In both novels, the heroines find themselves discriminated against because of their social class, something which in the late eighteenth / early nineteenth century was considered to be of utmost importance. Mrs Van Hopper ensures that the second Mrs de Winter knows her place as a mere servant- the second Mrs de Winter ‘trails in the wake’ of her. Mrs Van Hopper ridicules the second Mrs de Winter as soon as she learns of her engagement to Maxim, commenting that she cannot see the second Mrs de Winter being successful as the mistress of Manderley. She suggests that Maxim has only proposed to her because he ‘just can’t go on living there alone’, not because he feels anything for her. Mrs Van Hopper does not contemplate the possibility that Maxim actually loves her paid companion because she cannot understand how an upper-class man like him could have such feelings for someone of a much lower class. In Pride and Prejudice the heroine also faces ridicule, but mainly as a result of her family. The Bennets are an upper middle class family and Mr Bennett seems to have married slightly beneath him- Mrs Bennett is a rather vulgar woman and consequently Elizabeth is open to ridicule. Miss Bingley bears unreasonable disdain for Elizabeth's middle-class background. She does not believe Elizabeth to be appropriate for Mr. Darcy as she is not ‘rich enough or grand enough’ and Miss Bingley’s feelings are made clear when Elizabeth visits Netherfield and she says that ‘with such low connections…. there is no chance’ of a relationship between the two. She tries to prevent the marriage of Jane and Bingley and to prevent Mr Darcy's attachment to Elizabeth by regularly ridiculing the bad manners of Elizabeth's mother. Mr. Bingley’s sisters ‘indulge their mirth for some time, at the expense of their friend’s vulgar relations.’ Miss Bingley also draws attention to the fact that one of Elizabeth’s uncles ‘is an attorney in Meryton.’ Today it is perhaps hard to comprehend why this should be an object of disregard- however, in the early nineteenth century, having to work for a living rather than living off an inheritance was considered by many to be socially inferior. Mr. Darcy acknowledges that the position of Elizabeth and Jane’s uncle ‘must very materially lessen their chance of marrying men of any consideration in the world.’
The prospective husbands’ response to the heroines in regard to their social background is a point of great contrast between Pride and Prejudice and Rebecca. Mr. Darcy is terribly aware of the differences in class between his family and Elizabeth’s. He is haughty, aloof man who regards a marriage to Elizabeth as beneath him. This is apparent when during his first proposal to Elizabeth Mr Darcy tells her that although he has struggled in vain, his feelings for her ‘will not be repressed’. Elizabeth ‘attracted him more than he liked.’ He dwells on ‘his sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation’. In contrast, Maxim in Rebecca is attracted by the second Mrs de Winter’s total lack of social ambition or pretension, and his reaction to the fancy dress costume at the Manderley costume ball shows this. When the second Mrs de Winter appears in the very same costume that Rebecca had worn, it is a ‘frightful shock for him’- he turns ‘ashen white’ and his voice ‘quiet and icy cold.’ He is so upset and angered because it serves as a reminder of the affected and conceited Rebecca, and because his wife now appears to have transformed into all that he detests (all the things he had married her for not possessing). To Darcy, social class is everything, but it means little to Maxim.
In both novels the heroines suffer prejudice at the hands of other women, which perhaps suggests a lack of female alliance. In Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine is the epitome of class snobbery and displays no sympathy for Elizabeth and her situation. She is very aware of class distinctions and tries to prevent Mr.Darcy from marrying Elizabeth- she is ‘extremely indignant’ at the marriage of Mr. Darcy and is ‘very abusive’ of Elizabeth. As already discussed, Miss Bingley also discriminates against Elizabeth. In Rebecca, the sinister servant Mrs Danvers dresses the second Mrs de Winter in Rebecca's clothes (being fully aware of the consequences) and later shows no remorse for her actions. She urges the second Mrs de Winter to commit suicide, repeatedly asking ‘why don’t you
jump?’ and telling her that ‘there’s not much for (her) to live for.’ Although both heroines suffer in the hands of other women, they are also able to find sympathy with them. Maxim’s sister Beatrice is a great source of comfort to the second Mrs de Winter, and is particularly sympathetic to her situation after the costume party incident. She comes to her and says ‘you poor child, how wretchedly unfortunate, how were you to know?’ Beatrice manages the situation well and tells Giles that she will ‘make it all all right,’ and the distressed Mrs de Winter is very grateful for her support. Jane finds comfort with Charlotte Lucas, and is more at ease after ‘having told all her griefs’ to her. Charlotte is sympathetic to Elizabeth’s situation with the insufferable Mr.Collins- Elizabeth ‘owed her greatest relief’ to her.
The personalities of the heroines in Rebecca and Pride and Prejuice differ considerably and therefore they respond in different ways to the prejudices they suffer. Elizabeth is incensed by the aspects of a rigid social system which she has to conform to in order to ascertain her place in the world. Her sense of social injustice is confirmed by Darcy’s treatment of her. Snobbery seems to be a source of amusement for her, suggested when the thought comes to her that she could have been introduced to Lady Catherine as her future niece, ‘nor could she think, without a smile, of what her ladyship’s indignation would have been.’ In Rebecca, the second Mrs de Winter is all the more unsure of herself once in place at Manderley. Mrs Danvers is aware of her unfamiliarity with the traditions of country house living, and when first introduced to the second Mrs de Winter a ‘small smile of scorn’ appears on her lips and the second Mrs de Winter guesses at once ‘that she considered (her) ill-bred’. Mrs. de Winter is uncomfortable at Manderley and her ‘old nervousness returns’ as she starts to look around the grand house. She is so nervous she is concious of the noise she makes as she walks, and ‘feels guilty at the sound, as one does in a church, self concious, aware of the same constraint.’ When she breaks the china cupid, she hides the evidence away, as a ‘guilty child’ would. Maxim describes her as being ‘just like a between-maid, not the mistress of the house.’ There is a slight similarity between Elizabeth and the second Mrs de Winter, in that neither thinks much of snobbery. Elizabeth describes herself as having ‘no pretensions’ and the second Mrs de Winter tells Maxim that she does not ‘think much of people who just judge one by one’s clothes,’ and often the sort of clothes people wore were related to their wealth (and perhaps therefore their social class.)
There are some similarities between the endings of Pride and Prejudice and Rebecca. Both could be seen as versions of the Cinderella fairytale: the heroines both eventually find marriage and manage to establish a real sense of place and social confirmation. The novelists show that marriage could be, for women, the path to finding an identity and place in the world. Through the marriages of the slightly lower-class heroines to upper-class men, Austen and du Maurier demonstrate how prejudiced the upper classes could be and show that the power of love and the human spirit can prevail over class prejudices and boundaries. In doing so, they imply that such prejudices are shallow and callous.
