Birdyline Book Blog

Jane Austen’s classic 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice stars a girl with ideas and goals that are seen by her father, and evidently by the narrator, as more mature than her peers, including her mother, sisters, and best friend Charlotte. The portrayal of Charlotte’s marriage in the book ultimately illustrates how the novel fails to acknowledge the validity of the story’s women, their choices, and their overall intellect. Elizabeth is distinguished as one of a kind. She is described as less “…silly and ignorant [than] other girls…” but has “…something more of quickness than her sisters.” (Austen 2) Ultimately it is Elizabeth’s view of what constitutes a good future that leads to the novel’s conflicts as her own pride and prejudices clash with others, particularly men, around her. While her opinions are rarely unique to her and also grow and change throughout the novel, even leading her to go back on her words entirely, the novel still holds that Elizabeth’s judgment is superior to her peers’, and it calls into question whether the way we read this book is unbiased when it comes to looking at the female leads. 

Elizabeth Bennet evaluates relationships in a way that disappoints her mother during a time in history where the only way for a woman to control her assets in life is through marriage. Elizabeth turns down two proposals- the first being Mr. Collins’- a very rich and powerful man who also will at one point come into possession of the Bennet’s home. While Elizabeth’s social status and wealth, and most notably her family’s stability, would be boosted by this marriage she still declines. In regard to this situation, Mrs. Bennet declares Elizabeth a “headstrong foolish girl…” (Austen 84) While her foolishness is subjective, Lizzy’s stubbornness is a key aspect of her character. We observe this in her sentiment towards Darcy as well. After feeling disrespected by him, she swears forever to hold that against him. She tells Charlotte, ” Heaven forbid! – That would be the greatest misfortune of all- to find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate! – Do not wish me such an evil.” (Austen 68) To Elizabeth, a lack of romantic interest or even respect is a firm boundary against marriage. Of course, her mother disagrees with this vehemently, but her father believes it to be an honorable choice to prioritize true connection. When Elizabeth goes on to also reject Mr. Darcy’s proposal, her logic remains the same. However, the treatment of Elizabeth’s intellect as superior to her peers is called into question by two things- first, the fact that her judgements are not actually as unique from her peers as Mr. Bennet originally claims, and second because while she is hasty in making these judgements, she doesn’t always make them in wise ways and in fact her peers are more “logical” in that respect.

Elizabeth may be one of the first in the novel to hate Mr. Darcy, but she is far from the only. Despite being less “silly” than her peers in her father’s words, we learn that her opinion on Darcy is the default in Meryton. In conversation with her more gracious and forgiving sister Jane, she states that, “The general prejudice against Mr. Darcy is so violent that it would be the death of half the good people in Meryton to attempt to place him in an amiable light.” (Austen 169) It is hard to believe that Lizzy has some sort of talent for discernment, even stated by Mr. Collins in an instance where he does not take her advice, “‘… Miss Elizabeth, I have the highest opinion in the world of your excellent judgement… Pardon me for neglecting to profit by your advice…’” (Austen 74) when her opinions are rarely ever unique to her or even or even different from the opinions of the women she is compared to. Charlotte Lucas chooses to marry Mr. Collins, a choice that Lizzy would have never made. Yet Charlotte never denies that Mr. Collins is not an ideal romantic partner. She reflects on how he is “…neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome, and his attachment to her must be imaginary.” (Austen 92) Charlotte’s ultimate decision reflects her goals but not at all her discernment.

Elizabeth also holds a grudge very easily and must confront her prejudice and move past her judgements over the course of the novel, while Charlotte’s character is more stable and certain of what she wants. “Without thinking highly of either men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object…” (Austen 93) Charlotte states here that she never considered a romantic partnership as something desirable in her life. She knew what she wanted- a safe and well-provided for life. This is what Charlotte considers her goal and this is what she gets. Elizabeth, meanwhile, makes judgements and swears by them, only to change her mind on them. She herself admits upon realizing her initial thoughts on Mr. Darcy were misguided, “I, who have prided myself on my discernment!- I… who have often disdained the generous candor of my sister… Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind…” (Austen 156) It could be reasonably claimed that Elizabeth was actually led to her decisions by both love AND vanity. Her desire for love, or at the very least, admiration of her partner is what leads her to disregard Mr. Collins, although a logical recipient to his proposal, would recognize that it would be monetarily beneficial, especially in Lizzy’s case where her family is involved. Regardless, in comparing herself to someone who makes a foolish decision for the sake of love, it is notable that Charlotte’s decisions were made by neither love nor vanity, but rather a dedication to a goal that she has supposedly been certain of for her entire life. 

The novel spends a lot of time distinguishing Elizabeth from her peers as someone who has more wit and makes decisions that are truer to herself, but neglects to acknowledge how the choices of her peers, specifically Charlotte, may have been different than her own but are not inferior. Elizabeth’s character arc depends on her learning that her discernment skills are not as great as she once thought, and yet still the attitude of the novel is that Elizabeth ended up in a successful marriage that is implied to be better in some way than Charlotte’s, while Charlotte simply never needed that character development and in fact was quite satisfied with her own situation. Elizabeth initially stayed true to her gut feelings but grew to allow the men around her to redeem themselves, ultimately an honorable thing, but not more honorable than Charlotte’s clear expectations that she remained faithful to from start to finish. This book was written about and set in a time when women did not have many choices. To hold a novel like this to modern feminist standards would be unrealistic and futile especially as it holds value in other ways. However, it is important to consider what we expect from a “logical” or “mature” heroine and examine if the perspective through which we view the other women is fair.