did marry even though society would not approve of her worthiness. It can be seen through Mr. Bingley and Jane’s marriage that they were able to overcome society’s opinions and have a stable relationship. Within the novel, Austen uses acquaintances to show the weakness of the social judgments of her time period.

The most common way of judging characters in Pride and Prejudice is by measuring their income/ social status. A character’s income is seen as a measure of how well they could take care of themselves and their families. When Mr. Bingley first arrived in town, and no one had the chance to meet him,It was his amount of money which was well-known around town. Mrs. Bennett stated, “A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!”. Without knowing anything else other than his fortune, Mrs. Bennet decided that Mr. Bingley would be a good husband for her daughters, proving that money is enormous importance within the time period. This is quite a different situation from Lady Catherine’s opinion on Elizabeth. Lady Catherine was furious that someone of Elizabeth’s background would have any possibility of marrying Mr. Darcy. Her opinion is clearly shown when she said, “The upstart pretensions of a young woman without family, connections or fortune. Is this to be endured? But it must not shall not be!”. It is apparent that Lady Catherine was judging Elizabeth on her fortune as well as other material judgments, not reflecting Elizabeth’s true self. Money appears to be a societal necessity in every proposed marriage. The marriage of Mr. Wickham and Lydia took place for solely economic reasons. Mr. Gardiner, in a letter to Mr. Bennet, explained, “All that is required of you is, to assure to your daughter, by settlement, her equal share of the five thousand pounds secured among your children”. It is shown quite clearly that Mr. Wickham would not marry Lydia unless he received a certain amount of money. Due to the class of Mr. Wickham, this marriage was approved by Lydia’s family and would be considered acceptable within society. Austen uses this relationship to show that the relationships within the novel, which formed only because of one’s class, do not have the same strength and happiness as those who overcame class differences.

The physical appearance of an individual was used throughout Pride and Prejudice to determine one’s status, especially for females. When Mr. Darcy first saw Elizabeth, he commented that “She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men”. In this statement, Mr. Darcy explained that Elizabeth was not beautiful enough to meet his standards and was therefore not worthy of his company. However, it was not only her physical beauty that Elizabeth was judged based on. After Elizabeth had walked a great distance through muddy fields to see her sick sister, “...her appearance created a great deal of surprise... and Elizabeth was convinced that they held her in contempt for it”. Her dirty appearance was seen as very un-ladylike, and the women of Netherfield judged her on her appearance rather than her purpose of traveling to Netherfield. While describing the Lucases, Mrs. Bennet explained that “But everybody is to judge for themselves, and the Lucases are a very good sort of girls, I assure you. It is a pity they are not handsome!”. Although Mrs. Bennet made it clear that the Lucases are fine girls, she also explained that they were less worthy because they were not as attractive as her daughters.

Societies' expectations for women are still strangled. Austen suggests that one woman scandalous behavior affects everyone who she is related to. For example, Lydia slept with the man that wasn't her husband and effected not only her name but the whole family. This is still relevant today because, in most cultures, if a woman is not married to a man, she cannot sleep with him. If she chooses not to follow that custom, she will affect the name of her family. Austen uses the example of Lydia to show the impossible strictness of society's demands on the woman. The ease with which reputations can be destroyed and marriage can be impossible. Other issues that were discussed in the novel were the socio-economic classes and appearance. Females were told to marry a rich man so they can continue supporting their family and have a better life. Since they are women, they can't just get a job and live on their own. Most of the woman depend on a man. This is similar to the concept of most families in Europe. People's parents usually want them to marry someone that has a higher social class/Income to they can be economically stable. Sometimes parents choose a man that their daughter doesn't even love for the economic advantages of their family. Jane Austen makes a strong critic in Pride and Prejudice in getting married only for financial purposes. She defends that a marriage should be based on deep love. She shows to the readers that there are two ways to qualify kinds of social classes: one is by appearance and financial issues. Other is by values of morality, virtue, and intelligence.