Book Review
“What are men to rocks and mountains?”, A peculiar feminist perspective of Jane Austen in ‘Pride and Prejudice’
Every time we read, “I was in the middle before I knew I had begun”, our hearts skip a beat, imagining the deep set eyes of Mr. Darcy gazing intently at Lizzy’s curious eyes, that dance like a babbling brook. This quintessential love story of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet might make your hearts flutter the most but Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” has more to it than just creating an ideal frame for romance.
Set in the early part of the 19th Century, it was first published as “First Impressions”. It was further revised and published again in 1813 as “Pride and Prejudice.” The novel doesn’t display any characteristics of the Romantic Age, hence it is also considered to be an early precedent to the Victorian novel.
The book begins with the Bennet family: Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and Jane, Elizabeth (Lizzy), Mary, Kitty and Lydia, their five daughters. The conflict of the plot is straightaway introduced: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a fortune is always in want of a wife.” Hence, the readers know that the novel will talk about marriage. Then we are immediately taken to the conversation between Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet where the latter persuades her husband to seek acquaintance of their new neighbors at Netherfield, the Bingleys. Eventually, as we progress through the book, marriage and all its interrelated concepts like finding worthy suitors, dowry, class, convenience etc., unfold. The plot is driven by action resulting from interactions amongst the characters: a microcosm of the society itself.
The world of “Pride and Prejudice” reflects the social puritanism of Victorian society and marriage becomes the chief concern. While Mrs.Bennet hopes to get her eldest daughter, Jane, married to Charles Bingley, we have Mr.Collins (the heir to the Bennet estate) who wants to marry one of the Bennet daughters. After being rejected by all the sisters, he strikes a marriage of convenience with Lizzy’s best friend, Charlotte. After the first few chapters, the protagonist, Mr. Darcy is introduced at the Netherfield ball where Lizzy catches his attention. But he doesn’t make any confessions of love until midway through the book. However, Lizzy declines. Now, would it really be an Austenian romance without the spice of misunderstandings, plotting and unexpected twists and turns! Of course not and hence, we have Mr. Wickham, Lady Catherine, Miss Bingley for that. Basically, in a nutshell, the action is about people marrying, villains and vamps creating confusions and twists and finally the fate of Lizzy and Mr.Darcy (which I won’t disclose here already).
This plot can be typical and runs the risk of being commonplace but what makes Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” a favorite is a peculiar feminist perspective that we find in the overarching social framework of the novel. I don’t wish to blame it as outrightly patriarchal because we have redefined “what is patriarchy” from time to time and conclusions just keep adding up. So, to critique it from the perspective of a 21st century female reader would be a little unjust to the work and the author. We need to remember that the society and the culture that Austen paints in the novel is quite a realistic depiction of those times and hence the patriarchal expectations of the society become very pronounced in the novel. While reading “Pride and Prejudice”, I have always concluded that Austen tries to strike a right balance all the while trying to revolutionize the system from within. There is no radical stance from the author and she has avoided any didactic commentaries in the novel. This could be due to the fact that feminism, as a movement, wasn’t really there during Austen’s active years.
On one hand, the seemingly happy, convenient marriages of the novel come off as an attempt at consolation with the system. However, the heroines in “Pride and Prejudice” aren’t absolutely patriarchally convenient. Elizabeth comes off as a pretty strong character in the novel who reads, has a strong opinion of self and everything that concerns her identity and the society around. She wields enough sense to refuse Mr.Darcy, the Lord of Pemberley, and possesses enough dignity to refuse the luxuries of Pemberley. Lady Catherine De Borough is another character who is portrayed as a strong matriarch figure in the novel. Lizzy’s best friend, Charlotte gets married to Mr. Collins despite the protestations of her friend. On the face of it, the readers might want to pity her character but as we progress through the novel, we can see how Charlotte takes advantage of the system of marriage to secure a stable financial condition for herself. She climbs up the economic ladder and emerge victorious out of all the gossips circles of society who had deemed her pretty incompetent because of her mediocre looks and lack of money.
The most important example is of Mary Bennet. She is a typical example of a bluestocking woman. She reluctantly avoids being involved in stereotypical feminine pursuits and instead focuses her time elsewhere. Although, she overcompensates for a lack that the society expects her to have otherwise, she serves as a perfect manifestation of the entire novel itself. Her character struggles to break off of all patriarchal notions of life all the while secretly desiring to be a part of it. She is also the third sister, the exact median of 5 sisters and this also explains her position in the gradient. On one extreme of it, we have extremely sensible sisters (Jane and Lizzy) and on the other side of it, there’s the extremely naïve sisters (Kitty and Lydia) and we have Mary who’s the average of the four.
We have seen how the novel works by bringing together so many different temperaments and it works best for readers through ages as it gels everything very well. Classified as a novel of manners, “Pride and Prejudice” very well lives up to it. It is quite a realistic depiction of the times and gives us enough chance to both praise and critique it.
